<p>Good response from NY RR Club.</p>
<p>[Missing</a> the Essence of the Marathon](<a href=“http://www.ingnycmarathondaily.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64:missing-the-essence-of-the-marathon&catid=42&Itemid=71]Missing”>http://www.ingnycmarathondaily.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64:missing-the-essence-of-the-marathon&catid=42&Itemid=71)</p>
<p>Thanks, MomofWildChild–great link.
Incidentally, the New York Times Science section had an interesting article today about the suitability of humans to distance running–apparently, over a long distance such as 26.2 miles, a human can outrun a horse. (Well, I could not, but some can.)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/sports/27marathon.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/sports/27marathon.html</a>
An article from todays times that give a different twist to the discussion. </p>
<p>Also, a stunning article from a NYT blog “are marathons safe” which references some studies that I have never heard of before, and which, if true, should give a lot of people pause before setting off to do one of these. I don’t think I’m allowed to link to the blog, but its worth googling and reading Tara Parker Pope in the well blog under the title mentioned above.</p>
<p>Those reports are quite sobering, dadx. Thanks for putting up information to find the blog.</p>
<p>From the NYT article:</p>
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<p>This doesn’t make sense, because anybody who has ever ridden a horse hard can tell you that horses sweat a lot. They don’t pant. If a human outruns a horse over any distance they’ll have to think of another reason.</p>
<p>And to the broader animal vs. human question, there are a few documented cases of a good human runners out-running a mediocre horse at very long distances, like 100 miles or more. But at any distance you are ever likely to encounter in the real world horses can literally leave humans in the dust. They are running machines. Same for wolves or big dogs. When you see some guy running with his big dog in the park, even when the guy is really picking it up, the dog is still trotting. He hasn’t seen to the need to break into a run.</p>
<p>And for ultra-distances like a hundred miles or more, human/animal direct comparisons become futile due to questions over motivation for the animals. I.e. horses or dogs probably <em>could</em> outrun humans over that distance, but from the horse’s point of view, why would anyone ever run that far? Humans can convince themselves to do all sorts of outlandish things, but why would a dog run a hundred miles when they’ve already left all the humans way back in the dust at mile 1 or 2?</p>
<p>I guess for me I feel “safer” running marathons (and I DO get burned out) than NOT running them. It’s just something that benefits me in many ways. I didn’t run a marathon between Dec 2001 and April 2009, but I came out of retirement.
As much as I hate getting out of bed in the dark and cold at 5am do run 8 miles on hills, I feel pretty happy with myself afterwards. Somehow, it makes me think I can handle anything that comes my way.</p>
<p>The article about the kids (and I was familiar with the Paul boy back in the day) reminds me of a situation I had with my son when he was about 10. He wanted to run a 10K after having done a number of shorter races. I told him he could (low key local club event) if I ran with him. Well, he had some asthma problems and some bathroom problems during the race and was crying- not because of these problems, but because he wasn’t happy with his time/pace. I told him if he didn’t stop crying I would make him stop because other runners were glaring at me thinking I was making him run! It was really embarrassing. I would never have let him run a marathon as a young boy. In fact, the longest he ever raced was a half and that was as a high school junior.</p>
<p>MoWC - Motherhood can be so humbling!
Did you want to wear a sign that said, “No, I am NOT that kind of mom?”</p>
<p>It wouldn’t have helped. People still would have thought it was her fault. 
The bane of motherhood.</p>
<p>About outrunning dogs and horses…</p>
<p>I’m going to cite Born to Run. The point of distance running for primitive man wasn’t to outrun those species, but to outrun prey animals like antelope. If a couple of humans can lope along behind a singled-out animal for several hours (3-4 hours? 26 miles?) the animal will eventually tire and fall. This technique doesn’t rely on accurate weapons, but simply human endurance. McDougall makes a pretty good case for this hunting strategy being the root of distance running. </p>
<p>I’ll add that I’ve often wondered about the biological purpose of a “runner’s high”/ serotonin rush. I regularly have these feelings on training runs, and indeed, felt euphoric during the final miles of my first marathon run a few weeks ago. My thought as I crossed the finish line, among other thoughts about gratitude for health, etc? “My family will eat antelope tonight!”</p>
<p>^^I agree that an antelope or deer makes much more sense. In fact when I was in Jr. High in New Mexico, sometimes for PE the teacher would have us walk out into huge the sage brush fields next to the school and fan out. We would soon flush a jackrabbit and the chase was on. We always won. With so many of us running and cutting off escape routes, it was relatively easy for a gang of 12 year olds to run a rabbit into exhaustion.</p>
<p>But a horse or wolf is a different story. Like I said, they are running machines. They have far more stamina than a rabbit, deer, or antielope. In the wild they can run all day if need be. Humans can outrun them only in very peculiar or contrived circumstances.</p>
<p>Although my dog looks like a wolf, I can outrun him in anything longer than a 400-meter dash. My dog is a Bolt (the runner as well as the cartoon character :))- he can sprint a 100 or a 200 with blazing speed, but he is not a distance runner. Sadly, D really wanted him to be her running companion. GSDs do not make good running buddies.</p>
<p>Does anybody know which breed would make the best running companion for a marathon runner in a relatively warm climate? Our australian shepherd passed away last year and H loves running with a dog. The shepherd was a good running companion for many years (eventually got too old) but I think our climate here is really too hot for this breed, at least for long distance running. We lived in the northeast when we got him. </p>
<p>H is one of those runners who loves the longer distances and has talked about following the training routine for an ultra even if he never runs one, just for the love of the distance. He has a marathon in two weeks and will run Boston this spring. He is a purist who won’t use headphones but loves having a dog companion.</p>
<p>^^Any large, reasonably slim-bodied breed with shorter hair should do. But you want a dog that really <em>loves</em> to run, get one of the sight hounds: greyhound, whippet, borzoi, saluki, etc.</p>
<p>I have an acquaintance who could be termed nutcaseultramarathon competitor, and he is on his second yellow lab running companion. The first one lasted a normal lifespan. Because of his long distance and trails orientation, I doubt the pace ever gets faster than 8 1/2-9 minute miles. My impression is that he does three or so runs per week of 2 1/2 to 3 hours minimum. The dog doesn’t seem to mind and appears to enjoy it.</p>
<p>I personally never liked to run with any of my dogs very much. It goes okay most of the time, but there are frequent foul-ups when a cat or rabbit or another dog gets sighted, and suddenly Fido wants to to head off in a different direction.</p>
<p>dadx, your friend and H sound pretty similar. The lab sounds like a logical choice–large, short hair, high energy. tks.</p>
<p>The only thing I should have noted is that my friend is not in a warm climate. He is in the midatlantic region. </p>
<p>Back when I was running a lot, I found that the warm areas in summer were a completely different ballgame. In Houston, you had to finish your morning run before the sun really came up or you would fry and stifle. I don’t think any dog could run with you there.</p>
<p>I’ll say it again. The vast majority of people who run marathons should never run them. It makes little sense in terms of maintaining permanent fitness. They simply take too long to recover from. I understand why the Ryan Halls of the world run them - it indeed is an event suited for him both psychologically and physically - and his spiritual approach to running (I am not religious myself) fits in well with a race that requires (for him) a bit over 2 hours to run. But most of us - even former good college runners - are not anywhere near the rare long distance mutants that Hall happens to be. I find it no accident that the best runner in the world - Kenesisa Bekele - has not run one although I am persuaded that as a 26:21 10K runner (yes, that is 4:12 a mile for 6 miles) he could easily destroy the world record and collect a big pay day at a Berlin, Rotterdam or NYC marathon. </p>
<p>I was a miler (3:40 1500) by trade, but ran a sub 29 10k at one point - not happily. Doing so on 60 miles a week (a lot for me) was a much greater challenge than slogging through a marathon - for me the concentration and intensity factor was enormous. And 10k’s don’t take months to recover from. The two best coaches I had - cautioned me never to run a marathon - although at one point I could have jogged one in 3 hours without much impact. I followed their advice. </p>
<p>I ran a 9:20 two mile at age 14. Those of you who run know that is unusual. A host of people encouraged me to run a marathon. Forget it. I had a good coach who knew at age 14 I first had to get under 2:00 minutes for the 800 and at 52 for the 400 meters before going on. So I ran those events until they were mastered. And stuck to the mile and longer sprints all through high school. A kid from Florida (who ran at Florida State without much success) who ran a similar 2 mile time to me at 14 was pushed into running a marathon in his teens. He set a national record in the marathon that I am sure stands to this day (low 2:20’s is phenomenal for a 16 year old). But it was foolish, and he never had the career he should have had in college. And he had very limited speed to kick, a fact not at all helped by marathoning.</p>
<p>Dogs do have a hard time with the heat so heat tolerance and distance endurance would be the two most important characteristics. Speed wouldn’t matter. He does his speed work at the track with a group of men and would never take a dog to that. Plus a cocker spaniel could probably run faster than H on a short distance. Speed is not his thing as much as distance. Around here a lot of people run their sprinklers nonstop so that provides some water in the summer. H usually runs very early for his long runs, even on week-ends just because it is such a time consuming activity that he feels guilty being gone otherwise. I swear it is worse than golf. It has been about a year since he had a dog to run with and I was hoping he would get used to running without his companion but he brings it up about twice a week how much he misses it so I’m thinking it’s just a matter of time.</p>