Boston marathoner shames me
At least one reader – and many of his running friends, he said – are really steamed about a column I wrote, titled “Journeying to join the few who run Boston,” that appeared in yesterday’s Appleton Post Crescent.
Actually, it was one paragraph found to be insulting to the reader – a self-described 13-time Boston Marathon charity runner and eight-time Ironman. Although the majority of the column was about my own desire to qualify to run Boston and admiration for those who do, along the way I managed to diss Boston runners like him:
I wrote, “Even though Boston attracts thousands of non-registered ‘bandits’ and charity fund-raising joggers who don’t bother to meet the time standards, runners like me still insist on working hard to earn our place at the starting line.”
Although it was not my intention, that statement does suggest charity runners are neither qualified to be there (they are entirely welcome under Boston Athletic Association rules) nor work hard to get there.
That was unfair of me, and I apologize.
As the reader pointed out, many Boston marathoners like him have found fund-raising for medical research to motivate their training. They run for a purpose greater than themselves. And some happen to be fast enough to meet the qualifying time standards, too – such as the reader’s wife.
I will look toward running a “BQ” myself at Grandma’s Marathon on June 21 with a greater appreciation for what Boston means to other runners, and what the fund-raising there means for so many others unable to run.
– Joel Patenaude