Plodders and Walkers Have a Place in a Marathon
“Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?” was an article in the New York Times last week. My answer to this insulting question is a resounding yes. I explain why.
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A few elite snobs think that a marathon (26.2 miles) is an event that you should not sign up for unless you think you have a chance to win. Well, if that were the case, you would have to run these events in about 2 hours 15 minutes if you are a man and just a little slower if you are a woman. There are some events where plodders do not have a place such as The Olympics or events like the Boston Marathon where there is a time minimum to qualify. An example of this elite piece of garbage (assuming she was quoted correctly, this is the “New York Times”) is Adrienne Wald. She thinks it is a joke to walk or slow-run a marathon in six hours. Whew, I barely missed being offended by her since I did my only marathon to this point in 5 hours and 37 minutes. She was also quoted that the mystique of running a marathon is gone.
I guess someone like me is in a lose-lose situation with the fat police and the elite marathon scum like Ms. Wald. The fat police were mad at me from 1997-2007 when I weighed as much as 231 pounds and was fat and out of shape. So I log onto a website called www. walking.about.com and trained to walk half-marathons as part of a weight loss plan. This is the link to that article I wrote about my experience. (http://authspot.com/journals/how-i-lost-weight-by-walking-marathons/) I then decided I could do a full marathon and I did it; here is the story. (http://healthmad.com/fitness/i-finished-my-first-marathon-and-learned-a-valuable-life-lesson-ii-the-marathon/) Was I trying to win the marathon; no, I surely did not. I did break any land speed records on either. I walked-ran that first half-marathon in about 2 hours 45 minutes and the full marathon in 5 hours 37 minutes. These are no records, but I am a marathoner finisher and I have my t-shirt and my medal.
Now Ms. Wald is mad at me because I am a marathon finisher just like she and her people are. She and her elite sum friends are mad because I have my medal and t-shirt. It is the decision of the elite runners to enter a race with poddlers and the people putting on a marathon on how much time to keep the course open. Of course, there is more prize money for the elites when we poddlers come to these events.
The only thing I would say to poddlers is to stay out of the way of the elites. First, be honest with where you start the marathon. If you run a 10 minute mile, do not start with the 8 minute milers. You are causing danger to yourself with getting run over. Also, if a marathon course is two laps of 13.1 miles, try to stay out of the way of the elites if you cannot finish your 13.1 before they finish their 26.2. Show common courtesy if you are getting “lapped” even though it sucks to be lapped.
It is the job of the event coordinators, not the elite scum, to decide how long to keep a marathon course open. There is negotiation with the city as to how long they will grant a permit for the event. How long do the streets have to be closed? Do you have to be a certain distance along before you are disqualified? This is not the job of the elite running scum to decide. The Honolulu Marathon is open all day; on the other end is the Boston Marathon. You have to qualify with a time based on age and sex to qualify for Boston. As long as the poddlers follow the guidelines in the previous paragraph, why should they care?
I am going to keep doing my marathons as long my knees hold up. I have gotten three family members and one friend to do my next half-marathon this Saturday. None will win or break records. But they will be there. I forget the elite scum.
4 Comments
These people really bug me. I have run/walk 22 marathons ranging from 4:27 – 5:47. I am a marathoner. I finished and I am proud of each finish. How dare someone say any different. My husband is currently training for his 1st marathon. He has been running/walking halfs while I go and do the full. He has been working very hard and when he finishes no matter what the time is, he too will be a marathoner. It is so inspirational seeing people out there doing it. They range from all ages, and they all have a story. Shame on those critical people. Who do they think they are??
Terri, thanks for the comment. Great job on your part. The greatest of the numbers you gave is 22. Wow! Good luck to your husband. I did not start all this until 2 years ago at the age of 35. I needed something to motiviate me to exercise- the medals and t-shirts have sure worked. Good luck to your husband in his first marathon. When I did my first full, my friend did his first half. My sisters and brother-in-law are all doing their first this Saturday in Greenville. One sister will take 3 1/2 hours. So what? As long as she gets in before the 4 hours. When I finish, I am going to walk back to get her to support her finish. Keep it up and to hell who says anything bad about her or us? Signed Jack, Marathon finisher.
My wife, Terri, is running a marathon in every state. She is not an elite runner but has placed in smaller marathons. She has inspired me, a decidedly non-runner. Even when I was “in shape” in high school (27 years ago) I could not run a full mile. But my marathon running wife inspired me. I started off walking 5k races, then I started jogging & walking, then I did some 10K races. 22 months ago I completed my first half marathon; it took me 3:44:45. I jog & walk. I’m not fast but I finish. Last year I completed 6 half marathons with a best time of 3:18:22. I set myself the goal of running a full marathon in 2009. So far this year I have completed 9 half marathons and each of the last 8 have been personal records. My half marathon time is down to 2:19:58 and I can now run over 5 miles non-stop (with no walking). Training for the marathon has been a huge challenge and I couldn’t do it without the love and support of my wife. I am running or exercising 5 or 6 days a week. I have lost about 25 pounds, lowered my cholesterol and even been able to come off my high blood pressure medicine. None of this would have happened if I were not training to run a marathon. My big race (the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, OK) is in about 3 weeks. My goal is just to finish, without hurting myself, within the generous 7:30 time limit; but I’m hoping to beat 6 hours. So, yes, I am a “plodder” but, when I finish, I will be a marathoner and proud of the accomplishment. I have already signed-up for a second full marathon. Those few snobs who have a problem with “plodders” should stick to races like the Boston Marathon or put on their own “elite only” events. Good luck with that. The vast majority of marathoners are not elites and will probably never qualify for races like Boston but we make many of the big races (with big prize money for the elites) possible. Keep running. Stay between the cones.
Your story is very inspiring, Chris. The half-marathons are very addictive. After I did the first one, I wanted to do another and another. I did the one full marathon last year and may do another. I am working now on improving my time in the half. My first half was 2:45; my last one Labor Day Va. Beach was 2:02 and I am shooting for 2 hours. Then I will do another full. Keep up the good work and best of luck in your first marathon. It will be a long, exciting day. As long as someone is trained to do the marathon in the time limit, everyone under that time should be welcome. I am sure you will do fine! Let me know your time.