Toni Reavis thinks in 100 years, people will look back at marathons as a fad - What do you think?

I'm of the same generation as you folks. I also ran the Jersey Shore Marathon. In fact I ran the fastest HS time in the nation there one year. I can also attest to the fact that there were LOTS of pretty darned good runners "back in the day".

BUT . . . who gives a shit? Today there are elites who are absolutely incredible, a VERY small number of good runners (5% of the number back in the day) and swarms of folks who walk, hobby jog, do fun runs, color runs, . . .

SO WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT?!? Let them have fun. I really don't see the problem. And I really don't see how it was so amazingly wonderful that thousands of folks could break 2:30 back in the day. So freaking what?

Dance marathons used to be very big events, and running marathons will probably follow suit. But I ain't worrying about it. My run tomorrow morning is more important to me than pinning on a number.

Reavis is a putz and likely nostalgic for the mile. Now get off his lawn!!

I think Toni Reavis is grossly underestimating the rate at which we are progressing. All sports as we know it will be history by then.

No no no Mr Tony

No no no Mr Tony

In 100 years every practitioner of imperial measurements will have at last been hunted down and executed. The long race will be 50 thousand meters.

Not to be confused with the 50k which is 50 x 1024 = 51,200 meters.

There will only be three permitted race distances: the 100 meters, the 1000 8/10 ths of a meter, and the 50,000 meters. You will not be allowed to spell it "metres," sorry Brits.

I don't think so.

Participation is what has really changed in sports in general for the last 100 years, that will continue. Participation by women and older people is just getting started, that will continue and running will benefit.

In sports, health clubs will transform family life and be the country clubs and beach clubs of the next 100 years and athletic companies will drive that to put their products at the center of it all. Machines, exercise fads will continue to proliferate and change but these fads will become increasingly social and span more age groups. Has School sports will continue to decline. Gym class gone, nutrition class in. HS football will be gone, but youth travel leagues will remain as will college sponsored pro leagues for under age 21 and NFL football. Harvard will drop football by 2030, but a golden age of Rugby and Lacrosse will commence around 2025.

For running, the participation by women will be off the charts and it will be #2 only to soccer in HS. XC will still be a geek sport for boys, but competitive, and there will be international races at HS level sponsored by athletic companies with the season running through December. Ivies will dominate XC in NCAA D1, since Dartmouth will have ideal training conditions in 2116, they will dominate most years. Nike University of Oregon (fka Oregon) will be mostly Chinese students but will still be a top team in the NCAA-Pro division.

Road racing will be great, especially in the cities where downtown auto traffic is drastically changed and relocated and rerouted. Big cities will compete with amazing courses that wind down the most scenic streets (bikers will complain bitterly) with highly creative courses going through major league Rugby Stadiums, Animal Conservation Areas and along harbor control walls. Race festivals will include other participation events. The Harvard Online Boston Marathon Festival and the Nike New York Autumn Marathon (there will be 3 other versions: Holiday, Winter and Great Brooklyn Food Run) will be the biggest US races. NB Portland, ME; The Great Bronx Beer Run and Grandma's Hip Hop Marathon will still be faves. People will argue bitterly about the 2:30 Open and 4:00 Masters cut-offs for Men for Boston and the MIT Online Cambridge Marathon ("Run the Canals of Cambridge") will grow immensely because of it.

Marathons will still not be watched live but your own race can be easily viewed start to finish for about $20 ($18 adjusted for 2016 dollars) in fact people will groan about having to look at clips from marathon videos from friends and family. By 2116 every adult age 30 or older will have "run" a Marathon at least once. It will be generally be required during Service Corps (2 years of required service for those who opted to let government pay "campus fees") and others will have received medals for their participation as runners, walkers, volunteers or volunteer finish fans at their local race.

One hundred years from now, there will be a lottery to get into the Mars Marathon

coach d wrote:

Given the pace in genetic treatments in biotech, in 100 years I think it's highly unlikely that people will need to exercise at all.

The only people left will be people specifically competing in track events as a sport (to win).

I'm a fat hobby jogger who will never win a race. I exercise and enter events not because I "need" to or because it does me any good, but because I want to.

People don't "need" to fish or hunt today, yet people do. It's a hobby. Running is my hobby, I don't do it for health reasons.

In 100 years, will likely not be as popular because 100 years.

Why should we care what anyone 100 years thinks about anything? 100 years from now everyone that is reading this will be long dead.

One hundred years from now, letsrun will still be using the same software.