Legend has it that, around 500 B.C., a Greek messenger named Pheidippides ran 25 miles from a battle at Marathon to Athens to announce a victory over the Persians. After gasping, "we have won" he collapsed and died on the spot. While the veracity of this story may be questioned, the epic run served as the beginning of the event named after the battle rather than the famous messenger (because running a marathon sounds better than running a "pheidippides"). Although it had auspicious beginnings, the marathon does not enter into the public spotlight very often, outside of the Olympic Games. I could probably make it halfway through the Miami University Directory before I found someone who knew who the world record holder in the marathon is. For the record, it's Haile Gebrselassie, who ran 2 hours, 3 minutes and 59 seconds in 2008. Even though the marathon is a popular event (thousands of people run one each year) it's easy to see how the Attention Defecit Disorder-driven American public gets turned away from watching people run for over two hours. ESPN's Tony Kornheiser once said he loved covering the marathon because he had time to eat a full meal, come back and not have missed anything. However, last week, something happened in the marathon that deserves the public's attention, if at least for a few minutes.
Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya not only broke the world record at the Boston Marathon, he shattered it, beating the previous best by nearly a minute and running 2:03:02. He averaged 4:42 per mile, a time which would have earned a letter jacket at most high schools, except he did it for 26 miles.
The only problem was that Mutai did not get the world record. The fastest time by a human being over 26.2 miles will not be recorded in the annals of history. You might be asking yourself, how could such an injustice occur? The governing body of track and field, the International Association of Athletic Federations, mandates marathon courses eligible for record-setting purposes must be loop courses (Boston is a point-to-point course) and the course must not drop more than 170 feet over the entire race. Boston is notoriously known as one of the toughest marathon courses, where the hills are so tough they have names like "Heartbreak." But since it drops 495 feet over the course of 26.2 miles it is not eligible for a world record. The weather was also in favor of a fast time, with cool temperatures and a "nor'easter" blowing at the runners' backs the entire way, adding to the "advantage."
In today's world of ego-driven, steroid-pumping, media-seeking professional athletes, you would have expected Mutai to throw a tantrum after finding out his time was not a new world record. Imagine what Barry Bonds would have done if baseball told him that his home-run record would not stand because too many were hit with the aid of a tail-wind (not to mention steroids). Or Tiger Woods being told that his score would not count because a tree gave him a lucky bounce. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be the one that had to tell them.
When Mutai was told about the technicality, he simply said, "I see this (race) as a gift from God, I don't have more words to add." While he may not get his 15 minutes of fame and the record that he deserves, his humility should remind all athletes that being a good sport isn't a bad thing.
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