Yet when they transfer their attention and considerable talents to the marathon, they have been brainwashed to think that just to participate is the height of accomplishment, when (ah, the beauty of the marathon!) in fact participation is merely the drawbridge to the castle.

Where do we place the blame for these developments? On those “motivators” (both organizations and individuals) who infer that participation and performance lodge in radically different dictionaries. Forget the sports organizations that are supposed to be promoting and instigating increased quality in American distance running; Americans have always been antiestablishment in that regard anyway.

For the new marathoner with inherent talent, the racing scene is no longer welcoming and no longer inspiring from the top. There are few accessible role models. Instead of welcoming and encouraging competition from within the ranks of the hoi polloi, the “elites” tend to guard their tiny fiefdoms.

In 1980, when America had marathoning heroes (from Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter to Greg Meyer and Jeff Wells to Ron Wayne and Steve Hoag to Gary Tuttle and Alberto Salazar to Jon Anderson and Tom Fleming to Garry Bjorklund and Tony Sandoval to John Lodwick to Kyle Heffner to Don Kardong and Kenny Moore to Kirk Pfeffer and Bob Hodge, and so on and so on), a runner

Sunday, November 7, 1999

SANTA ¢ CLARITA

MARATHON

AND HALF

5K RUN/ WALK

MARATHON

For more information or to request

an entry form, contact us toll free at

1-888-823-3455 or visit our website at

www.scrunners.org/marathon

May/June 1999

visiting Boston could drop by Boston Billy’s store on Cleveland Circle and be invited by Bill to join the first couple of miles of his workout before he blasted away. Elite American marathoners (then some of the best in the world) ran together, raced against each other often, and welcomed upand-comers to their ranks. There was abrotherhood (and arising sisterhood) among them. (That welcoming camaraderie, come to think of it, wasn’t too far removed from what the Kenyans are doing today—imagine that.)

When elites or would-be elites dig a chasm to protect themselves, they isolate themselves from challengers who make them better in the process. When so-called motivators paint the marathon as ritual rather than race, they shortchange their charges and expand the chasm.

It’s time to begin encouraging marathoners to translate the performance from the other aspects of their lives to their marathoning. Which marathoner, truth be told, wouldn’t trade fifty 4:30s for one 2:59? It’s the rare marathoner who wouldn’t. The problem today is that nobody who the new marathoners have been taught to respect is holding that prospect forth as a possibility. And the chance of the new marathoner learning that on his or her own is reduced by the mass sheep-think that characterizes today’s marathoner culture.

The talented, hard-working Kenyans seem from another planet as far as most American marathoners are concerned. But of course they aren’t. They aren’t too much different from the 17 American men who finished in the top 20 at Boston in 1982.

Not to worry, then. Everything goes in cycles. All it will take for America to rush back to the foreground of marathoning is one or two new marathoners who don’t know they can’t. Someone with Alberto Salazar’s focus or Bill Rodgers’s raw enjoyment of the sport. Someone with Dick Beardsley’s philosophy of racing anywhere at any time as an excuse to get better. Someone with afew like-minded friends to push him or her along.

When those one or two talented and eager runners emerge from the vast reservoir of American marathoners, they will be able, literally, to write their own financial ticket. Then, as long as they keep the dollars-andcents aspect in perspective and stay hungry for better performances, theyll be there to throw open the floodgates. At long last, Americans will go retro big time and say, “Hey, I think I can do that, too!”

It was, after all, a psychological and not a physical barrier that protected Derek Clayton’s 2:08:34 record for adozen years. And (if you’I allow one last metaphor) psychological barriers are always anchored in sand.

—Rich Benyo

MaylJune 1999

« Eighteenth Annual

WINEGLASS MARATHON

& Merrill Lynch Team Relay

Sunday, October 3rd, 1999 9:00am Designated as one of the Top Ten Most Scenic Marathons by Runner’s World

Special Guest John “The Penguin” Bingham will be signing his new book, giving a talk at the expo and running a five hour pacing group.

$4,500 in Prizes

Course Records:

Male Open: Andrew Herr 2:22:52 (1997) Female Open: Leslie Carson 2:49:09 (1998) Male Masters: Jeff Foster 2:30:22 (1998) Female Masters: Mary Burns Prine 2:49:46 (1997)

The Marathon starts at Philips Lighting in Bath and finishes at Corning Glass Center in Corning, New York. Expo/Packet Pick-up is at the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport.

USATF Certification Code: Marathon & Beyond Score:

Marathon & Beyond Runner’s Highs:

Flat, fast, scenic course : Small field 200-foot elevation drop Low Key Only two small hills _© Stunning glass finisher medals (at miles 5 and 22) Easy course access Super race organization for family and friends Neat T-shirts Great photo ops Fall foliage Corning Glassworks Wine Country finish area For Applications: Wineglass Marathon, PO Box 117, Corning, New York 14830 Phone: 800-284-3352 Ext. #66 Email: BillTay@aol.com Website: http//www.pennynet.org/wineglas

Made of 100% Supplex—a lightweight, fast-drying, wind-blocking

fabric that’s cottony soft to the touch. Great for Event Give-Aways Windshirt prices competitive to T-Shirts

Best prices on Supplex windshirts ANYWHERE! If these prices don’t meet your budget, please call for club price arrangement.

200-499 500-999 1,000-1,999 2,000-4,999 5,000-7,999 8,000-Up

$9.98 each $8.98 each $7.98 each $6.98 each $6.48 each $5.90 each

Prices are based on blank garments with solid colored body and rib only.

All garments made to | order. However, we | occasionally have

| stock on black body with black rib (trim), our most popular color combination.

Call or write for Free Samples on any garment we make. M.TS. Sales Office Post Office Box 934

Orange Beach, Alabama 36561 (334) 980-1045 Fax: (334) 980-1046 E-mail: my3sons@gulftel.com Web site: www.gulftel.net/windshirt

May/June 1999