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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I have bad genes - you had the brilliance to chose better parents than I did, but thanks for gloating, that's awesome. You should hang with the cystic fibrosis people and laugh at them.
But in this day and age, I fail to see how all the mall rhinos at 5'4" 245lbs, regardless of their internal medical history are in 'better' health than I am just because they've been going to the gym for ten years, trudge on the treadmill for 30 minutes 6 days a week and seem to show zero improvement. If all this 'let's hand out ribbons to the people who show up-ism' was so wonderful don't you think that people would, generally speaking be in better shape? Or have we come to the point where, if you show up to exercise and you're still 60lbs overweight and you eat poison, well that's cool, because, you meant well and you feel good about yourself. I would hate to see PC weight-ism turn into a general acceptance of poor diet, flab and excess in the name of so called 'health' foisted on us by the body-type nazis.
By the by - thanks for supporting the joint replacement and orthopedic surgery injury, because all you marathoners, that's what you're doing.
I sense that you are one of those guys who likes to make some extremist comment, simply to be thrashed and mauled from every angle. It's admirable to make such an aggressive claim, since often it is the crazies who somehow alter peoples' mindsets and stimulate change.
I too share your competitive attitude and suggest that society not be so consumed by our feel-good mentality. I am a champion cyclist and I work my ass off. I'm in a cycling culture that is not content with old records, and this is reflected in the regular efforts to break world records (it also happens to be a little dirty with the doping allegations, but hopefully the new generation can change--doping in runners is another argument as well).
The problem I have is every time I go to Wal-Mart I see children walking around with soda, slurping their way to diabetes and obesity, asking their mothers for the next PS2 game so they can sit on their ass and suck the life out of the health care system in the future. Without aggressive public health concerns addressing the obesity epidemic, people suffer from a lack of mediums to stay fit and improve their quality of life. For this reason, I'll let the male average time grow 45 min and not care at all. Actually I'll look at the 45,000 people participating in the Chicago marathon and smile. As a health care professional, it's 45,000 people less I have to worry about clogging our emergency rooms and being mortally dependent on medications. I say, let the Oprah fans run, as long as it gets them off the couch.
Marathon running is not a team sport, it is impossible to blame your failings on anyone but yourself. Oprah running slowly doesn't make the American Olympic athletes run more slowly. The US doesn't value things that take a long time to master, so training a runner from the age of 18 to 28 is not done in the US as it is done in other places, hence we lose marathons.
I do see that a very American trait is on display here, failing at something and blaming everyone but yourself.
Nice people.
P.S. Can someone tell me what Oprah did to deserve this headline? Is it being successul? Black? Female? Or just being human?
I'm with slowpokejoe - I think McClelland and pals are deep down just frustrated that it has been proven that most healthy adult humans can run 26.2 miles if they put their minds to it, so they can no longer keep commoners out of their exclusive club. And I use run in the #1 definition of the the word by Webster's New World Dictionary: (verb) - to go by moving the legs faster than in walking. You may call them "joggers" with a sneer, but they are true runners, they do something that I can't stand to do, and I admire them for it.
Just like I admire anyone who climbs Mt. Everest. Yes, some people do it with bottled oxygen, and may take a few days longer to do it than elite climbers, but as long as they get it done on their own two feet, it is really impressive to me. I think even more healthy adults could climb the world's highest peaks if it were not so expensive to do so. Which is what makes the marathons so fantastic. It is a test of endurance that is cheap to train for and particitpate in.
If you elite distance runners can't handle mixing with the masses, there are ultra marathons out there just waiting for you. But be warned - those who take it the most seriously will likely belittle you the same way you are treating the Johnny-come-lately marathoners. Will you deserve their scorn?
Sportsmanship, as I was brought up to know it, doesn't include snobbery. I have been running for nearly a decade. I got into the sport to help build my lungs because I have asthma (and, no, I have never smoked a day in my life). I will never be an elite runner. But I can tell you that I have run many shorter races (12Ks, 10Ks, 5Ks) and done quite well in them. I entered the Marine Corps Marathon to challenge myself and take my running to the next level. Your suggestion that my running in that race is wrong and presumably helped ruin the sport (since my time was slower than Oprah's)completely ignores the fact that the seeded runners were long gone way before my chip ever crossed the start line. Further, the suggestion that anyone not running a sub-3:30 race is not in a race at all is simply offensive. When I entered the chute (and indeed a mile or so before that), I increased my pace, and I happily picked off about 10 runners by the time I crossed the finish line. I also know people who are elite athletes (one of my friends won the Toronto marathon and many other friends have done quite well in the Hawaii Ironman), and none of them have ever put anyone down for running or trying to improve themselves. Maybe that's just because they were seeded and didn't need to worry about the rest of us schlubs getting in their way, though . . .
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
