Boston - Roubaix

Amby Burfoot at Runner's World took a great deal of pride in poking fun at Lance Armstrong after last November's New York Marathon. I think the running geek in him -- and it can safely be said that Amby is the archetypical running geek, having been so enamored of the sport that he once put an anatomical drawing of the human leg on the cover of Runner's World -- had probably chafed for years at all the adoration a mere cyclist was receiving from the world at large. Guys like Amby want all the world to fall in love with obscure African runners (not that it's a bad idea, but where's the charisma?) and to wax rhapsodic over split times. They disdain cycling as the sport for pretty boys, and don't see the suffering in an hors categorie climb. So when Lance barely broke three hours and had a stress fracture, Burfoot's blog fairly cackled with glee the next week.

Turnabout is fair play. Today's Boston Marathon is being run in conditions that a cyclist like Lance considers somewhat normal -- howling winds, pissing rain, and the threat of worse still to come. I've been a runner all my life, and a cyclist half that time, and all I can say is that it's about time that the running world had a race like this.

All the big marathons are timed for optimal weather conditions. Nothing in mid-summer heat or mid-winter snow. All springtime and autumn. But running's a sport for madmen, and should be run in conditions like today. For every race where someone looks around at the starting line and enthuses about the perfect conditions, there should be ten races where the weather is so downright horrible that the athletes question their sanity for competing. Right now, as Boston is being run, I hope Burfoot is on the course. And I hope he's thoroughly incomprehensibly miserable; whimpering and teeth chattering as yet another blast of wind racks his bony little runner geek body, and yet another cold blast of rain chills his marrow so utterly that he's still wrapping himself in blankets to regain the feeling in his extremities a week from now. The bile and arrogance that he directed at Armstrong was uncalled for, and showed a pettiness not often exhibited in the media or in endurance sports in general.

Ironically, yesterday's Paris-Roubaix bike classic was contested in 80-degree weather. How crazy is that? The race known for being the "Hell of the North" for it's cruel weather and cobblestones had the feel of a mid-summer match race. The ground was dusty instead of muddy, and it was an Aussie (Stuart O'Grady) instead of a Belgian or Italian who won the thing. This would have been an ideal year for George Hincapie...

Time for the Tour of Georgia. Have a great Monday.

Keep pushing... always.

Comments

[Larry]

Right now I'm not sure what readers of this blog will think of today's post. That's why I'm out front. I don't care what side you come down on. But it brought a small, silent smile to my face (not the fake LOL where people don't actually laugh out loud). I actually smiled.

I liked it. Marty's post reminds me of the 4th line grinder on hockey teams who only see a few minutes of ice time a game. But do their teammantes ever love them. And respect them. They are the type of player everyone hates to play against. And wishes they were on their side.

Why? Because they stand up for their team (in this case, sport, fair play). And they hold the other side accountable. They call them out. Keep them honest. Any fancy stuff will not be tolerated. Will be dealt with. Harshly if necessary.

They put themselves out there for their side, not for themselves. Everyone reaps the benefits of their leadership. But failure is a lonely corner when things don't turn out as well. Marty stood up for his side. He knew going in there might be torches and pitchfoks on the horizon. At the very least, a brickbat or a dozen. Yet he still hit the "post" button.

I've got a little more lead in my pencil today. A little more swagger in my strut. Thanks to that Swashbucklin' Dugard.

[Camille]

And Larry, I can remember when you used to give me a hard time for being such a staunch defender of things Dugardish. And now you see part of why I am. So, shake my hand, white soul man. We're in the same club now. :)

[Larry]

Who said anything about being white?

As for being "in the same club" - let's not get ahead of ourselves Camille. Today, I come bearing honey. Tomorrow it could be Red Devil Turpentine.
;-)

[Camille]

Okay, maybe you're the first black, orange or green Scot I've ever met. Never say never!

Alright, I knew you weren't good enough for my club... ;)

Okay Marty, I know! Email!

[don]

"wax rhapsodic" ...

repeat:

"wax rhapsodic"

whoa, dude.

i just dribbled the tea i was a-sippin' all down the front of my sweat soaked jersey (pose 2 hr road ride broken in two sorta equal parts by a 1.5 hr yoga class., bikram, hot... tea cool) and while i thought i was done for the day i am reenergized like that little pink bunny on TV with the desire to go out and do something worthy of waxing rhapsodicly about.

[raee]

So, does this mean I get credit for running my first race ever ( the Columbus Distance Classic) 2 years ago in snow and sleet, air temp 34 degrees, who knows what wind chill-- even though it was a John Bingham organized event, I followed his training schedule, and I am not and will never be very fast (I did have a goal pace of 10 min/mile & beat that--& came in 12th in my age group)?

[Utah Guy]

"And I hope he's thoroughly incomprehensibly miserable; whimpering and teeth chattering as yet another blast of wind racks his bony little runner geek body, and yet another cold blast of rain chills his marrow so utterly that he's still wrapping himself in blankets to regain the feeling in his extremities a week from now."
Trash talk sounds so much more eloquent coming from a writer.
Great post Marty.

[catherine]

This post is one of the reasons I keep coming back. You are the best by far.

On a totally different note, and I hope you don't mind that I share my feelings here, I am heartboken by the murders at VA Tech. I could be one of those parents. I think actaully, we all are. My son could have witnessed the tragedy. Or lost his life.

I don't understand the failure of the police to take the first incident seriously and lock down the campus. They had an incident last August. They had bomb threats within the last two weeks. This was not an isolated incident for them. They didn't have a suspect in custody after the dorm shooting, didn't it occur to them he might not be done????

I am heart sick.

[catherine]

On rereading my post, I realize it could be read to suggest my son was there. He wasn't. I only meant it in the metaphorical sense. We all have children that this tragedy could happen to. We are all parents who could have been given the terrible news that our child was struck down. We all carry the burden of the tragedy.

[Tony]

Catherine, Indeed a difficult time for parents with students everywhere. My heart and prayers go out to those involved.

My run yesterday was filled with prayers. It seems the harder the life challenge or stress the harder the run needs to be. Mud, hills, wind, rain, and narrow blackberry bush edged trails. It helped me.

Martin, In my small collection of marathon finisher medals I have gathering dust...somewhere, the ones I value the most are the Seattle and Whidbey Island races where howling winds and sleety "heavy rain" made the threat of hypothermia a reality for a large number of the starters. Those events represent the real test for me and I look forward to simlilar foul weather adventures.

Still pushing... Tony

[sep]

The subject 'Boston - Roubaix' suggested that there's a new race ... well there isn't, but Google Maps has a proposal. Go to maps.google.com, and get the directions from 'Boston' to 'Roubaix, France', you'll be surprised.

[bsoder]

Marty,

I thought you were the first to label Lance's marathon as mediocre and gave Burfoot the idea for the article.