One of my friends ran a 4:26 marathon - was it wrong to tell him that was an awful time

Yes, it was wrong. 26.2 miles is a long way. It takes commitment to train for and it take commitment to complete. And think about it - that's 4 hours and 26 minutes of running! That's a long time. Be proud your friend completed something.

Who knows, perhaps he was on track to break 4 hours or faster and then just bombed for the rest of the marathon? Perhaps the marathon was hillier than expected? Perhaps it was 90 degrees outside? A lot can happen in 4 hours and 26 minutes. Next time, help him train, go for a run with him, suggest a better marathon event.

Every person is different, and as long as they are taking their sport seriously and having fun, why not celebrate? (And, if he is new to the sport, who really cares if he didn't know the Olympics was this year...just remind him that it is an Olympic year and encourage him to watch some track and field! Encourage his interest.)

By telling him that he ran an awful time or making fun of your friend, you may have contributed to his lack of want to train for another...or to run at all. Why would you take that away from a person you call your friend?

I did not expect this to get that many responses. For the people worried about the well being of this guy, we were just joking around, we were in the same fraternity so we joke around a lot (he makes fun of my haircut, shirts, etc so there is a lot of ribbing). I would never say that to a coworker, only a close guy friend.

I told him it was a terrible time (it is). I would tell him a 10 inch vertical leap, a 110lb bench press, or swimming 1,500M in 90 mins were all terrible athletic achievements because they are. I love to play basketball but Stephen Curry has the right to tell me I'm awful. We shouldn't celebrate the 4 points I score in the medium difficulty corporate league Thursday after work. He was acting like this was a monumental athletic achievement. I will never agree with the everyone gets a ribbon mentality. Maybe I am bit too intense but I will never understand the hobby jogger mentality. Running at a high level (I mean how many threads are there about sub 1:50 800M training or 3:40) take a ridiculous amount of talent and commitment. This is the same forum that crushes Jordan Hassay.

To the old people that are like "I showed some respect to my day" if you are over the age of 80 I believe you (likely are not posting on letsrun). If you are a baby boomer I don't.

brofest2015 wrote:

I love to play basketball but Stephen Curry has the right to tell me I'm awful. We shouldn't celebrate the 4 points I score in the medium difficulty corporate league Thursday after work.

Your running compared to your friend's marathon running is like Stephan Curry's basketball compared to you scoring 4 points in a medium level corporate basketball league?

So you are comparing your level of running to the level of Stephan Curry's basketball playing??? That is amazingly silly. Holy crap does that sound arrogant!

I think you just go and thank your friend, right now, just for being your friend. You must come out with some real winners.

brofest2015 wrote:

26 male, healthy. I like ribbing him.

What a weird phrase.

Letty Runcom wrote:

4:26 is terrible. That is over 10 minutes per mile. I have a friend about to turn 60 that had both his knees replaced that walks faster than that. If he had to , he could go out any day of the week and beat 4:26 for a marathon. That time requires no training for a healthy person under 30 and should not be celebrated.

My walking pace is about 15 mpm; 10 minutes per mile is running. The average healthy person can barely run 2 miles with out stopping and the average healthy person can't even walk a half marathon.

1950s or bust wrote:

brofest2015 wrote:

26 male, healthy. I like ribbing him.

What a weird phrase.

yeah, the "b" isnt even next to the "m"

Not to sound arrogant and i was really a very mediocre running in college, the order of magnitude between Steph Curry and my basketball skills and my running and my roommates marathon time I don't think is that far off.

Using the McMillan running calculator

https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/results?hours=4&minutes=26&seconds=55&distance=Marathon&goalDistance=10km&ghours=&gminutes=&gseconds=

his time translates to a 7:53 mile. That is awful! Honestly most males that aren't overweight from age 15 - 40 can run that pretty easily. On my freshmen team in high school we had 13 runners who could break 5 mins for a mile. This guy also smoked a pack of Camels the week before the race, he barely trained, it wasn't like this was the crowning achievement of a bunch of weight loss or something.

Hear hear. I have no interest in everyone getting a ribbon either.

Can we *please* stop acting like a marathon at any speed is impressive and worthy of a kind word. If it were, tens of thousands of unfit people wouldn't shuffle their way to a medal every week. Personally, I've done 4 marathons, all badly, and there was nothing impressive about any of them.

And Ridiculous Old People: There was never an era where "people treated others with respect". (Hint: Jim Crow ... among thousands of other possible hints.)

TrackCoach wrote:

Letty Runcom wrote:

4:26 is terrible. That is over 10 minutes per mile. I have a friend about to turn 60 that had both his knees replaced that walks faster than that. If he had to , he could go out any day of the week and beat 4:26 for a marathon. That time requires no training for a healthy person under 30 and should not be celebrated.

My walking pace is about 15 mpm; 10 minutes per mile is running. The average healthy person can barely run 2 miles with out stopping and the average healthy person can't even walk a half marathon.

15 minutes per mile is a slow walk. The average healthy can absolutely walk a half marathon. In fact many unhealthy people can walk a half marathon. I saw a 300lb guy do it two weeks ago.

BS. Anyone running close to 5 hours did NOT commit to training. If they did they were probably obese when they started or perhaps overcoming some deadly disease. For a healthy person, simply completing a marathon is not a big accomplishment.

Quit celebrating mediocrity and half assed attempts to get attention.

maker of bs wrote:

BS. Anyone running close to 5 hours did NOT commit to training. If they did they were probably obese when they started or perhaps overcoming some deadly disease. For a healthy person, simply completing a marathon is not a big accomplishment.

Quit celebrating mediocrity and half assed attempts to get attention.

YES.

We don't celebrate the kid who takes the longest to take his math final, because he studied the least and now has the most eraser marks and flopsweat. And that kid certainly doesn't brag about it.

This is how everything works - the most esteem for the most preparation, effort, and success. Why do we need different rules for running, and only running.

brofest2015 wrote:

his time translates to a 7:53 mile. That is awful! Honestly most males that aren't overweight from age 15 - 40 can run that pretty easily.

INCORRECT. Most males between 30 and 40 could not run a 7:53 at all (without some time to start training for it). Most under 30 could probably do it but it would take a significant effort for the majority.

So, "most...pretty easily"?!? WRONG!!!

Letty Runcom wrote:

TrackCoach wrote:

My walking pace is about 15 mpm; 10 minutes per mile is running. The average healthy person can barely run 2 miles with out stopping and the average healthy person can't even walk a half marathon.

15 minutes per mile is a slow walk...

INCORRECT.

15 minutes per mile is FASTER than the TYPICAL WALKING PACE OF 98.7% OF THE POPULATION. As such, it should be considered a VERY FAST walk.

Get a clue.

The OP did not give us enough facts to really judge on the effort it took to train or run this marathon. As such, perhaps it was wrong to assume how much training was involved in this runner's process. But it's also wrong for you to assume no training occurred. Not everyone is good at running, even if they enjoy the sport. As long as the runner isn't holding a coffee and having a nice chat during the race, I'd say the race took effort and commitment. And, at some level, this should be recognized. I'm not someone who agrees with every finisher deserves a medal concept we see these days, but I believe every finisher deserves a high five from their FRIEND for finishing.

I think you fail to recognize the friendship aspect of this comment. While the time should not necessarily be overly celebrated, a friend should NOT be an ass or judgemental around the time. The accomplishment should be acknowledged and appreciated, as a friend. Honestly, if my mediocre runner friend told me my time was slow with absolutely no constructive advice on how to be better, I'd probably tell them to f'off and likely not want to be their friend anymore.

Yes

If he has a 26.2 magnet/sticker

Posts on facebook about his race

Tells others his time without them asking

No

Has no 26.2 reference on his vehicle of any kind

Makes no social media reference

Admits his time is very slow even for a 50+ year old woman

He kind of trained over the summer but went on a bender for 2 weeks and then didn't train the month leading up to Marathon.

We don't need a car in the city we live in but there were a lot of obligatory social media posts.