Oprah encourages people to get off the couch and run consistently enough so that they can finish a marathon.

And this guy thinks it's bad?

I'm far from a rabid Oprah fan, but one thing she has done that I like is encourage people to aim for fitness, even if they have to try and fail a few times. She keeps trying, and it inspires others to keep trying. This is a good thing, and it doesn't interfere with what elite athletes decide to do.

The rise and fall of marathoning in this country has nothing to do with Oprah. It's a problem with the sport itself. It's not lucrative right now, so we're not producing top-tier runners.

That's the problem, not Oprah. Oprah encouraging people to get out there and run isn't a problem.

"Edward McClelland is the author of "The Third Coast," a Great Lakes travelogue to be published in February."

I can't wait to hear how regular folk have ruined the experience of trekking around the Great Lakes for those who are better equipped to appreciate it. I should check, though...I'll bet someone from Slate already wrote about it.

A few writers have noted this already, but some people seem to have ignored it, so I just want to remind everyone that the author of this article has completed exactly one marathon, in 4 hours and 16 minutes.

Which, we are led to believe, makes him an infinitely superior kind of runner to Oprah and her 2:29.

You heard it here first, on Salon, folks. 13 minutes is what separates the ELITE runners from the flabby, feel-good amateur television hosts who are bringing mediocrity to America and causing us good Americans to lose to the Kenyans and... to... other Americans who aren't really American.

I just finished the Nike Marathon in San Francisco on 10/21. I did it for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Team in Training. Never, ever would have considered this without the TnT support and training. I raised nearly $3K for cancer research, got to meet Joan Benoit Samuelson, Bonnie Chastain and The Penguin, and had great coaches, mentors and made a handful of wonderful caring people I call friends. I was high for a week after the half--and still very proud of what I did. I came in as the 503 ranked woman in my age group--age 51/female. What did McClelland's training every do for another human being? I am still getting in shape, plan on continuing to train with TnT and doing the full marathon next year. I am really sorry Oprah and I have ruined your pure sport. But then Oprah has also ruined reading by selling millions of books, schools by focusing on education--and probably ruined the billionaire class too by becoming its first African-American female member. Good Gawd, Oprah, have you no shame? You keep ruining things for white middle aged men!

Dear Hurt Knee Runner Guy,

I am hoping that you wrote this article with a confrontational, inflammatory spin for the increased attention it would get, both from Salon and readers (behold... a letter!). I say this because you can't seriously believe that greater public interest in distance running is a bad thing, can you? In the face of the growing epidemic of obesity? In the face of more and more ways for completely sessile people to occupy all of their time? I am thrilled that lots more people are running, wobbling, even staggering their way through marathons, or any distance for that matter.

In each to the 10 marathons I have run, the start of the race parses people into corrals by approximate time, so there is no hindrance to the progress of the faster runners by the presence of the slow ones. The result of more people are all positive: better support and facilities, more public awareness, and a greater sense of possibilities distinct from the sessile life we are tempted to lead.

As for Chicago, even a cursory exploration a bit deeper than Fox News will reveal that it wasn't the large number of non-elite runners that cause that debacle, but the incredibly poor performance of the organizers. The San Diego Rock 'n' Roll marathon has had 80 degree weather and tons of newbies, with no mishap. The difference? Water, support, organization. The reason that the blame was shifted to the scads of neophites was a simple political one. Public awareness of the true cause of that disaster would lessen the chances for Chicago to host the Olympics, and so they chose the expedient, if inaccurate, spin of blaming the large number of less-experienced participants.

Finally, I think it is flawed thinking to implicate the growing number of Galloway-type marathoners on the USA's failure to keep up with world standards in distance running. It is not the large number of slower runners keeping talented young athletes away from committing to marathoning. It is the alternate incentives embodied in Tiger Woods, A-Rod, and massive Nike endorsements. Although you have an admirable asceticism in your desire to wear old cotton and floppy socks, most young people would be more interested in 100 million dollars contracts and colorful logo-laden outfits in the pursuit of the excellence their talents can yield.

So good luck in your resumption of the marathon. But please don't blame the people who are not as good as you for the failures of the people who are better.

...I wish you were quiet about yours.

You are the teenager who is constantly trying to form a clique in a desperate attempt to seem cool. Not working for you, is it?

Concern yourself with your own life and forget about trying to exclude other people from your spotlight, you'll be a happier person.

Cut through the verbiage, and McClelland's argument is nothing more than an adult-age version of "It's our club, and you can't come in!"

Grownups don't object when other people want to joint their favorite activity. Quite the contrary, they normally extend advice or other help to get their co-participants up to speed. Most runners I've met fall into the latter category, thank goodness.

McClelland needs to go in his backyard, build a clubhouse out of castoff lumber, put a sign on the door that says "NO GIRLS/FAT WOMEN/AMATEUR RUNNERS ALLOWED", and contemplate his specialness. I'm sure that will make him happy.