Why the obsession with marathons?

I have had no problem discussing my decision-making process regarding the marathon with those who inquire about it. The term "cowardice," though, is pretty strong, as it is not as if I have been sitting on my couch. I have trained and raced in all conditions, and have given it my all in many races. I enjoy and respect running enough such that I would want to give the marathon a fitting performance--and not trivialize the race--by training properly for it (not just going out there after a few months, blowing up, and perhaps being unable to run, or run well, anymore). As you rightly explain, a matter of a few seconds per mile could be the difference in running a good, intelligent race, and blowing up (and risking injury, too). I have already decided to train for a marathon, and I gather my upcoming half will add something to my base of knowledge and experience. Others may proceed as they desire, but my general trajectory has been to follow a prudent progression: 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half marathon, full marathon...with the marathon being the one requiring the most training and preparation.

Maybe the non-runner was just trying to be nice and show some interest in an activity that they knew you enjoyed?

Ever consider that?

If I were talking to someone that was a big golfer I'm sure I'd ask some questions, or make some statements that would sound just as ridiculous.

Chill dude.

True enough...I just have been getting tired of the running = marathons thing.

5 thons 7 ultras wrote:

You should just tell the truth that you are afraid of running that far. Trying to justify your cowardice by running shorter distances at a faster pace will never appease the non-runners who know what the definition of a real runner is.

As for the chump that ran out of fuel with 3 miles to go, he simply ran 4 seconds per mile faster the first 23 than he was capable of completing the entire distance in.

There is NO unknown in the marathon. If you run just a mere 8 seconds faster pace than you should, you will FAIL to keep pace by 20 miles and will never reach the level of adoration you seek from those acquaintances.

First you feel the need to brag you did 5 marathons and 7 ultras and then you call the dude a chump for no reason. I already don't like you !

Anything can happen in a marathon Big shot.

I started running in middle-age to bucket-list having done a marathon and fell for running. There's no such thing as competitive track running for grown-ups in my part of the country and with the local better runners I can compete with the best marathoners, any age. There's no chance in hell I can ever compete with the top young guys that are just years out of college running at the 5K.

"If you really are a runner, then you owe it to yourself to experience those feelings."

Yep. Well said. Great post. And re: the op- I am guilty as charged.

It is never a good idea to talk about running with non-runners.

phantom wrote:

I started running in middle-age to bucket-list having done a marathon and fell for running. There's no such thing as competitive track running for grown-ups in my part of the country and with the local better runners I can compete with the best marathoners, any age. There's no chance in hell I can ever compete with the top young guys that are just years out of college running at the 5K.

You are the oddity that kept running. Most quit immediately after their Everest.

--and not trivialize the race--

The people you feel trivialize the marathon, trivialize the 5k, the 10k, the pikermi...well, they trivialize every distance.

Marathons are like college football games; 5K's are like baseball games.

Marathoners compete at the highest level only 2 or 3 times a year. The stakes are high to do well. College football teams can't afford to mess up in a single game since there are only 12 of them. The stakes are high each week, especially in your conference games.

You can race a bunch of 5K's all year long and sometimes do well and sometimes not so well. Baseball games are like that too.

College football games usually sell out. Baseball games usually don't.

Like college football games compared to a baseball game, more is at stake with a big marathon than a 5K.

maybe this wrote:

Marathons are like college football games; 5K's are like baseball games....

Nice analogy.

That is one part of the marathon that really separates it from others. You can have a bad day and run another 5k next weekend. Not so much with a marathon, all your eggs are in that basket.

The reason is because everyone, at least as a kid, ran fast (as they could), and can wrap their mind around that, and also what it might be like running 3 or 6 miles. Running 26.2 is well beyond the experience of most people though, so there's an inherent mystique to it.

And few are involved enough in running to realize that 30-50 mile weeks are par for the course for even just a 5k, so there is no concept of the endurance it takes to really meet your potential in shorter distances.

This naiveté is hardly unique to running. Football is probably the most popular american sport, but how much do people really know about what makes a great team? There's the QB that supposedly "engineers" everything, the guys the QB throws touchdowns to, the guy that runs ball in for touchdowns, and then the defense that tackles guys. That's all 90% of people know.

This guy has more sense than anyone else on this thread.

It's because non-runners don't "know" that these are races. To non-runners, they are events. To them, the point is only to propel your flesh over the distance without any regard for the time it takes. And except for the winner, everyone else is a finisher. 10th place and 1000 place is all the same. Thus, to them, a 400m race is easy as pie while a marathon is for tossing cookies.

"It is never a good idea to talk about running with non-runners."

This is some truth. Concerning the marathon, somehow it's admirable to non-runners to dead-man-shuffle through one marathon and call it done... but put in the time and energy to be a better runner, for no "real" return like money, and you're just being a weirdo to their thinking.

The answer to the question 'why the obsession with marathons'? is medals. They give you a medal when you finish. You can wear a medal to dinner and people will tell you you are a star. And you get to buy a special jacket at the expo. And you can buy other running stuff too like a arm-band thing to put your phone in while you run so you don't have to hold it. And a sticker. I got a sticker.

PTO wrote:

First you feel the need to brag you did 5 marathons and 7 ultras and then you call the dude a chump for no reason. I already don't like you !

Anything can happen in a marathon Big shot.

I don't come around these parts to enter a popularity contest. I don't tell you what you want to hear. I tell you what you need to hear. What you HAVE to hear to become the person that deep down inside you know you want to become.

Would you be happy living the rest of your life as a nonthoner? I don't think so and you don't think so either.

The obsession with marathons came about with the US Olympic Trials. Wait, hear me out. Anyone can qualify for the trials, its open to anyone who hits a time standard, whereas they sometimes/often take a descending order list for the track trials. 200 people could run the OT marathon when maybe 30 run the track trials. Everyone wants to be like the best, so it dropped down from there. Back when 2:22 got into the trials, guys with 2:30 potential moved to the marathon to try to get down to that, the 2:40 guys who wish they could beat them moved to the marathon. Soon all their friends and family members wanted to complete a marathon too. Only for them, it wasn't about pr'ing or running fast, they weren't willing to put in the work to train adequately, so it became about completing it, when the marathon was 40-60% of their average weekly mileage. Then it really took off. All the friends of the friends and family members of the friends wanted to complete one too. It became a poor man's Everest, one that was more easily accessible too. Enter tshirts, medals, bands on the course, advertisements all over the place.

This isn't a bad thing, but tv networks should capitalize on it. Insist marathons are held in prime time and broadcast those to huge audiences. Or maybe thats why its so popular. People view running as a fitness activity, not a sport.

Which half are you doing in two weeks? Good luck!