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I ran my first marathon (in Chicago) the same day Oprah ran her one and only marathon with the Marines. And she is the person credited with saying, "if you can run a marathon, you can do anything."
Of course, that is not true. Most things in life are more challenging than running a marathon, things like love and diplomacy and peace and sustaining marriage.
Running a marathon is one of the simplest things a person can do, especially if you count five and six hour finishes as "running" a marathon. Not that I am an elitist. I am not an elitist, and neither should running be. And as for the massive middle of the pack in races these days, well, goals are good. We need the informal jogs and the lone runs and the team training, and we need the races, too, with clocks and ribbons and spectators. (THANK YOU, SPECTATORS!)
In this generally slothful nation, where more people follow the leaders in sports from their snack-stained couches and hazy, neon-lit sports bars, we should be overjoyed that such a simple, accessible and affordable sport has grown as it has. Running is basic to human evolution and physiology. Running -- and especially long distance running, keeping it going for more than a few miles -- is part of what defines and distinguishes us as humans.
It's up to the leaders and the "elite" to run as fast and as far as they can or want. It is up to the rest of us to get outside, to get moving, to get our hearts beating, to build strength and stamina -- and to find joy. We are not stumbling in the pursuit of the elite; we are actively participating in the pursuit of happiness and of feeling not only awake and alive but vibrant. Vive le feet!
