It is funny that back in the 70s and early 80s when Americans were winning marathons, boxing was also huge. There was a lot of respect for professional marathoners from the average sports fan back then. And boxing was also everywhere. So, it is not like sports fans were pansies back in the day.
Now, the whole #MAGA chud, MMA fan, alpha male thing is so freaking thick that people cannot fathom what the marathon is and commentators have no clue what to do with Shalane's accomplishment.
And the fun part about the Brietbart article is how it tries to compare US distance running to NY's path from urban decay to its current uber gentrification. US distance runners were at their best back when NY was crime infested and broke. But I guess you aren't going to get much background research from an author that spells Shalane as"Shalene".