People running marathon without trying to improve

How about you worry about yourself and stop being so insecure

Either that or quit wasting your time trolling

I think if you examine your feelings you will discover that you are actually jealous that these people are having fun and meeting new people whereas you are sad and sitting at home in your parents basement...forever alone.

fap alone cassidy wrote:

I think if you examine your feelings you will discover that you are actually jealous that these people are having fun and meeting new people whereas you are sad and sitting at home in your parents basement...forever alone.

I think you're projecting.

They collect finisher medals.

Obviously as you can see, many of the replies here are by those type of people I have referred to. And from their anger, it is obvious there is truth in what I said. I know a guy that just finished his first marathon in about 4:15 hours. He said his objective now is to try and improve the time with more quality training (intervals, fartlake..), cuase he's just been doing long slow runs. This I can understand. I understand people who's objective is to just finish at the first marathon. But guys who just collect finishing medals, as someone here said, why? You're probably the same people who fill the back of the car with those stickers of 42.2k. And I ask again, what is your objective? If you run for fun without caring for the time, why care for the distance? Why bother a whole official marathon? You like the attention at the finish line? The attention of the crowd? You like to tell people you've run 7 marathons? It's like kid who finishes the first grade, and want to do it again and again.

It is motivation for staying in shape. Finishing a marathon, especially as we get older and slower, still requires a fitness level commitment. The hope is that we will live healthier lives into our old age by maintaining a level of fitness that allows us to finish marathons.

Because it's fun. Try having some sometime. You'll like it.

I think most hobby joggers try to improve. However, they don't have quite the initiative to read a book on running or hire a coach. They run slow everyday because it's comfortable and they push just enough to finish the race.

Also, a lot of hobby joggers do improve. They go from 4:30 to 4:04. A minute per mile faster pace and you wouldn't notice.

Personally, I don't run in groups often and I try to do one marathon per year. I was improving up until my mid 30s, but have been falling off a little since.

For most people the distance itself is an achievement. It's also an event in which people feel proud to participate.

But they are now considered "heroes," by the media and worthy of medals.

A guy at work point out "I noticed you call them races. My wife and I always call them runs." It said a lot to me about the hobby jogger attitude.

When you only run 25mpw, you are unsure if you can actually finish a marathon. Finishing is the goal.

Maybe they just enjoy running for the sake of running. Maybe it makes them happy to just be out there. Maybe they just don't care what a clock says. Maybe they like running longer races, and the marathon is the most available distance. Who knows. More importantly, who cares.

People's motivations are entirely their own, and it doesn't make a damn bit of difference what you think. You don't own running.

When I was still running (racing) marathons (26.2 mi. not your pretentious 42.2 km) I was doing mile repeats, tempo runs and the long (20+ mile) run. I kept trying to improve my time by seeking out the fastest courses I could find. I also ran an occasional trail marathon just for fun (not worrying about time). If I had it to do over I would've run more trail marathons and fewer of the asphalt ones.

The trail marathons were like being a kid again, out playing in the woods. The fast (for me) marathons were work. My ego may have liked the work, but my child liked the play.

I think for these runners the whole point is just finishing, which is perfectly fine. It can also be a social event to run with friends, which is fine. To run faster, to improve you have to have structured training and many people just do not have the time or the desire to dedicate their resources to running a faster marathon.

[quote]Why bother wrote:

Some hobby joggers enjoy the chance to run on a safe and secure course through a beautiful town in the company of others while having generous support. Perhaps at one time they were a competitive runner. Perhaps it's not competition that drives them.

Not all tennis players and golfers are interested in practice and lessons and competitive environment. You can still be involved, active and enjoy the activity.

Without the support of the hobby jogger nation, most of the running events would be eliminated. Leaving you to "Just go and run in a group, or alone in the park without measuring anything...."

broken arrow wrote:

I think for these runners the whole point is just finishing, which is perfectly fine. It can also be a social event to run with friends, which is fine. To run faster, to improve you have to have structured training and many people just do not have the time or the desire to dedicate their resources to running a faster marathon.

I'm going to disagree. I know a lot of charity runners for Boston and most spend far more time on running and exercise related activities than your typical qualifier who takes training somewhat seriously. Even your 5 hour finisher is out spending 3-4 hours on long runs and running a couple of times per week and taking other cross training classes. Many do not come from a fitness background and it's a real struggle just to run 20 miles, nevermind finish a marathon. But the lack of improvement is largely the result of ignorance. They don't know what they're doing. And they end up grouping and training with others of similar ability who also have no idea what they're doing. You can script the disaster months in advance. Training and nutrition are terrible - they think running less is better and think they can eat whatever they want if they run 15 miles per week so many gain weight and wonder why. And for those that finish it's a pretty ugly thing to watch and recovery takes forever. So why do they keep coming back? I sometimes wonder. Probably the same reasons we do. They make friends, it feels good sometimes and they feel like they accomplished something. It's their time. I've stopped trying to give advice because most won't listen and are content to keep doing what they're doing.

think about the sheer number of people who run without realizing running is about momentum and they could immediately run so much faster and be less tired if they stopped braking themselves with every footfall

I pass people "prancing" down the trail every morning and it takes all my willpower to not stop and try to show them that just their form is making their running 100% harder - I realized it's not my business and they just have to find their own path, but wow it is frustrating not to try to help

While I'd always gun for the best myself on a given day, I wonder why you care?

Why bother to impose your idea of the marathon on others?

I can answer for myself. I ran at a high level in college and somewhat competitively for a few years after college while working full time (DI All American, competitive enough to be in pro starts at races, etc). I'm in my 30's have kids now and have no desire to work my ass off to run my fastest anymore but I run an easy marathon every year to stay in somewhat decent shape and to keep myself motivated to run. I run anywhere from 10-40 miles/week and I don't care at all what my time is, my easy marathon is enjoyable, doesn't hurt and it's usually 10-20 minutes slower than my PR but I don't care. In my opinion what's the point of making sacrifices to train hard at this point of my life unless it's my career or I'm trying to make an Olympic team?