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I have been unable to enter the marathon or half of my home town (singapore) because the registration had to close very early due to the high number of charity "runners"! ie charities buying numbers "en bloc" for their members ahead of the general public. Like many non elite but serious runners I became frustrated and was tempted to post a big "F*$%& you penguins" in echo to Bambi, mike and Margo 'posts !! These twats make a mockery of my sport etc,,,
A couple of deep breath later i am forced to reconize that:
- These penguin people are free to do what they want and if they get a kick out of walking a marathon in 6 or 7 hours that is their prerogative... no matter how ridiculous this is to those who remember that marathon is a running event and that there is somthing pathetic is watering down an olympic sport in this way.
- Marathon is now an industry,its own little eco system (like golf and other sports) and as such will try to self preserve and expand at all cost. For all it's flows this has to be good for the sport as long as these excesses correct themselves over time. I trust that gradually people will accept that finishing a marathon in 8 hours is meaningless and that, like in japan (a real running culture) race organisers will raise the cut off time to a more sensible level (say 4:30). Penguins will then have to start with running a 5k then a 10k etc,,,before atempting the marathon.
Arnaud
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