Completing something that you once considered impossible,
even ridiculous, is a marathon - running 26.2 miles. On top of that, if it is the
"the Legendary Boston Marathon", the person who achieves it is truly
special regardless of his or her age. Some of us who are not aware of
qualifying times should take a look into the table below.
Just to give you a perspective, an average distance athlete considers
himself a good runner if he runs 26 miles in about 4 hours. I myself got tons
of congratulatory messages when I completed my first half marathon in 2 hours.
Guess what, yet I can only dream about running the Boston marathon which is way
beyond reach at this speed. To qualify for the race, you would have to run for
hours at a pace even normal, fit people can only hold in a sprint. In my
opinion, there are only few challenges that can compare to the sense of
accomplishment that one would feel after running 26.2 miles to finish the marathon.
That’s pretty much what Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to
run the Boston Marathon said about it as well.
“If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a
marathon,” she said.
I am always a big proponent of the theory that long distance
running is more about believing in yourself than anything else. It does not
really matter, if you are in the early 20’s or even your 50’s to become a long
distance runner. Neither does it matter, if you were ever an athlete in your
life. There are several veteran runners
who have confessed that they ran marathons faster in their 40’s then when there
were in 20’s. There are lots of myths around long distance running especially
in our community. In my previous blogs, I have written few articles to bust
those myths and how can you be benefitted from running as you grow older. However,
there is still so much reluctance and disinclination among Indians due to
various reasons.
Since, I have a personal interest in Boston marathon
considering the iconic nature of this race; I dug through the 2014 race statistics.
My curiosity was mostly wondering about the super humans who run this marathon.
How many Indian or American Indians qualifies for this race? Results were
surprising if not mind-blowing. Check out the chart below – what is the first
thing you notice?
Number of runners in the 40+ age group were way more than
the younger ones. Out of a total of around 36000 registered runners, only 14307
were below 40. Really? So another myth busted here – marathon is not only for
young people. It is statistically proven by the data that long distance running
is more popular in people over 40 than the younger ones. Another not very
surprising though, was the fact that there were not many Indians qualified for
the race; however the number of Indians qualified in year 2014 was way more
than last year. There were few corporate teams who participated in the race
from companies like Infosys and TCS.
Overall, the analysis provided strength to my belief that it
is never too late to run. In fact, runners 45 years and older represent one of
the fastest-growing age groups participating in the increasingly popular events
in United states. Of course, the stresses of long-distance running are harder
on joints, feet, muscles and backs, and more prone to injury than younger competitors.
But, by adopting different techniques and going at your pace will certainly
make things right for you. I know we are by nature "risk averse"
people but are we not risking our well-being by not doing anything at the right
moment?
Happy Running!!
If you look around, running has become quite fashionable! After
more than a year of running, I can now confess that I am a runner and I love
running with its multitude of benefits. I feel excited sharing with my readers
today that I reached a major milestone in my running chapter by completing 500
miles this year! During this journey, I learnt few useful lessons which can help
you live a better life.
