There’s a guy in Virginia whose entire New Year’s resolution is to run a marathon faster than Oprah Winfrey. P Diddy (rap mogul and collector of aliases) had the same goal. When he started training for the 2003 New York Marathon, he publicly announced his goal to cross the finish line in less time than the queen of daytime talk. Dexter Holland, the guitarist for Offspring, has even challenged Oprah to a marathon duel at the forthcoming L.A. Marathon. Believe it or not, there’s a vibrant running subculture full of people attempting to beat Oprah Winfrey’s 4:29 marathon time, set at the Marine Corps Marathon in 1994. Welcome to marathon running in the new millennium. This sport, which was once reserved for the most elite runners in the world, has been hijacked by average housewives and cubicle serfs who, prompted by Oprah’s highly publicized run in 1994, operate under the belief that anyone can run a marathon. In 2005, 432,000 people finished a marathon compared to 1980, when only 120,000 Americans crossed the long distance finish line. Is the democratization of marathons a good thing? Or are the throngs of newcomers ruining the purity of the sport?

“Today, the majority of marathon runners set out simply to finish. That sets the bar so low that everyone comes out a winner,” writes Gabriel Sherman in a 2006 Slate article entitled “Running with Slowpokes.” “Big city marathons these days feel more like circuses than races…the marathon has transformed from an elite athletic contest to something closer to sky diving or visiting the Grand Canyon.”

Sherman wrote what a lot of veteran marathoners were thinking, but were hesitant to say…at least publicly. The basic complaint from long-time middle of the pack runners is that all these new marathoners are 1) slow 2) in the way and 3) have no respect for the sport. Scan various running forums and you’ll find a number of semi-anonymous threads lambasting huge productions like the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, which boasts a different live band at every mile marker and cheerleaders along the course. Or the New York Marathon, the biggest in the country, which had 90,000 applicants for 36,000 slots. Much of the aggression is aimed at charity groups like Team in Training, which motivates and trains thousands of non-runners to complete their first marathon while raising money for leukemia research. One in every five runners today is running for a charity, and the majority of them are running kind of slow. In 1980, the average finish time for a male marathoner was 3:32, according to Running USA. Today, it’s more than 4:20. Some runners say the surge of popularity is too much of a burden on their sport, even going so far as to boycott races that cater to charities.

“With charity groups at marathons expanding, perhaps organizations like Team in Training need to do their own race,” writes one runner on Marathonguide.com. “Otherwise the atmosphere will continue to evolve from serious athletic pursuit to a migrating Sunday party.”

Many of the charity runners employ a run/walk method and are motivated by reasons other than a pure love for the sport, both of which are points of contention among some veteran marathoners. But why? Okay, more people are participating in marathons...so what? They run slower than you do, they like to have a good time and enjoy the race, they don’t have a lifetime commitment to running that borders on the psychotic and physically dependent...so what? The original running boom in the ‘70s was inspired by world class running stars like Prefontaine. Today, the boom is prompted by non-elite runners like P. Diddy and Oprah Winfrey, so what? The marathon is no longer a stuffy, masochistic pursuit for elite athletes. Is that such a bad thing?

Brad Boughman is a self-admitted slower runner who used the Country Music Marathon to get into shape. Now, he runs a motivational website for runners attempting their first 26.2.

“It’s totally ridiculous for people to put others down just because they’re not running as fast as them,” Boughman says. “In a marathon, there's only one winner. Finish times are relative and there's always someone faster than you.”

The throngs of new marathoners may not be setting course records, but they’re certainly not the drain on the sport that some make them out to be. “I understand that some people want to keep the purity of the sport intact, but these new runners contribute to the sport of marathons,” says Beth Cline, communications director for the Marine Corps Marathon, a popular destination race for first-time marathoners. “There’s a higher number of women running marathons now, a higher number of people getting fit through marathons. These newcomers add a dimension to the sport that wasn’t there before.”

This (hopefully) small contingent of pissed off veteran marathoners may complain about the slower pace times and crowded starting lines (one lady on Marathonguide.com even complained that charity groups eat more than their share at the pre-race pasta dinners), but what they’re really upset about is that they’re no longer special. When these long-time marathoners tell people they regularly run 26.2 miles, nobody fawns all over them anymore. And why should we? Our neighbor is a marathoner. So is our accountant…and our florist.

“Some may feel their accomplishments are diminished by the rise in popularity,” Boughman says, "but that’s ridiculous. The more people running the better.”

So stop complaining and enjoy the company.

MARATHON CHEATERS

In 2005, organizers of the Marine Corps Marathon disqualified 350 runners for cheating. The most famous offence came from Jeans Marines, a quasi-charity group from Canada. Members of the training group were busted cutting a corner of the course, shaving four miles off the 26.2.

In 2006, two women who finished in the top ten at the Marine Corps Marathon were disqualified for cheating. According to their timing chips, they failed to run six miles of the course. Race organizers say the women either cut a corner or jumped on the metro.

Rosie Ruiz is the most famous marathon cheater. During the 1980 Boston Marathon, Ruiz jumped in from the sidelines and sprinted to the finish, winning the women’s division. Ruiz was stripped of her win a week later, though she maintains her innocence to this day. It’s been suggested that Ruiz even cheated during her qualifying run at the New York City Marathon, where she was seen riding the subway to the finish line.