Fife wrote:
I couldn't imagine running a repetitive back and forth marathon with 4 people. I love running as much as anyone else, but holy smokes that is mind-numbing. Especially on those leon creek paved "trails". Who the hell wants to do that day after day after day? Where is the variance, terrain change...just something else to look at? You cannot "race" a 4 person marathon.
I would be interested in hearing some sort of genuine professional psycholgical analysis of someone like this. Of course, this is letsrun...your analysis is funnier.
That is the most interesting aspect of all this to me.
And by the way I don't know anybody involved, live in San Antonio, run ultras (or even marathons), or have any personal connection whatsoever to this kerfuffle. I think I am pretty much a totally objective observer.
First of all, this appears to be about some people's obsession with having the title of Guinness world record holder, and failing that, at least gaining recognition in the tiny, weird subculture of serial marathon finishers...but then also probably in some way leveraging that for some measure of wider recognition in one's community - be that one's city, or profession, or just amongst one's friends. And probably the main expected gain from that is purely psychological - a person who needs to feel "special" gets to feel validated. Maybe secondarily some financial gain is desired but surely whatever endorsements can be drummed up for basically walking a lot can't be even close to lucrative, can they?
Second, having munched on popcorn all the way through this entertaining thread, it is crystal clear to me that nobody in this whole sordid affair - not PM, not her friends, not her (alleged)ex-friends/rivals, not her husband, not Larry Macon, not the vast majority of marathon maniacs, nobody - has done or is doing anything that anybody should consider worthy of recognition. It's all a fraud.
Even if I were not a runner, I or any reasonable person would think "X marathons completed in a year" (or lifetime, or whatever) means at the very least you went to X number of established, actual, bona-fide races, paid an entry fee, wore a bib and a chip, ran with everybody else, etc. Oh and by the way, it also means you *ran* them and expended some real honest effort in the process.
It is *obvious* that's not what any of these wackadoos are doing. Even at best, they are going for long, excruciatingly slow and easy walk-jogs nearly every day, on whatever timetable they choose (Cal Ripken Jr. couldn't just play his games whenever he felt like it and in front of no witnesses), and counting them as "marathons," making a mockery of the term in the process. And then to boot, some of these "completions" are quite clearly flat-out frauds.
Pandora's box was opened when somewhere, whether at Guinness or Marathon Maniacs or wherever, someone decided that these virtual micro-races could technically count as races, as long as there was a certified course, a "race director," and some easily fudged paperwork. In effect, the honor system for completing marathons was implemented. After that it was only a matter of time before the natural progression to the farce exposed in this thread, where quite clearly, people are abusing the honor system. Maybe not in every single "race," but certainly some, and "some" matters when records (make that "records") are involved. The whole thing is crookeder than a barrel of snakes, to paraphrase "Jackie Brown."
Verdict: guilty but mentally ill.