I have a lot of thoughts - and they are somewhat at odds

I think there is place for both races that allow people to finish in 6 hours + and races like MCM and Boston that either have a stricter cut off or qualification - These races become the races with bragging rights.

People may say that the "penguins" lower the bar but they pay the fees that allow these events to be staged with such a high level of support.

I really don`t know what would make someone WANT to race for over 5 hours

However - having been shut out of a popular race that had a time limit ( a half marathon that required a 3 hour finish ) and deciding to volunteer at the event - I course marshalled at mile 5 - people were passing  2 hours after the event started  - they should not have been in the race to being with - I do think it`s annoying that someone who is willing and capable of putting the effort into training for an endurance event fails to get a chance to compete because someone got the luck of the draw and decides to stroll the course - I do think there is a case that could be made that marathon entries should only be accepted from people with proof of a reasonable half marathon - or at least a 10K race time that shows they are capable of making the cutoff.

At the end of the day it`s the race directors call over what applications they accept and how they manage that - I`ll be running my first marathon in a little over a week - people who know me know how hard I trained and there are really only a handful of peoples opinions that matter to me - they`ll be out on the course or tracking my progress on line and they`ll know I ran - I don`t think the person who crosses the line 4 hours behind me detracts from my acheivement.

I find myself pulled in two different directions on this one. On one hand, I think this nation is getting fat enough, what harm can there be in people getting off their rears and doing a marathon, no matter how slow. But then on the other hand, I hate that at the beginning of the race, your first several miles are ruined by idiots that don't realize they are slow and start too far up in the pack.

I am not trying to offend anyone on here, but to me, I don't understand the "walking" marathon. Thats like walking the 100 meter dash. Marathon indicates you are running in my mind. Whether it be at a slow pace or fast, you should at least attempt to be running. Now there are going to be people hitting the wall and all that and having to stop late in a race, but if you are walking the entire 26.2 miles, I do feel it takes away from the idea of a marathon. Most people if they are in decent shape could go out and walk 26.2 miles. Its running it that makes it more of an achievement. 

But on the flip side, probably the most inspirational stories at marathons are probably the ones that are finishing after 5 hours. Its such a fine line to draw. I think any marathon should give preference to all who have completed a marathon before and allow them spots towards the front based on previous finish times and they get to start before everyone else. The walkers should start a good 5 minutes after everyone else. I feel like clueless walkers and slow runners slowed me down at least 2-3 minutes over the first couple miles in my marathon this last week.

I am likely to get flamed for this but here is my opinion.

I think all marathons should set a cut off time.  If a runner is not on pace after the half to finish in under the cut off time they should be ushered off the course.  Now the race director has the call on what the cut off time is.  It could be 4 hrs or 10 hrs but there should be a time.

If one can finish under the cut off time they have every right to be in the race.  If one wants to run a race without slower runners just enter a race with a qualifying time or a low cut off time.

I personally do not understand why someone would want to enter a marathon if they can not run a sub 2 hr half marathon.  I feel a marathon is a culmination of years of running and the journey is more important than the marathon event.  I don't get the idea of doing a starters 5K program and than decide to train a couple of months before doing a marathon.  I don't think ones body can be ready for it and I don't think that is a good way to become a lifelong runner. If the goal is not to become a lifelong runner but rather to just cross the finish line of a marathon I think one diminishes the value of effort.

I don`t know any any race that doesn`t have a cut off time - most races held on public roads usher the runners onto the sidewalk if they wish to keep going ( you can`t stop them it`s a public sidewalk ) but water stations get closed and the finish line is shutdown - I walked home after last years NYC marathon I worked the finish line as a volunteer - there were still people a good 3 miles from the finish and not just one or 2 - I suspect around 100 people were still onthe course - they would not have got an official time - the clocks had already been shut off.

I think you should have a previous race result that proves you are capable of finishing under the cut off - whatever that may be. NYC for example has a 6.5 hour cut off - that`s about 15 mm or 4 mph - a brisk walking pace would just about keep you under the cutoff - The finish line actually stays open until 6:40pm - 8 hours after the last wave start - yet people still finish later than that - Those people took spaces that could have gone to people willing to train for the event and I find that disresectful.

Now before someone jumps up and down and says they trained for 18 weeks and it took them 7 hours to finish a marathon and that they trained just as hard as anyone else - No you didn`t - you trained for 18 weeks - that`s not as hard as anyone else - my first half marathon 2 years ago - I finished in 2:37 - I decided then I wanted to run the NYC marathon - I trained for 2 YEARS - ran a 1:55 half THEN started a 18 week training program for NYC.

I think the bigger issue is people think it only takes 18 weeks to train for a marathon - marathon training plans are 18 weeks - the base building can take from 6 months to a few years

Spicegeek,

Sounds like you are primed for you first marathon.  To me if someone trained for 18 weeks  for a marathon they SHOULD finish in under 7 hours considering that even most half marathons want you to have times under 3 hours.  I feel that even though I have never done a marathon, if I ran one tomorrow I would find it hard to take more than 7 hours to finish.  My question is were you training for 2 years to move your time below 2:00 half  or were you training that long because you would be ready at that time?