that's a good marathon time wrote:
They aren't pretending they're good, they are good. If we put it in chess terms, a male 2:17 marathoner would be equal to about national master or fide master in chess. To follow along with my apology, they're not grand masters or even international masters. But they are good and are faster than 99.99% of the population. Most years for NYC or Boston, running 2:17 will put you as the fastest hobby jogger/amateur (however you want to phrase it)
Your analogy doesn't look right. There are currently around 1,800 GMs in the world, and I doubt there are 1,800 people who can currently run 2:17 or faster. So I would say that at best 2:17 is the equivalent of FIDE 2500 - which is the lowest rating you need to be become a GM.
I ran 2:29 more than three decades ago and had a peak rating of FIDE 2320 a decade before that. I would classify my running as a higher achievement than my chess.