Professional sport is entertainment. The business model is to put asses in seats and eyes in front of screens. 217 Marathoners do neither. Thus the necessity for a day job.
This is where the sport has completely missed something regarding it's current state and who really follows it. I am not interested at all in how fast some (likely doping or soon to be busted) African or elite athlete runs these days. However, I am much more interested in how fast some 2:17 amateur type performs in a major marathon, the training they do, the lifestyle etc. And I am sure that a lot of people think like me - look how many posts the Sirpoc/Norwegian low mileage thread generated and the interest around it with Strava groups etc.
When the highest performing (in terms of race times) competitors of your sport are no longer identifiable to the majority of its followers, then you have a major problem as a professional sport.
Again, it’s entertainment. 5min and 5:20 pace are indistinguishable to the naked eye.
The problem is distance running is not entertaining to watch.
Nobody watched the Super Bowl to see how they could become a better cornerback and could care less how many snaps the quarterbacks took in practice.
If you're only interested in making money, then you'd be a fool to get into running in the first place.
By that logic, all runners are terrible athletes, because they're not making 50 million euros a year like Erling Haaland, etc.
I care about watching people get the very best out of themselves, the right way.
That's inspiring.
Watching likely doped 2:02 runners coming out of the woodwork to compete for nothing more than a cash grab isn't particularly inspiring or entertaining.
If you're only interested in making money, then you'd be a fool to get into running in the first place.
By that logic, all runners are terrible athletes, because they're not making 50 million euros a year like Erling Haaland, etc.
I care about watching people get the very best out of themselves, the right way.
That's inspiring.
Watching likely doped 2:02 runners coming out of the woodwork to compete for nothing more than a cash grab isn't particularly inspiring or entertaining.
Again, professional sport is entertainment. If you want to run for the love of running great but if you wanna make a living at it, your sport has to be entertaining.
The money spent on sports entertainment is discretionary income.. Nobody needs marathoners. We need food, shelter and occasionally a dentist.
2:18-2:22 runners are crazier than 4 hour hobby joggers.
what are these people chasing, or running away from, to run 80+ mile weeks into their 30s or 40s? What is the point of trying to qualify for multiple Olympic trials when you really never have a shot of the Olympic team? Sure it’s impressive a dude with a full time job can rip sub 5:20s for an absurd distance, but really what’s the point and what’s that dude sacrificing time wise with his family, if he has one, and other wise social life.
these runners are usually the most obnoxious in any local scene. I’d rather cheer on the hobby jogger trying to break 4 hours than see and hear someone write a whole story about trying to get to the trials
2:18-2:22 runners are crazier than 4 hour hobby joggers.
what are these people chasing, or running away from, to run 80+ mile weeks into their 30s or 40s? What is the point of trying to qualify for multiple Olympic trials when you really never have a shot of the Olympic team? Sure it’s impressive a dude with a full time job can rip sub 5:20s for an absurd distance, but really what’s the point and what’s that dude sacrificing time wise with his family, if he has one, and other wise social life.
these runners are usually the most obnoxious in any local scene. I’d rather cheer on the hobby jogger trying to break 4 hours than see and hear someone write a whole story about trying to get to the trials
It’s delusions of grandeur. They feel their running is more important than that of the evil hobby joggers whose entire identities aren’t tied to race times.
This post was edited 11 minutes after it was posted.
Obvious troll. People who post things like this are guys who ran 4:20, paid a marathon tour group a few $thousand$, got a Boston bib, and wear the jacket everywhere to try to impress others, and have "Boston Qualifier" prominently displayed on their IG page and in their email signature.
Or you know, they just like running and are good at it. In my experience runners don’t really look down on other runners in real life, as much as the posters on this site would seem to indicate. We’re all runners and I’m just happy others are out there. Running is a hobby. It doesn’t take that much time to run 2:30 maybe more to go 2:20, but still. Compare it to golf or watching tv or gardening or whatever
what are these people chasing, or running away from, to run 80+ mile weeks into their 30s or 40s? What is the point of trying to qualify for multiple Olympic trials when you really never have a shot of the Olympic team?
Damn. Why are you hating? As long as their hobby doesn't have an actual net negative impact on others or the runner's relationship with family, etc., what's wrong with chasing goals and running a lot?
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