More Slo-Mo Than Flo-Jo

Check this link for an interesting perspective on marathon running from Don Allison at Active.com. I found the following paragraphs the most interesting.

"Despite all of the setbacks, there were more marathon finishers than ever before in the U.S. last year, more than 400,000 in all, the first time that number has been reached in history, and up more than 100,000 from the beginning of the decade. This, despite the cancellation of the Chicago Marathon in midstream and the missing thousands from Honolulu. Can anything stop the marathon mania? Will the upward growth, which is now taken for granted as an annual occurrence, ever come to an end? From all appearances, it does not seem so.

Marathoners continue to get faster—but mostly among those who are already fast. Haile Gebrselassie set a world record of 2:04:26 in the Berlin Marathon last fall, and followed that up just this month with a 2:04:53 in Dubai. Friends, those times equate to a pace of better than 4:45 per mile. The diminutive Ethiopian had good reason to run so quickly: the victory in Dubai was worth $250,000, and he would have collected a cool million had he improved upon his world record time from Berlin. The rest of the marathon world has not improved as the elite have, however. The average time among all male marathoners in 2007 was 4:29:52; among women, 4:59:28. So for all you men and women out there seeking bragging rights, sub 4:30 and sub five hours, respectively, will place you in the top half of all marathoners."

Alas, my full marathon times are almost an hour slower than the "average" marathoner. But considering I'm now 50, I give myself points for just showing up. As a friend of mine is fond of saying: Finishing slow is better than not finishing at all. And not finishing is better than not starting. I know it's more impressive to focus on improving your finishing times, but there is something to be said for enjoying the journey. So let's hear it for all the back-of-the-packers.