"How sluggish newbies ruined the marathon." Gabriel Sherman, Slate, September 22, 2006.

http://www.slate.com/id/2149867

"The marathon was once this incredible challenge, to finish it and to finish as fast as you can…”

so do I understand you correctly - that the marathon is no longer an incredible challenge? and that I am not pushing my body as hard as I can, because… why? because my time would never qualify me for boston? does that somehow imply that my training is less rigorous? my sacrifice less pure? huh?

running gave me the courage to complete my graduate education at the age of 50. it keeps me focused and has become a vital part of who i am. i am lucky that my knees are cooperating with my minds desire. i am sorry that yours have not. …"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts." [Steve Prefontaine]

so rock on fellow tortoises, we all remember who eventually won that race…

I think people are missing the tone of the article, i.e. it's intended to be semi-humorous. And I think they're missing the main point, which is that there is a difference between a fitness run (jog) and a race. In a race, you are competing, trying to do better than someone else or yourself. In running, very often the race is in fact against other people in your age group, or your own previous times (thus the emphasis on PR's) or perhaps against your temptation to drop out. But if you don't give a damn about your time, you're not racing.

There is a lot of pressure on people to choose running as their fitness method - as a runner myself, I find many people I meet oddly defensive about the fact that they don't run. That's part of why races are full of beginners. People should choose whatever sport is fun for them and stop with the pressure. Save the competitive part for RACING (or playing tennis to win), and do the fitness part in a noncompetitive atmosphere.

On the other hand, one of the great things about the NYC marathon is how democratic it is, open to anyone from anywhere just like the city itself.

My first marathon was the New York in 1983 and I think I finished in 4:28 minutes....I think it was the year Rod Dixon won. After that I started training with a guy named Bob Glover who did speed workouts in Central Park and the marathon expo was composed of running stores and mom and pop operations. But my fear then was to finish in more than 4 1/2 hours and my goal was to break 4 hours.

Okay, I jogged the Chicago marathon this year, I have completed 6 Chicago marathons since I moved to Chicago. Throw a few New York and a Paris in there as well. The Chicago marathon is a corporations dream and a charities dream. It is not just the Oprah effect on marathons, it is that corporate greed has taken over. The marathons are now huge money machines because the corporations have realized they have one of the most profitable demographics at their finger tips at these expos. Car companies, Tiffanies, and the marathon themselves now produce merchandize to exploit their captive audiences.

The charities have profliferated so much that they have their own mini tent city at Chicago. Don't get me wrong, I took advantage one year and ran for one ( so I could get entry into the marathon I forgot to sign up and it was filled). The charities encourage anyone to try to run, remember it is for a CHARITY, the idea with the charity runners is just to finish.

You are right in your article, the value of a running a marathon has become completely devalued. Now it is encourages the American corporate way, "to push through the pain", no matter how under trained you are and finish. The attitude is that by doing this you are tough and you are brave rather than "you are stupid to enter a race that u r completely undertrained for".

I of course wrote feedback about the Chicago marathon debacle this year, the main issue is that the race is too big. There should be limits to the number of entries and a time limit in finishing.

Take the French, their maximum amount of time the French give a runner to finish the Paris marathon is 5 1/2 hours. There is a sweep van, and policeman taking runners, or I should say joggers, off the road if they are slower than a 5 1/2 hour pace. They are the French and they are precise.

So, why has this not been instituted in New York or Chicago? GREED.... You may call it the Oprah effect, but when the races are as lucrative and as attractive to corporations and charities as they are, why put time limits on the field? So I agree the spirit of the marathon has been ruined, but don't necessarily blame Oprah, she did finish in less than 5 hours which I consider respectable. Blame the organizers and blame GREED and blame the corporations....

It has absolutely nothing to do with an influx of amateurs or the plodding paces these people keep. It has to do with money, pure and simple. Anyone who is a superior athlete makes their way into baseball, football, so on and so forth. Why should someone who has physical talent train for marathons for a relatively poor pay rate? It makes no sense financially.

I do not know why the author is so bitter about the likes of Oprah running marathons, but I suspect he wants to delude himself as being an elite, although he is not. For a plodder to train, run and complete a marathon takes more courage than an elite runner because it is just physically and mentally more difficult. And a word to Mr. McClelland- The gentlemen protest too much, me thinks.

you're preaching to the "everyone gets a medal, a banquet and a parade for just showing up" bunch. what do you expect from a society where everybody is entitled?

i was at nau the summer jim ryun trained there for the '68 olympics. we were so excited. now a marathoner is some kid's 50 year old dad.