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Looking for affirmation - here was my dilemma. The marathon was part of a trip abroad with the family - not the reason for the trip, but one of the activities (like many of us, I like to travel and run marathons and I do 4 to 10 a year). I am typically slow and was having a slower than usual day, and, as it turns out, this run was out of my league. I was a distant last and falling further behind. I would have finished within the advertised time limit but only two or three people would have finished less than an hour ahead of me (and it would have been close to the full hour). As the last runner, I was followed by two race officials on bikes and by a car, both directly behind me, and the police were reopening the road behind me. I told them all to go ahead, don't wait for me, I could finish on my own. They couldn't, they said - had to stay with the last runner - no problem, they were nice about it. I gave it a lot of thought and dropped out at less than the half way point, and toured the city with my family instead. I thought it was the courteous thing to do, not to keep the volunteers out, particularly when, for whatever reason, this was a fast field. But, I quit when I could have and would have finished, and I hate being a quitter. Was it the right thing to do?
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