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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
A marathon is about 6.2 miles longer than a typical human being's ability to race. That is why runners "hit the wall." Phidippides died running it from Marathan to Athens. Yesterday, very sadly, Ryan Shays died running the marathon in an Olympic trial.
The race is sufficiently long and hard that anything can happen--runners get cramps, nausea, strains, fractures, and so forth. I've run about 40 marathons and abou 30 ultramarathons. Each one is different and is an adventure. I am not an elite runner, by a long shot, but I can finish an ultra closer to the front of the pack than a marathon.
Like many posting here, I run for stress relief and for my health, not to win races. I run races for documentation of performance. Am I getting faster or slower?
I know that I am not going to win a marathon and I want to be sure to stay out of the way of those having a chance. Footraces from the 5K to the ultra are one of the very few sports where people of many abilities can put themselves to the test and stretch their human abilities. As many others have said, this is the kind of sport desperately needed in the US right now, if we are going to break out of the stereotype of the fat, greedy, stupid, spoiled, ugly American.
for a letter writer to refer to heavy people as 'porksters,' when i would probably get my ass handed to me if i called him, oh, i don't know, a 'slanty-eyed gook?' writing is his area of excellence? i beg to differ.
and as for the article writer characterizing a woman trying to improve herself as 'hauling her flab' around DC, all i can say is fuck you, buddy. fuck you. when i see heavy people out running or exercising, i want to cheer them on, because as a former overweight person, i know how hard it is to get out there to exercise knowing that you will most likely be judged and even mocked. you're told, 'why don't you get off your fat ass and do something,' and then you're vilified for doing it.
so fuck you, buddy. if i ever meet you, i will kick your bad knee hard, and then run away laughing.
Ophrah has ruined lots of things---all for the sake of the lime light. Why does a woman with a Hollywood mansion featuring 15 bathrooms and 10 fireplaces need to cross a finish line to prove anything?
Greed?
McClelland is right.
If you want to know why, just read all the posts on this letter thread, with self-indulgent narcissists talking about crossing "complete marathon" off their "life to-do list." Ugh. The marathon has become a supreme act of self-indulgence. Shuffling continuously for five hours now somehow translates to a heroic act of passage.
This is not equivalent to amateurs vs elites in most avocations; a better equivalency is to "American Idol" versus professional singing, except that the off-key tyros on that show receive mockery, not praise.
McClelland is pouring well-deserved derision on all these self-absorbed waddlers, and while he certainly overreaches in connecting this phenomenon to the state of American competitiveness, he is absolutely spot on about one thing: your five-hour marathoner deserves no more praise than I do after botching "Don't Stop Believing" at my nearby karaoke bar.
Skypillar tells us, "I hate the persistent and damaging myth that competition is somehow an elevated, good thing."
I have a feeling that this sentiment is shared by many people who are attacking McClelland, and that it is at the root of the shocked offense that so many are indulging in here. It is true, I'm sure, that most people do not like to compete, and are content to live off the fruits of those that do. Perhaps that is what is translating into the "Hey, I'm great if I finish" argument - I suspect it is - and the reason why McClelland's article is touching a nerve.
I think Oprah has made more appearances in her short life than the alleged appearances of the Virgin Mary in the past 2000 years. Celebrities stay home and leave the common folk alone! You get enough publicity without stealing the little bit of well-earned praise that belongs to ordinary working guys and gals who freely, without stipends or paparazzi shadowing them compete in marathons and various walks for charity.
Does anybody really confuse the gazelles at the front of the pack with the assorted heavy-footed beasts at the back? Probably not. Then if not, how do those presumably just there for fun/charity/personal fulfillment/other unworthy, Oprah-like reasons, make anything "cheaper" or less fulfliing than those there for the presumably purest of reasons?
Be generous, Mr. McClelland.
Here's what you say:
A marathon used to be a reward for years of hard work, steady improvement, and unwavering commitment to running. No longer. Now it’s just something people sign up for with much fanfare and no preparation. And as someone who cares about the sport of running, that makes me sad.
I'd buy that defense if the author were an "elite" athlete. He's not. Expounding on your own metaphor, McClelland's talent level approximates that of an intermediate student in community college pottery class. He complains about Oprah but Oprah's own marathon time approximates his. That makes the whole premise of his article a joke.
Now, I appreciate a purportedly serious runner like yourself. But you falsely presume that the lesser lights among you fail to prepare. That's absurd and colossally presumptuous. I won't ever run a marathon in my life, and I'm a pretty big guy, but I was a pretty dedicated runner for over a decade before my knees gave out. I completed my first half-marathon last year. I would have never been able to do so had I not had years of experience at jogging (20-25 miles/week for years prior) and had not prepared diligently prior to the event. And I finished it at a pedestrian 3 hours-plus, but I finished it.
Scores of other people across the country could tell the same story. Look at Oprah. She had to lose dozens of pounds and train and diet assiduously to complete that feat. Serious runners should be applauding her and people like her for making that effort, instead of behaving like snarky hipsters who seethe at suburbanites for discovering their favorite bar.
Just because you perceive people as less talented than you gives you no right to prejudge their preparation efforts.
I'd expect more from a Buckeye.
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