"Lost in the Masses"

[GTF]

http://www.runningtimes.com/onerunner/2006/10/one-runners-view-lost-in-masses.html

by Zika Palmer

In the past year, over 350,000 Americans completed a marathon with an average finishing time of 4:45:47—or about 11 minutes per mile. While this is a remarkable and admirable feat for both the individual runners and the fitness of the country, there is something happening in those races two, even two and a half hours prior that seems to be lost in the shuffle of the masses: Americans are getting faster. But few seem to notice. Ask the average marathoner and chances are, they won’t be able to tell you about the revolution that is occurring at the finish line before they even reach mile 13.

While the number of participants (and the average finishing time) continues to increase, there are a select few American’s who have made it their life purpose to bring their own numbers down — resulting in the largest improvement in American marathon performances since the late 1970’s-early 1980’s.

In the 2004 Olympics, Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor took home the silver and bronze medals in their respective races, and in turn ended the United States’ twenty-year absence from the marathon podium since Joan Benoit in 1984. Deena Kastor kept up the pace with wins and American records in both the 2005 Chicago Marathon and the 2006 London Marathon (2:21 and 2:19:36 respectively). That same Chicago race saw four American women in the top ten. The men paralleled these performances in the other World Marathon Majors, as seen in the 2006 Boston Marathon, where Americans placed seven in the top ten, including top five and sub 2:12 runs by Meb Keflezighi, Brian Sell and Alan Culpepper.

This marathon season we’ve already had Amsterdam, Twin Cities (the US National Championships) and Chicago just this past weekend, with New York, Philadelphia and California International still to come. In all of these races Americans are running well — better than ever — but we rarely hear about them. Just last week, a New York Times Article on the coming race regarded Deena Kastor as “the biggest face of the NY Marathon, besides Lance Armstrong.” And while Lance Armstrong’s accomplishments as an athlete are undisputable, the fact remains that the public sees the potential winner of the women’s race as somehow less central to the race than a man who is admittedly, “doing it for fun.”

My hope is that all of you will look at the marathon results this fall and give notice to the runners at the top and those that are striving to get there. 350,000 Americans complete marathons a year and by the next Olympics only about 100+ men and 100+ women of those 350,000 will have run fast enough to qualify for the Olympic Trials (sub 2:22 for men and sub 2:47 for women). These men and women have made and continue to make sacrifices to pursue their competitive dreams and deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments.

It is time to place emphasis on the finish line rather than finishing. In the end, 26.2 miles is 26.2 miles (and the last 6.2 are an agonizing eternity of pain and suffering no matter what the pace), but the minutes and thousands of people separating a participant from the competitive marathoner represent more than the statistics of that given day. They embody the countless hours, days, and even years of preparation it has taken to be the best they can for those 26.2 miles — their lives have been dedicated to the footrace, and the results couldn’t be more encouraging. As more people join the sport of running and the numbers on the starting line continue to grow lets be sure to honor the current heroes of the sport. It is, after all, a race and our top runners are making it exciting.

Zika Palmer, a former NCAA Division 3 runner at Emory University, is a two-time Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon and has contributed immeasurably to the sport of running as founder of ZAP Fitness Center in Blowing Rock, NC.

[sueruns]

Wow.....great article!   Ms. Palmer manages to give a hand to the people trying to improve without taking away anything from sloggers.  I don't think any slow runner can possibly take offense to this article.   

[Ryan]

You beat me to the punch, I was going to post on this yesterday evening before the laptop got confiscated.

It is a very interesting article and I think makes some very good points. On other websites, I've seen discussions of New York. Everyone knows Lance and Dean as well as some Food Network celebrities whose names meant nothing to me. Then, they asked about predictions. Someone mentioned Deena, Meb, and "that new guy" (didn't even know Ritz's name!). Seriously? People who are runners know exactly who those Food Network celebrities are but don't even know the name of one of America's brightest young running stars? This, along with the fact that I've seen a few people who actually think "that new guy" has a chance at winning, said all I need to know about how much the average runner is paying attention to the leaders.

[GTF]

Wow, are things really that bad?  It seems all-too-typical for the "we get to line up and race with the best in the world" crowd to be too soft in the head (along with soft in the middle, to digress a tad) to bother to know anything beyond "some Kenyan/African" won just because they cannot get further information from their chief source, the teevee.  However, this is taking it to, or is simply revealing of new depths of unrestrained backwards ignorance.  Of course, this information is all readily available, though it cannot be gleaned from the glossy cover of a magazine on the jogging lifestyle or from the squawk box that gets turned on so they can turn off what passes for their minds.

[r-at-work]

by Zika Palmer
... there is something happening in those races two, even two and a half hours prior that seems to be lost in the shuffle of the masses: Americans are getting faster. But few seem to notice. Ask the average marathoner and chances are, they won’t be able to tell you about the revolution that is occurring at the finish line before they even reach mile 13.

... there are a select few American’s who have made it their life purpose to bring their own numbers down — resulting in the largest improvement in American marathon performances since the late 1970’s-early 1980’s.
.... In all of these races Americans are running well — better than ever — but we rarely hear about them.
...These men and women have made and continue to make sacrifices to pursue their competitive dreams and deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments.

It is time to place emphasis on the finish line rather than finishing...

... They embody the countless hours, days, and even years of preparation it has taken to be the best they can for those 26.2 miles — their lives have been dedicated to the footrace, and the results couldn’t be more encouraging. ... It is, after all, a race and our top runners are making it exciting.

great article...it is exciting... but most of America is more wrapped up in "Lost" or the most recent "Survivor" or the Food Network, or American Idol... I just don't seem to watch enough TV to know much about any of those things... I'm afraid I've been too busy with living my own REAL life... I do appreciate the work that our improving elite marathoners are doing, even "that new guy " (it's so funny to hear his described like that, I hope he does well but Ritz might still have a bit to learn)... can't wait for tomorrow's race...good luck to all, looks like perfect weather...
-Rita

[GTF]

most of America is more wrapped up in "Lost" or the most recent "Survivor" or the Food Network, or American Idol...

Including most runners, unfortunately.

[GTF]

And apparently also including much of the 'running media'; some choice quotes:

This will be Melissa Granberry's second marathon and Zachary Granberry's third. Though his best time, 3:40, is almost exactly an hour faster than hers (4:39), they plan to run the entire distance together.

Melissa Granberry says the 18- and 21-mile runs bring the couple closer.

"When I run with my friends, we talk about everything in People magazine. But Zach doesn't know what I'm talking about, so we'll talk about kids, what's going on, catch up on things we've been meaning to talk about."

Why not inform people of the fastest Houstonians who are taking aim at the ING NYCM?