How Far Is That Marathon?
Recently, I was talking to the mother of one of my son's friends. She told me that she and her husband ran marathons too. I asked which ones, she proceeded to list some local 5K's. As graciously as I could, I told her that a marathon connotes a race of 26.2 miles (42.2 km), and that no other distance is a marathon. I then explained that the only other race that regularly uses the "marathon" term is a half-marathon, which is exactly half the distance. Occasionally, other modifiers are used, but they have no specific meaning. The old L'eggs Mini-Marathon in New York comes to mind, but the race became referred to as "the Mini", in part because the use of the word marathon was inappropriate.
Having grown up running, I always find it remarkable how little many people know about the sport, even though it's probably competed in their town, often by some of their neighbors, yet they don't even know the most basic information about it.
I don't know horse racing, though I've gone to horse tracks perhaps a half-dozen times in my life. I know that horse races are measured in furlongs, and if memory serves, that a furlong is an eighth of a mile. I know that there are at least two formats of horse races; thoroughbred racing, where the jockey rides on the horse's back and harness racing, where the jockey rides behind the horse in a cart called a sulky.
I don't understand how people don't know this stuff. Before you feel self-righteous for knowing, please answer the following questions:
Who is our Secretary of State?
Who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives?
Who are your two Senators?
Who is your local Congressman?
If you don't know the answers, please check the following resources:
For Sec'y of State, for speaker and congressman, for senators. (In the interest of full disclosure, I couldn't come up with one of my senator's names. New Jersey is in the unusual position of having had a senator appointed recently. Since I was honest enough to tell you how I did, will you please return the favor by posting a comment telling me how you did?)
For more on a related topic, check out Vince Hemingson's recent "Do You Run?" post. As a Canadian, Vince is entitled to a different quiz.
Having grown up running, I always find it remarkable how little many people know about the sport, even though it's probably competed in their town, often by some of their neighbors, yet they don't even know the most basic information about it.
I don't know horse racing, though I've gone to horse tracks perhaps a half-dozen times in my life. I know that horse races are measured in furlongs, and if memory serves, that a furlong is an eighth of a mile. I know that there are at least two formats of horse races; thoroughbred racing, where the jockey rides on the horse's back and harness racing, where the jockey rides behind the horse in a cart called a sulky.
I don't understand how people don't know this stuff. Before you feel self-righteous for knowing, please answer the following questions:
Who is our Secretary of State?
Who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives?
Who are your two Senators?
Who is your local Congressman?
If you don't know the answers, please check the following resources:
For Sec'y of State, for speaker and congressman, for senators. (In the interest of full disclosure, I couldn't come up with one of my senator's names. New Jersey is in the unusual position of having had a senator appointed recently. Since I was honest enough to tell you how I did, will you please return the favor by posting a comment telling me how you did?)
For more on a related topic, check out Vince Hemingson's recent "Do You Run?" post. As a Canadian, Vince is entitled to a different quiz.
posted by Scooter at 11:43 AM
2 Comments:
Okay, as I was reading your post, I was thinking to myself how I hate when people pretend they know all about marathons and don't. Especially the one's who say, "Oh you ran a marathon, how long was that?" 26.2 miles. "Oh, and how long is that one in Boston?"
But, I will get off my horse because I only knew the secretary of the state.
Good post.
I failed...knew 2 out of 4.
My Little (from Big Brothers Big Sisters) asked me when I started training how long my marathon would be. I assisted her in looking it up in a dictionary so she will remember.
Maybe I should start doing that with everyone that says "how long is the marathon you are running?" I'm sure I won't get the excited, awestruck look that she gave me when she found out how long it was, but it might make them remember too.
Great post. Thanks for keeping me on my toes with the quiz.
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