Only the strong do marathons!

"Only the strong do marathons!"

I'll have to remember that when I watch 30,000 4hour+ 'thoners at Chicago this fall...

Interesting thought Thoner because my experience in running observation have shown that people compete at the marathon because they aren't fast enough to be totally successful at the shorter distances. There are some of course who are very successful at all - but your typical "competitive marathoner" can't turn it over, so he or she has to run lots of miles to be good at something.

I guess we can't all be blessed with speed. There are the racehorses and the workhorses.

You are sure to get some opposition here, but I'll give you my not-pissed-off points first and then you can deal with the roar you hear from others.

1) Personally I am not terribly impressed with the marathon distance. I've run 7 of them, and I did one after three months of training by running only one long run each weekend and NO other running during the week at all, and I still easily went way under 4 hours and I didn't even try at all in the race to go much faster.

2) Also, since I have run a 50 and a 40-miler up a mountain and back down, the marathon distance doesn't seem as imposing.

3) The training to run a FAST marathon isn't all that much different from training to run a FAST 10K. Just a little bit more mileage and a little bit more time during the build up, but that's it really. Want to run a fast 10K, and you need to be running 18 milers regularly. Want to run a fast marathon and you need to get that over 20 miles, but really it's not big deal.

4) I am way more concerned when I toe the line hoping to do a fast 5K than I am a marathon. In the marathon, you have so much time to figure things out, find a pace that is good. In a fast 5K, you need to make those decisions immediately or you'll be sucking wind.

5) Glad you like the marathon, and obviously you wanted to stir it up a bit, but I think most will agree with me here that ripping off those fast times in shorter distances is easily as hard if not harder than running a fast marathon.

6) Go run a 50-miler and then come back to me and tell me how hard a marathon is. A 50-miler over hilly trails is 10 times harder than a marathon any day, especially when you are trying to run it as fast as you can.

Oprah Winfrey is my marathon hero

Don't be such an asswipe and just run for heaven's sakes.

Easy Freddie......just stating the facts man!

I'm just curious as to how fast you run Thoner? Why don't you go back to Coolrunning where you can impress all of the joggers with your fanatstic insight. I'll laugh if you're just another 2:30 scrub who thinks he has all the answers.

Boy Jello, first let me ask you how old are you son? Give me your personal info and stats as well so that I can see whether or not to waste my time giving you my PR's.

I ran 14:10 this year outdoors. Obviously there are a lot of people faster. However, I'm not the one who comes on these message boards and tells people who should be considered athletes and who should not be.

2:19:02

age 38

Put up or shut up! Please impress us with your credentials. Acting coy about your PR's and our "worthiness" smacks of poseur.

Why should anyone have to give their PR's besides you, boner. You're the one talking shit. Why didn't you answer my question on the triathlon site? Boner, can you even run a sub 32 10k fresh as well as peaked? Yes the marathon is not for everyone but when was the last time you won a high school mile race, if it is so easy?

Really the best way is to just leave him alone. Challenging a troll is just what they want.

Last time I won a high school mile race was 1982.

That was the last time I was forced to run it as well as the last and only time I will ever run it.

4:18

(Not bad for a youngster who never did any speed work...just lots of steady state miles)

Impressive clocking. I am curious, why the slam on triathletes and shorter distance? All endurance disciplines take dedication. The marathon has no special claim to "tougher than thou" status. My observation is: 800m-10,000m = "hurts like hell", marathon = "most profound fatigue ever". Triathlon and ultras have to approximate marathons in terms of fatigue. All events bring an extreme level of suffering if they're raced correctly.

Can't impress the wimps at coolrunning any longer?

Your times suck, thoner who will suck any boner. Coming here in a lame attempt to impress others just shows how insecure and pathetic you really are.

Your times suck and you suck.

Let me guess, you are probably under the age of 20 - ha!

Wrong again, dickbrain.

Are you always this pathetically stupid or is this an act?

It's an act, and as long as you continue to discuss with him, he's got you hook, line, and sinker.