That’s a good one.

Oprah trained hard for--and ran an excellent race in 1994. Accounting for age and sex, (there’s calculators on the web for that), she kicked your butt.

But I won’t pile on too much, because the posters here did an excellent job of pointing out the flaws and vacuity of your alleged argument.

Also, most local road races aren’t money-makers for the sponsors, etc. If it weren’t for the back of the pack runners supporting these things, you might not have a race to run!

As a devoted runner, though, I do cringe when I hear a few people saying “anyone can do a marathon” etc. And some people do show up at starting lines untrained and maybe a little naïve. But that’s life, (and not exclusive to running) and it has no impact on me. (or Ryan Hall for that matter).

But the people who train and put in the time and miles regardless of pace have nothing but my sincere respect and congratulations. And I’m so happy for them because running can enrich every corner of your life, no matter how fast or slow! I wish more people would give running a try, but maybe snobs scare them off?

Really, I think you’re disgruntled because Oprah seriously kicked your butt, despite the fact you consider yourself a “real” runner.

dear ed--

it is sad that you weren't with me last year when i finished my first marathon at the age of 52. i wasn't puking (sorry to disappoint) but i did shed a small tear because it was the hardest thing i've done since i quit smoking twenty years ago. too bad you don't get that. i don't particularly care if Americans are not the fastest people in the world. i care that we are not narrow-minded and petulant, ed.

I don't know who you are or what you've done other than running, but I'm a flabby Oprah-loving housewife here, and I don't know/care who you are...Last week in my grocery store I saw on the shelf with the olive oils a tiny bottle of 'truffle oil'. If I bought that truffle oil and used a touch of it on my omelet, would that somehow debase all the Great French Chefs who sought out the elusive truffle with trained pigs, and cut up their mindbendingly expensive piece of fungus to decorate chunks of lobster in champagne sauce? Would one of the Great Chefs write an article for Salon crying into his stockpot about how all the flabby middle class swine are horning in on the expensive fungus market and it's just not so special anymore? Because I can buy truffle oil I somehow am affecting his life? BOO HOO! Bite me, Ed.

PS - a Kenyan will always win the marathon, Ed. Not an American, and especially not you.

Mr. McClelland,

You are right!! The bar has been lowered.

Bobby Jones did this for golf; Then came Arnold Palmer. Then came Jack. Now we have Tiger.

The same can be said of "Great Pennsylvania Quarterbacks".

No more George Blanda's, Johnny Unitas's, Joe Namath's, Joe Montana's, Jim Kelly's or Dan Morino's?

Which begged the question; Did Pennsylvania own the right to send good quarterbacks to the NFL? No! Has the NFL Suffered? No!! And for good reason; If you want to be a good quarterback at least you had a ton of great guys to watch. This helped you learn the fundamentals!!

In all of the above cases here is what happened; The elite athletes became super-elite athletes who surpassed all of the records of their older peers...While at the same time...The sport that made their reputation, grew much larger in size due to 'lowering the bar'(and the participation gates), for the average Joe, to feel as though he or she can compete(tongue in cheek) 'on some level'...just not the highest level).

Think of it this way. The more shoes and outfits we,the slow ones buy, the bigger the endorsement/sponsorship check for the truly committed marathoner, who now doesn't have to take any job other than training to be "his or her" best.

In actuality, this is exactly as it should be...and happens to be the model of 'Pro Sports In General'.

I've not only bought Aesics Running Shoes, I have Tiger Clubs, Jordan Basketball Shoes, I drink Gatorade, I run in NIKE Gear, I work out in Under Armour Gear... All while watching the pros on the weekend do what I'll never be good enough to do... "Play A Sport Professionally And Make Millions".

I'm ok with this.

But again, you are right, our competitive spirit is waning....Math, Science, Obesity, you name it... Americans are losing... Maybe you meant to speak on more subjects than Marathons... The analogy definitely applies!!

Thanks...At least you wrote from the heart!!

Jay

Mr. McClelland's argument seems to be that America used to be good at the marathon until the sport became swamped with less competitive runners. I'm not certain where he gets that impression.

Looking at Olympic history, Americans dominated the event until 1924. Since then only two the two American men mentioned in the article (Frank Shorter and Mebrahtom Keflezighi) have won Olympic medals. I'm not certain where Mr. McClelland's perception that we recently were major players in the sport came from.

It is true that we used to dominate certain prestigious American events like the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon. But once those events became international, rather than national, competitions that dominance faded.

For my part, I will continue America's proud tradition of mediocrity in long distance running. Mr. McClelland should take up the 400 meters, where America has won 19 out of the 26 available gold medals including 11 out of the last 13. That is, unless he his afraid that his participation will bring the elite runners' times down.

Which is it? It's good for non-elite runners to run a marathon in an exercise of self-improvement, or it's bringing the *whole* American competitiveness in the sport of marathon down? Really, give me a break. The slower people are not holding the elites back. I live in New York and run in lot's of races. The elites are always able to start up in front. If you really think some slower runner is keeping those people from pushing themselves? Are slower runners keeping elite runners from training longer and harder? I really don't think so.

I really like this:

"When the attitude simply becomes to finish, that attitude becomes pervasive," says an old marathoner.

Who said that, really? Interesting it's not attributed.

Maybe the personalities that are getting attention in this sport are not the ones you would like (Oprah, John Bingham), but that does not really have anything to do with whether our country can produce olympic medal-worthy marathoners. What about Lance Armstrong having a camera follow him through his NYC Marathon last year? Is he holding back elite, long-distance runners, too?

Here's my argument:

- more people are pushing themselves (remember, running is solitary sport!), trying to get healthier; I think we agree that is positive

- many of these people are out moving their bodies for twice as long as an elite athlete. In fact, I'd be curious to see some of the faster runners push themselves for 4.5, 5, or even 6 hours straight (just because they take walk breaks doesn't mean while they are running, they are not pushing themselves hard)

- these are the people that are not winning money (not that cash prizes for winners are at all bad), but many times raising *thousands of dollars* for charity in order to run the marathon. As you mentioned, Team in Training, as well as dozens of others, could not exist and support the organizations they do without the thousands of runners that need help to get to the start and finish line.

Good job provoking a reaction, but I'm not sure I call this journalism.