I would be interested to know if Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press has ever run a marathon
Because, if you aren't an elite and you are running the Boston Marathon, you are an "also-ran" according to an article I read this morning regarding the conditions of today's Boston marathon.
A slow pace usually leads to a more tactical - and more exciting - race up front. More of a concern for organizers is how the weather will affect the 20,000 also-rans, who will be out longer and more likely to need medical care.
Wow. There were 432,000 marathon finishers last year in the United States. That's approximately .14% of the US population. And that doesn't factor in people who finished more than one marathon last year, which would make the percentage of actual participants even lower. And the majority of marathon finishers can only dream about qualifying for the Boston Marathon (including me, the closest I've come is a 3:37 when I need a 3:15).
The bottom line is I don't think "also-ran" is a very good word to describe the people who have the ability (and the nerve) to toe the line in Hopkinton.
Comments
Now MMB, you will recall that sports journos rarely if ever 'D' it up prior to commentary/obsrvations. They know more about football than Don Shula, golf swings than Tiger or baseball than Frank Robinson. Perhaps also-rans sounded better than 'non-professionals' or avid amatuers. Poorly chosen words for sure. Remember, Mark Woods left the doughnut breath crowd to let his given ability grow. McLamb
Posted by: Mike McLamb | April 17, 2007 01:54 PM