Seems the Internet has lost its collective mind over the LA Marathon organizers’ decision to let runners claim finisher’s medals if they made it to mile 18 before leaving the course in 90-degree heat last weekend. Yeah, I have an opinion about all that; and you might find it surprising.
Some people are calling it a “mockery” of marathoning. The Internet is full of people, runners and non-runners questioning the integrity of the event. Armchair race directors are debating what constitutes “extreme weather.”
Here’s my take: Unless you (a) ran that specific marathon on that specific day, or (b) are responsible for the LA Marathon’s insurance and medical costs, you don’t have a dog in this hunt.
I’ve run 26 marathons. I’ve also run 50 miles through the Bob Marshall Wilderness on a 90-degree day. I’ve been running for more than 45 years, and I have awards from dozens of events. So yes, I have opinions about finisher’s medals (they’re mostly meaningless participation trophies to me. I can count two that I’ve kept track of. Perhaps I’ll show ’em to you sometime and talk about why I kept them while the others are scattered around boxes or drawers somewhere god only knows). And yes, I know first-hand that 90 degrees is brutally hot for racing. I would not recommend it. And I think anyone with a lick of sense will always make a race-day calibration of their expectations based on conditions – cold, hot, windy, snowy, whatever.
The race organizers made a call based on conditions I wasn’t experiencing and liability concerns I’m not responsible for. Some runners took the out. Some didn’t. Either decision is valid.
Here’s what does bother me about this pile-on: It’s the judgmental baloney I see everywhere online. People racing to their keyboards to have strong opinions about situations they weren’t part of, declaring what others should have done, performing certainty about complex decisions.
The runners who stopped at mile 18 in dangerous heat made a choice about their own safety. The race organizers made a choice about liability and participant wellbeing. None of those people need our validation or our criticism.
You know what actually matters? Whether you’d have the wisdom to stop at mile 18 if your body was telling you to, even if it meant “not finishing.” Whether you can make smart decisions under pressure instead of just grinding through because you think that’s what “real runners” do.
I’ve always said, when I hear people (and I’ve heard this a lot) say, “I go running, but I’m not a runner:” If you run with a purpose, you’re a runner. I don’t care how fast or slow you are, if you run with a purpose, you’re as legit a runner as anybody in the Olympics.
Likewise, having a finisher’s medal doesn’t make you a marathoner.
What makes you a marathoner is having a purpose in training for and running in a marathon.
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And above all, have a great weekend and don’t sell yourself short because you made the best decision you could with what you knew at a given time.