MSNBC article about "running" a marathon...funny

The publicity doesn't concern me. It's the "look what I did!" attitude in completing a marathon in nearly 7 hours after barely putting in enough training to run a 10k that bugs me.

At least PDaddy put in the training and ran a respectable time in the process.

What was Puff Diddy Comb's time?

4:14:54

I personally always encourage people to try anything no matter how much they might suck at it. This gets great reactions out of people. It gets more people involved in sport eventually making it more competitive. It makes people genuinely interested in my activities.

My big thing thought, and this is why I try new things as well, is participation keeps you grounded. Unless someone has run a marathon a three hour marathon is just a time 50 minutes slower than the winner.

did anyone else notice that she or someone deleted all of the insults to her that she had posted on her site under the mixed reviews on the marathon article. originally there were a bunch of people laughing at her, but theyre all gone now.

I wanted to check out any new comments but was disappointed to discover they were all gone. Looks like she wised up and dropped the Ironman idea.

I was on the site today, and at least some were there.

Actually she dropped out during the SWIM. She never made it out of the water

Does that mean she is still in there?

traxor wrote:

did anyone else notice that she or someone deleted all of the insults to her that she had posted on her site under the mixed reviews on the marathon article. originally there were a bunch of people laughing at her, but theyre all gone now.

Not sure if this is it but, there are 2 "articles" that are just reader comments, one on the marathon fiasco and another on her training in general. The 2nd one is new and has fewer negative remarks.

I for one have no problem with a person setting as a goal to "finish" a race, for many, especially those that do not run regularly it can be an accomplishment. So I respect her for the goal, the problem is it just seems she woke up one day and on a whim decided to do an ironman. Cuz how hard can that be? She was so woefully undertrained it was just a trainwreck waiting to happen.

She would not have made the cut-off to finish most marathons with her 6:40ish time which should have been a big clue to her.

If nothing else, her articles have sent the message "marathons" and even half ironmans are hard. So ya better train.

All that being said, I feel bad for her even if she was foolish in believing this was a realistic goal in the time allowed and given her training plan. I hate to see people fail and certainly do not want to take any joy in it.

6pj wrote:

All that being said, I feel bad for her even if she was foolish in believing this was a realistic goal in the time allowed and given her training plan. I hate to see people fail and certainly do not want to take any joy in it.

The main thing that gets me in the latest article is that she said she "knew" she could go the distance. As if it were a fait accompli that she would've finished if she hadn't gotten pulled from the course. Being undertrained, it was likely she'd just cramp up again on the bike and/or run. Which is fine, but in the water you risk drowning...

Actually, this is a reason why it is an accomplishment for some folks to just finish a race. Because normally, they wouldn't even be able to sniff the finish line.

All of you people should be ashamed of yourselves. This entire post (except for the few) is a sad commentary on the running community. Here's the bottom line... If all you people are running because you want people to admire your times and efforts, then it is you (not this reporter) who has the problem.

Here's a point that all of you asses should understand. I am stronger than everyone that has posted on this message. I would never make fun of one of you set a new lifting PR. Nor would I ever get upset if someone diminished my strength accomplishments by saying something like, "Joe, my runner friend is half your size and he can bench 200 pounds, how come you can only bench press 400 lbs?"

Quite honestly, you people need to get over yourselves. As a strength athlete, I have always marveled at the accomplishment of distance/CC guys. However, if this attitude is prevalent among the running community perhaps I should reconsider how much praise I am heaping on a bunch of assholes.

Nor would we publicize our lifting endeavours on msnbc.com.

Nor would I. And I would hope you wouldn't publish your running endeavors on MSNBC either. And you know what, if you did publish your lifting endeavors on MSNBC and people were calling you an inspiration- it WOULD NOT bother me in the slightest. It doesn't diminish what I have done and accomplished, because I'm doing it for me, not so I can hear other people tell me how great I am.

TRNR wrote:

The sad thing about it is these people don't realize the real reward for a race like Boston or an Ironman isn't the medal you get for "finishing" but the training and work you have to do to meet the standards.

Not to sound sappy, but one of my favorite parts of a marathon is the feeling I get just before the start knowing that I have dedicated myself to that moment for the past several months and that I'm well prepared. If I'm not going to get that feeling, I don't bother showing up.

Unfortunately, this article, which embraces the Penguin/Galloway philosophy of doing the bare minimum and striving for mediocrity, denies all of its reader-followers the satisfaction of doing a difficult task well.

Now that she has quit, it is interesting to see what she wrote, in March 2005 about those who said she could not do it and was undertrained:

"Note to the naysayers

Spiro Agnew may not be remembered for much (well, not much good anyway), but the former vice president gave the world a title that still has resonance today: Nattering Nabobs of Negativity. Agnew attached this moniker to the press, but in this case, I am going to apply it to a handful of readers. To those of you who feel compelled to remind me week after week that I am overambitious in my Ironman goals, that I am not training hard enough and am not qualified to join the Ironman club — stop. I know that as of now I am not ready. But I am confident, and my coach is confident, that if I follow my training plan, I will be ready in August. My dear Nabobs, I appreciate your concern but the chorus that is my “voice” is loud enough. To quote Dr. Evil: I have a whole bag of “shhhh” for you."

So the question, now that the "nattering nabobs" have been proven correct that she was "overambitious" and that she "was not training hard enough" will she publish an apology to the prophets on letsrun?

2nd question, will she sue her trainer for bad advice?

6pj wrote:

The excuses she gives include that she has to be up at 4 AM

"Work demands and some recent health issues have forced me to push my training sessions to later hours, which is not optimal since I have to be up at 4 a.m. for work. The workouts were beginning to feel more like an obligation rather than something I really wanted to do."

But in her 1st article she says:

" My job is not a standard 9-to-5 gig, and I am frequently required to put in long hours, but not as often as when I worked in the sports department. In terms of time, I am an ideal candidate for Ironman."

Good call! I've been away for a while and just got caught up with this one.

Her story is littered with contradictions. Marathon fiasco was due to the breakfast she "couldn't pass up." Dropping out during the swim was due to not hydrating enough because she didn't want to go to the bathroom.

Not only is she refusing to take any responsibility for her failures, it shows the total lack of commitment she had from the very beginning. I think she thought she'd put in minimal training for this and complete it. After her marathon disaster, she realized, "Damn, this is actually going to take some training!" When she tried to do some actual training, she said, "Nuff o this!"

In a way, I feel sorry for her because it's something she wanted to do, for whatever reason. But, another side of me is glad she failed because anyone who thinks he or she is just going to do one of these things on a whim deserves what she gets. It was foolish of her to put this on msnbc then barely train.

Her trainer should be run out of town on a rail.

I wish her well.

usually i would side with ex-thrower, it's none of my buisness how hard or far people want to run. however, in this case I have to say: what a joke.

"finishing" a marathon is no more of an accomplishment than "dieting" by having a diet coke with your biggie sized McDonalds. a training program that is only slightly better than sitting on your ass is embarrassing. suck it up and put in some work.

just finishing is only good if you have the 10k A standard.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

President Theodore Roosevelt

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If a athlete with poor to average talent wrote an article about how they were going to achieve their goal of doing an ironman, and they put in the training necessary and were committed to their goal not by word but by action, until finally they could get on the starting line with true confidence- that person should be respected. Even if they found they couldn't finish, if they had put in their best effort not just in the race but in their preparation, their hard work would be inspiring.

But why should we celebrate failure? NOT the failure of Roosevelt's valient striver, "who errs and comes up short again and again", but the failure of a woman who simply didn't put in what it takes. It's not just on race day that you're "in the arena"; the achievement happens on the weekday, when you get up for a morning run even though you want to sleep, when you pull yourself through the last interval even though your legs are tired. As a thrower, what kind of man would you be if you had not spent the week lifting and training and practicing your throw, but then when the meet came, you stepped out where everyone could see you and found that your weakened muscles couldn't compete? Would that be an inspiration or just pathetic? Yet that's exactly what this woman has tried to do. And it's a shame that she's being celebrated for it.