CarbKiller: Idiots, the other white meat

Next weekend is the New York Marathon. Exactly 6 days from now over 40,000 people will hit the streets of the Big Apple in pursuit of one of racing’s most challenging achievements: A marathon finisher medal. The field is without question one of the largest in the world and almost 100,000 people apply for the race. Millions will cheer for runners in the streets and over 300 million people will watch it on TV. They call NY “the people’s race.” How cool is that!

So imagine my surprise when the front page of this past Friday’s New York Times shouted

Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?

I was so stunned I had to read it twice.

Basically the gist of the article is that people who run marathons (less then 4 hours) have their achievement tarnished by those of us who are slower then that and (God forbid) have to walk. We are not runners so we shouldn’t be allowed to call ourselves marathoners! We are in fact losers!

And that’s when I started laughing.

I have never received a dirty look from an elite runner suggesting that I am unworthy of sharing their field. If anything many elites finish their races, get their medals and then head back onto the course to cheer on those still competing.

Read the article if you’re bored, no doubt the sheer stupidity of it will make you laugh too. For those of you who have yet to enter a race, however, please be advised that I have NEVER experienced this kind of BS arrogance in real life. If anything the diversity of shapes, colors and sizes of competitors is one of the reasons I keep signing up for these races requiring pre-dawn activity. The women quoted here are an absolute joke, and they’ve just proclaimed that on the front page of the NYTimes. Good one!

But then I guess that’s the difference between a jerk and an athlete.