Run Run Away

Question:

: : one man’s state is another man’s country. : : For those of us who had problems in Geography class, I suppose this is true : . : That reminded me of something that happened on a stupid TV show my daughters like, "Whose Line Is It Anyway?".  Near the beginning of the show, Drew Carey said something about, "Africa being a large country", and for the rest of the show, he was taking abuse in every form for calling Africa a country. (I guess it’s one of those things you have to see, but it makes me laugh just thinking about it).

Response:

Bottom line.  I’d still like to see a sub 20 minute 5k first.

Roger beat me to the punch, but I’d rather see a single 5 minute mile (7 minutes for you 4+ folks) anywhere in the world than 50 marathons in 50 states. — Harold

Response:

one man’s state is another man’s country.

For those of us who had problems in Geography class, I suppose this is true . Marcus

Response:

"whole 50 state marathon club?" Do you mean? http://50anddcmarathongroupusa.com I doesn’t take 50 states to join it, it only takes 10 states and a membership is for life not just a year, so it doesn’t look like that bad of a deal. Bottom line.  I’d still like to see a sub 20 minute 5k first. Thanks,         Roger – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Since you bring it up — does anybody else think the whole 50 state marathon club is one of the more overrated things about this sport. All it proves is someone has the time and money to travel. There are way too many achievements like this in sports right now and of course there are the puffed up stats in some sports. I’m the first one to take pride in that you have to do it to do it part of running, but somewhere finishing the marathon in the fastest time has gotten lost. C’mon 50 staters – start the hate mail now. While waiting for the start of the Lost Dutchman Marathon, I listened to the race director point out some of the more noteworthy runners in the race. One gentleman had run a marathon in every state.  Another ran 80 marathons in one year.  And yet another had run a marathon in North Carolina the day before (the Lost Dutchman Marathon was in Arizona). I knew we marathon runners were a bit cracked, but I didn’t know we had so many who had gone off the deep end!

Response:

That shows you guys have got too much time on your hands… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – While waiting for the start of the Lost Dutchman Marathon, I listened to the race director point out some of the more noteworthy runners in the race. One gentleman had run a marathon in every state.  Another ran 80 marathons in one year.  And yet another had run a marathon in North Carolina the day before (the Lost Dutchman Marathon was in Arizona). I knew we marathon runners were a bit cracked, but I didn’t know we had so many who had gone off the deep end!

Response:

I think an issue in the "do it" Vs the "come in first" is the nature of the sport. It is probably the only sport where the average, below average, first timer and superstar all compete in the same event. Millions play golf , but they don’t compete in the PGA, hundreds of thousands play basketball, but they don’t compete with NBA players. All of these participants compete for the love of the game , for exercise, for camaraderie and to see how well they can do, not to win the world championship. So it is with marathoners, just so happens they do it in the same event , the same"league" as the best in their sport.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Since you bring it up — does anybody else think the whole 50 state marathon club is one of the more overrated things about this sport. Not me. If nothing else, it gives those with time to train for and run lots of maras, even slowly, an incentive to get to new places. If maras were only about who could run the fastest, each race would have only about 10 entrants. I don’t intend to join the 50-states club (although if I get up around 20 states "unintentionally" I might shoot for the rest just for grins), but I have no problem with those who do. Way to go, gang! — Brian P. Baresch Lawrence, Kansas, USA Professional editing and proofreading If you’re going through hell, keep going. –Winston Churchill

Response:

Barely…… Go to one of the big ultras and find out what those guys do.  My friends thought I was kinda crazy, I’ve *only* done marathons and my longest race (so far) was an Ironman triathlon.  Got to Sunmart 50M/50K a couple of years ago, all manner of extreme races.  These guys like to collect the Grand Slam of four 100 milers in one summer, all at altitude with a shitload of climbing. Several people have run 50M trail race at Sunmart (Huntsville TX) and then run the White Rock marathon in Dallas the next morning. One of the guys in my running club ran a race that was laps on a track for 48 hours. And I have no doubt that someone can top any of these. Nutty?  You be the judge. IMHO – I’d rather run a bunch of marathons in various states and enjoy the scenery.  I do the occasional 5K, including last Saturday, but you spend so much time driving to & from the race and only get 15-20 minutes of (painful) running. Doing a 5K every weekend seems nutty to me. Alan.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – While waiting for the start of the Lost Dutchman Marathon, I listened to the race director point out some of the more noteworthy runners in the race. One gentleman had run a marathon in every state.  Another ran 80 marathons in one year.  And yet another had run a marathon in North Carolina the day before (the Lost Dutchman Marathon was in Arizona). I knew we marathon runners were a bit cracked, but I didn’t know we had so many who had gone off the deep end!

Response:

A cooler idea would be to do a marathon in 50 countries. Now *that* would be something. Hmm…

one man’s state is another man’s country. jobs

Response:

Since you bring it up — does anybody else think the whole 50 state marathon club is one of the more overrated things about this sport.

Not me. If nothing else, it gives those with time to train for and run lots of maras, even slowly, an incentive to get to new places. If maras were only about who could run the fastest, each race would have only about 10 entrants. I don’t intend to join the 50-states club (although if I get up around 20 states "unintentionally" I might shoot for the rest just for grins), but I have no problem with those who do. Way to go, gang! — Brian P. Baresch Lawrence, Kansas, USA Professional editing and proofreading If you’re going through hell, keep going. –Winston Churchill

Response:

I think it would be a cool personal achievement, but I don’t necessarily have more respect for someone who’s done 50 marathons in 50 states over someone who’s done 50 marathons period. A cooler idea would be to do a marathon in 50 countries. Now *that* would be something. Hmm… Marcus

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Since you bring it up — does anybody else think the whole 50 state marathon club is one of the more overrated things about this sport. All it proves is someone has the time and money to travel. There are way too many achievements like this in sports right now and of course there are the puffed up stats in some sports. I’m the first one to take pride in that you have to do it to do it part of running, but somewhere finishing the marathon in the fastest time has gotten lost. C’mon 50 staters – start the hate mail now. While waiting for the start of the Lost Dutchman Marathon, I listened to the race director point out some of the more noteworthy runners in the race. One gentleman had run a marathon in every state.  Another ran 80 marathons in one year.  And yet another had run a marathon in North Carolina the day before (the Lost Dutchman Marathon was in Arizona). I knew we marathon runners were a bit cracked, but I didn’t know we had so many who had gone off the deep end!

Response:

I don’t know, running marathons is a great way to travel, just running 50 marathons is a considerable achievment, and I can’t see any harm in it. There are many races that seem to attract only lunatics, but then, things often aren’t what they seem, are they? Best, Jeff D. W.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Since you bring it up — does anybody else think the whole 50 state marathon club is one of the more overrated things about this sport. All it proves is someone has the time and money to travel. There are way too many achievements like this in sports right now and of course there are the puffed up stats in some sports. I’m the first one to take pride in that you have to do it to do it part of running, but somewhere finishing the marathon in the fastest time has gotten lost. C’mon 50 staters – start the hate mail now. While waiting for the start of the Lost Dutchman Marathon, I listened to the race director point out some of the more noteworthy runners in the race. One gentleman had run a marathon in every state.  Another ran 80 marathons in one year.  And yet another had run a marathon in North Carolina the day before (the Lost Dutchman Marathon was in Arizona). I knew we marathon runners were a bit cracked, but I didn’t know we had so many who had gone off the deep end!

Response:

Since you bring it up — does anybody else think the whole 50 state marathon club is one of the more overrated things about this sport. All it proves is someone has the time and money to travel. There are way too many achievements like this in sports right now and of course there are the puffed up stats in some sports. I’m the first one to take pride in that you have to do it to do it part of running, but somewhere finishing the marathon in the fastest time has gotten lost. C’mon 50 staters – start the hate mail now.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – While waiting for the start of the Lost Dutchman Marathon, I listened to the race director point out some of the more noteworthy runners in the race. One gentleman had run a marathon in every state.  Another ran 80 marathons in one year.  And yet another had run a marathon in North Carolina the day before (the Lost Dutchman Marathon was in Arizona). I knew we marathon runners were a bit cracked, but I didn’t know we had so many who had gone off the deep end!

Response:

While waiting for the start of the Lost Dutchman Marathon, I listened to the race director point out some of the more noteworthy runners in the race. One gentleman had run a marathon in every state.  Another ran 80 marathons in one year.  And yet another had run a marathon in North Carolina the day before (the Lost Dutchman Marathon was in Arizona). I knew we marathon runners were a bit cracked, but I didn’t know we had so many who had gone off the deep end!

Response: