However, I find it difficult to sympathize for a variety of reasons.
- First off, those elite runners (henceforth we'll call them "Lowells" for the sake of brevity)who compete in the marathon are given special priveleges above and beyond the normal entrant. They are sponsored, catered to, put in the front of the line, interviewed after the run, and carted off to a four star hotel before Johnny Waddlecheeks has even passed the halfway point.
- It may be a professional sport, but the professional aspect comes from sponsors, not people paying good money for tickets to watch people complete this ridiculous task. For example, it's not like the NFL is having problems with packs of gangly Kenyan marathoners trying to suit up for gameday (actually, i'd pay money to see that!). Reason: it's not open to the public. There is a guantlet of challenges that tests a person's ability to play at a professional level in football. Anyone can get up one morning and decide to start training for a marathon. And since marathons ARE open to the public, anyone can enter one. Whether or not you're going to get paid to do it basically comes down to natural ability - which brings me to my third point...
- I look at these guys who run marathons professionally and I say to myself
, these guys are doing what they're born to do. Yes, it is a feat to be able to shoot for a world record for a marathon. But for some strange reason, I'm not that impressed. I think it's hard for the average "Lowell" to appreciate what a daunting task running a marathon is for the average person. Sometimes when I'm out there running, I actually starting thinking of the things that I would rather be doing (i.e. pulling my fingernails out with a pair of pliers, getting a root canal, etc). For this guy (pictured) running a marathon is literally a walk in the park. For me, it really is like climbing Mount Everest. He's probably 110 lbs soaking wet, lean, long and built for endurance. I was 110lbs in 5th grade. I am large framed, knocked kneed, heavy boned and have the metabolic rate of a hibernating grizzly bear. So I ask you? Who is accomplishing the greater feat in running the marathon?
That's my take.
Mike
I would have to agree with a good deal of what Mike is saying. It is absolutely easier for me to "run" a marathon than it is for the average marathon runner. What you can debate (or we can debate the next time we get together) is whether is is easier for me to "race" a marathon than it is for you to "run" a marathon. I would argue that everyone in this group is more about just running to survive it than competitively racing the distance.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day, you get credit just for having the guts to toe the starting line and you get a lot more credit if you run, walk, or even crawl your way to the finish line before they open the course back up to traffic.
I think there are some serious runners who think of their sport as a bit of a country club and want it to be as exclusive as possible as long as they are on the inside looking out. Keep logging the miles party crashers!