Letters to the Editor
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holy cow!
Not Oprah. This article was not only written by an absolute idiot, it was mean spirited and shallow to boot. Middle aged pudge? That's journalism?! Where's YOUR competitive standard for your so-called profession? Just b/c you ran a 20 min 5k in the last century doesn't give you a leg (with a bum knee, boo hoo, whiny asshole) to stand on to write crap like this!
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Silly sorehead
America's competitive spirit has been trampled by the star system in athletics which tells us there are the real athletes and the rest of us. The marathon surge points very positively to the idea that even the no-talents can run, race and finish. How is that a bad thing? It's not like they get in front and slow down the "real athletes." P.S. I'm 65 now and still run and I ran two marathons faster than you did, Edward, when I was in my early 40s.
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Weirdness
Oprah is a loser for running 26.2 miles and encouraging out of shape people to do the same?
What strikes me as really odd is the notion of encouraging people to begin their journey of "getting in shape" by training to do a marathon. Wouldn't it be much more practical and useful for such people to run 3 to 5 miles several times a week and work on getting their time down for that distance? And then to gradually increase distance while reducing time? That seems much more admirable to me than staggering through 26.2 miles in an average time/mile that's little better than walking just to be able to say "Hey, I did it, too!"
I like the French approach someone cited earlier, though I'd say 5.5 hours is still extremely generous.
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Edward McClelland is nothing more than a mysogynist
A middle aged curvey black woman who happens to be a hero to most American women ruins the marathon for a skinny privledged white guy. Boo Hoo. Find a different war to fight, maybe one that is actually worthwhile, like global warming, poverty, the Iraq war, the obesity epidemic, or the new world order of corporate dictatorship and preventative war for the benenfit of the military industrial complex? Nahh, better to whine about a woman not keep her big fat butt out of the pure asthetics of male sportmanship!
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putz
Mr McClelland writes from the lofty stance of his own 4:16 marathon record and concludes that competitive US marathon performance is being harmed by the hordes that show up for today's large marathon fields.
Race directors set cutoff times. Yes, many of today's marathon holds the field open for people who choose to walk. That's obviously a decision in the hands of the organizer, sponsors, the police who're paid to control and re-direct traffic etc, etc. McClelland has got a long way to go to draw a defensible conclusion based on his argument and he's not goe very far in looking for evidence to backup his complaint.
Citizens of the US are still doing very well thank you in ultra-distance endurance sports, if not the rather short distance of the marathon. The top 15 finishers in the Western Sates 100 were all from these shores. The BadWater 135 also continues to be dominated by residents of the US and Canada. The Hawaii Ironman championship is now seeing very strong international fields, but US citizens are surely holding up their end thank you.
I happen to be a back-of-the-pack triathlete. Triathlon for me is a means to an end, my primary sports are technical rock climbing and mountaineering, training for other endurance sports provides enjoyable interim goals on the path to being a stronger climber. I won't ever crowd the slopes of Mt. Everest, because I have no desire to depart from the 'leave no trace' ethic, nor to go into the mountains with the help of paid guide services. In short I pay my dues and I climb responsibly.
Same thing in 'racing' I won't ever enter a race without doing the training necessary. I will be glad to someday climb into the middle or even front of my age-group, in the meantime I'm quite happy to put in my hours and get the results I've worked for. In the last 18 months I've logged 4000 miles of cycling, 480 miles of running and tens of thousands of feet of ascent both in the climbing gym and out in the wilderness.
Someday I too will run a marathon. I'm targeting Mr McClelland's 'Oprah' time of 4:30, however that run will be following a 2.4 mile swim and 112 miles on a bike.
Ted McClelland, welcome to the ranks of people training not to win but to excel. If you see me out on the race course I won't be wearing a cotton T-shirt because bleeding nipples aren't my idea of 'fun' and I'll be perfectly glad to use the lighter, safer running shoes, just as I use nylon climbing rope, not the hemp of the 1950s.
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don't dismiss Meb
Meb Keflezighi is an American. He started running in the US, trains in the US and won the medal as an American citizen. How offensive to quickly dismiss him as not a "real" US runner.
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A testament to the power of leading by example
Ah, if only I were one of "them." I remember years ago, when I lived in the city, joining the Running Club, completing 10K's, and dreaming of running the marathon. I'd been running since I was 16, and I began to train. Unfortunately, after standing in line and registering 10 years ago, I wasn't selected. It's upsetting to hear how, today, so many poorly trained and less-than-fit runners are running the New York Marathon.
As much as I don't like Oprah, I think what she did helped to raise the bar for those sedentary fools who only wore their sneakers to visit the grocery store. I, too, said that if "Oprah can do it, so can I." Running is the great leveler; people of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels can run. For me, I considered completing a marathon to be a life-changing event. For those who train properly, the skills one develops are useful for a lifetime.
Someday, I hope to complete a marathon. And not because Oprah did it, but because the thrill of competing in such an auspicious event is its own reward.