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Over the past few years, since the 2d running boom of the mid-90s, the so called "Oprah Boom," people have made complaints similar to yours, implying that the declining fortunes of America's elite distance runners are somehow tied to marathon's increasing popularity as not a sport but a fitness endeavor.
First of all, one might more plausibly attribute the condition of American distance running to the abandonment of the group training methods of the 70s/early 80s. Today, nationalities that have seen most success in the event train as a team. The Brooks-Hansen runnering project, which trains Brian Sell et al, is an attempt to revive this method.
Secondly, Ryan Hall is only 25, a young age for marathoners, and one has to keep in mind that he smoked a 2:08 in London last April--his first marathon.
Thirdly, nothing's stopping the recreational runners for whom the marathon is still a race from training 60-80 mi/wk. They will simply finish ahead of the trotters merely jogging to complete 26.2
Finally, it's true that for many the marathon is therapeutic, more "inspiration" than sweat-band, blister, and jock-strap perspiration. Completing a marathon often marks major life transformations for people -- losing weight, overcoming addictions, beating cancer. If you've run a major marathon in the last 10 years you'd have to be callous not to notice this, sympathize with it, and, yes, applaud it.
How does it hurt my performance if I want to run sub-3 and others are aiming for sub-5? I'll be in a start corral ahead of them, running a totally different race.
