Going Big
This picture has nothing to do with the story.
When I read the Press Democrat’s article about Chris Spangenberg’s attempt at this past weekend’s Cloverdale Harvest Marathon to set a world record for being the heaviest marathon finisher, my first reaction was: “Our sport is dead.”
This story bothers me on a number of fronts. The 425 pound man who trudged the course in 13 hours and 45 minutes gets an entire newspaper article about his efforts, but the winner–Sacramento’s own Ray “I’ll run anything” Sanchez–gets nary a mention. While this certainly took some effort, it is not running. It’s not even brisk walking.
There is something disturbing about the fact that Spangenberg put in all this effort and training to complete the event and probably did nothing to improve his health or enjoyment of life. He began his training with the stated intent of being the heaviest man to ever complete a marathon, and only lost 20 lbs in the process. At the end of that long effort, he’s still morbidly obese and still facing a life-time of poor health and discomfort.
Today, in his Twitter feed, Spangenberg announces he “downed 4 in-and-out double doubles.”
The negative feelings this story provokes in me are no doubt related to my long-time frustration with the popularity of “couch to marathon” training programs. I feel that the overemphasis on the marathon as the only “serious” distance does a disservice to the sport and the person looking to make a change in their life.
There is nothing magical about running 26.2 miles. It is my firm belief that not everyone should run a marathon. In fact, unless you really enjoy running long distances, I think you should not run a marathon. Aside from a very few of us, there’s not any money in it so you’d better be getting some fun out of the deal.
On the occasion I’ve had some seriously out of shape person tell me that they should, or hope to, run a marathon someday, I ask “Why not a 5K?” Training to run a decent 5K is no less serious an undertaking than running a marathon–and you might enjoy it enough to continue running.
Asked if he might consider competing in another marathon sometime in the future, Spangenberg was pretty adamant when he replied, “I don’t think I even want to drive a marathon again.”
I shared the story with a number of my running friends, and Mark Murray seemed to hit the nail on the head with this question: “Do we think that anyone in a similar state of unhealthiness is going to look on this guy’s long, painful, and seemingly counterproductive experience (gained 20 lbs on the run), and say to themselves: I think I want to try that.”
My sincere wish for for my out-of-shape friends is that if they make the effort to change their lives, and actually get off the couch and start training, this will become an enduring and life-changing experience, not just an item to check off the bucket list.
“At some point we should let the rest of the world in on our little secret—running in the real world is much less about sacrifice, and ‘no-pain, no gain’ and ‘enduring’ hardship.” Murray adds. “At least for me, a lifetime of running (and what I call racing) has proven to be one of the funnest, most satisfying (and most self indulgent) activities I’ve ever had the pleasure of undertaking.”
Great post, John. I totally agree.
1Well said John.
2That must have been pretty gross to watch, too.
great article. I especially appreciate this quote of yours: “Training to run a decent 5K is no less serious an undertaking than running a marathon–and you might enjoy it enough to continue running”.
3John,
Nice article.
For me it comes down to this, I am not really concerned about the pace, but the apparent attitude. According to the original article, he didn’t use the marathon as motivation to get in shape or lose weight. He ACTUALLY had the stated goal of trying to be the heaviest person ever to complete a marathon. So really his goal was to stay fat. His tweet from today doesn’t just underscores the point that this wasn’t about health.
I have lots of respect for people who train hard to get in shape and complete a marathon. Frank Shorter said it best, “don’t feel sorry for me, feel sorry for the 4 hour runners, they are working just as hard as I am, but they’re out there twice as long.
I don’t know Mr. Spangenberg, and the comments at the end of the article seem to indicate how nice he was to everyone. And, I suppose its really not our place to judge, but this just feels wrong. Its a sad commentary on our society more than Mr. Spangenberg. And as Mark Murray points out, not only will this not have the effect of inspiring other out of shape people to train and improve their health, I could actually see it having the opposite effect. I can see people near 400 pounds trying to gain weight just to set the record. The Guinness Book shouldn’t even have a category for this.
4After reading all the congratulatory comments on the Press-Democrat’s website I am relieved to see your article echoing my reaction to this story. I feel Mr. Spanenberg’s motivation was misguided and that his effort was irresponsible to his health and disrespectful of the marathon. It sends out a very bad message.
5Great article. You summarized my feelings about this headline and my dissapointment on how the marathon/racing universe is changing. Running to me is not about my time, but the precious time I can find to run.
6I agree with everything you said, but I am disturbed by the irony that you devoted another article to the fat guy and barely mentioned the winner of the race, Mr. Sanchez.
7Ray Sanchez deserves his very own article for his accomplishments. He is a beast and his 2010 race schedule alone is worth a write up. I think consistency and longevity are boring to the masses. I’m blown away by it.
8I think you should all ********** Im proud to say owes my friend and Im really proud that he trained by walking 10 miles a day and completed this at his own pace we can’t all be in top health. Im in shape and I wouldn’t dream of running a marathon, but for some one anyone that big to go all this distance which to anyone who doesn’t run every day that is a long way. I truly hope all of your kids are fatties who read yourn statements and feel the pain of your hatred on their death bed.
9I’m not quite sure why the author feels the need to pen such embittered words. Mr. Spangenberg accomplished an incredible feat. Sure it took him a lot longer than most marathon participants but the important part is he did it. In a country where obesity is a growing health problem we should be applauding him for his efforts. Training was a part of his daily regiment and incorporation of a healthy diet. So again I ask, why this animosity towards him?
The previous responses to this article are equally disturbing. Mr. Spangenberg is trying to change his life and undoubtedly experiencing a marathon did just that. Perhaps if you all should re-evaluate why you run marathons and not consider it an elite club of accomplished runners and more like a event that allows each individual a chance to showcase their own abilities. This is not a beauty contest.
10You don’t know Chris. You don’t know his motivation. You don’t know what it is like to weigh over 400 pounds and start walking five to ten miles a day.
For one thing, Chris is a standup comedian. He jokes about everything, but he took this challenge very seriously. The article shows Chris’ sense of humor, not his dedication.
This marathon was Chris’ Mt Everest. You don’t climb Mt Everest and spend your time thinking about when you’re going to do it again. You’re in the moment. And that mountain is not the last you climb you’ll do, even if it is the highest you’ll climb. Chris doesn’t plan to do another marathon anytime soon, but he will keep walking. More importantly, he has confidence that he can do things that seem impossible.
11Truly bitter article. Why not focus on the fact that he did it? I’m relatively fit and I won’t go for a marathon that size. He tackled it and that in itself is admirable. I do not admire someone who thinks “your sport is dead” because a person in less than ideal shape attempted this marathon. It seems elitist and judgmental. Lighten up and let people jump their hurdles the way they want to – it doesn’t effect your training.
12Wow somebody is bitter and arrogant. If you have issues with what this guy has done or how he has done it why not reach out to him? Maybe you could spin this in a positive way instead of sounding arrogant. Shame on you!
13I love chris’s post on twitter “I will not always be fat but the haters out there will always be losers.” John Blue let me be the first to publicly call you a loser.
14Signed
Sarah Anderson
Marathons are so boring. This lame sport needs someone like Chris Spangenberg to attract a decent audience.
Chris Spangenberg is to marathons, what Happy Gilmore was to golf.
You should be thanking him for for bringing attention to your event, because without him there would be no news article.
You make marathon runners sound like a bunch of conceited, elitest POS. Are you that close minded and intolerant that no one but athletic competitors can compete in marathons.
If a 440lbs dude wants to run a marathon, there is nothing wrong with that I also once read an article about a guy with no legs finishing a marathon and it was highly publicized. Should he also not be allowed?
You also sound rather ignorant. Did competing in this marathon improve Spangenberg’s health? Absolutely. Did he lose weight? No. But did he trade fat for muscle? Definitely. There is much more to improving one’s health than simple lb-for-lb weight reduction.
John Blue sounds like a arrogant, pathetic individual who is jealous about all the publicity that Chris Spangenberg drew to a rather unnoticed event.
John Blue is the type of guy who gives runners a bad name. It almost makes me want to douse the next guy I see running along side of the road with soda.
15It’s Mr. Spangenberg’s APPARENT attitude that has people upset…at least as I see it. I applaud anyone who wants to change their life, whether its by getting in shape, quitting smoking, etc. It is not apparent from the article, which quoted Mr. Spangenberg often, that this endeavor was about changing his life. The original article makes it sound like his goal was simply to finish a marathon, and not finish it as a means to lose weight and get in shape. In fact, as one earlier poster pointed out, it seems almost like his goal was not to lose weight. And when he tweets that he just finished 4 double doubles, that appears to further the notion that he is not interested in losing weight. How about a tweet that read “Now that I have completed a marathon, I am committed to a change in diet as well…I just ate a nice healthy salad.” I think if the attitude expressed through the evidence available were that Chris is committed to making a change in his life he would have found wide spread support.
I don’t know Chris, I have never met him, nor spoken with him. All I have to go on is what I have read in the two articles in question, and the comments here.
Chris, if you are making a change and the marathon was just the start, good for you. If not, then maybe you need to look in the mirror and question your motivation for running the marathon.
16Most marathons have a time limit of 6-7 hours to complete it in. If you do not run/walk the the race (or any race for that matter) in the time alloted, then is it really completing the race? I think it’s great that someone may want to walk or run 26.2 miles, but I’m not certain one can say they officially completed a marathon just because he /she goes the distance in any amount of time and may finish well after a race has shut down. If I were to run 26.2 miles on the bike trail tomorrow, could I say I just completed a marathon? Well, yes, but not really.
17The published start for this event was 7:30AM and if Mr Spangenberg was on the course for 13:45 he would have finished around 8:45PM. Just curious if the race officials, volunteers and aid stations folks stayed until he was finished. That would have been a really long day for a lot of people if this were the case.
18I think many people here are missing the point of the article. The focus is not that Chris is a fat guy who doesn’t belong in a marathon. In fact, it’s great that the guy can stay mobile for that long and far. I can pretty much guarantee he couldn’t do that before his training, and therefore has increased his ability.
19That being said, he did not complete a marathon by generally accepted standards and rules. No race is officially open for 13:45. I would have to train to be able to bench press 300 lbs, but I could not then do it ten times and claim to bench 3000 lbs. A marathon is a specific distance covered within a specific time frame.
The really disturbing thing about this is the media’s coverage of him as an inspirational example. Yes, it was impressive for him personally, but it certainly was no more impressive than the winner’s performance. His motivation and attitude about the feat do not sit well with those who are passionate about running as a part of a healthy lifestyle, but he has a right to them. His garnering more media attention, however, is what feels unacceptable. Perhaps this says much more about society than it does about Mr. Spangenberg.
My Son set a goal for himself and completed that goal despite the pain, doubts and his father’s strong admonition against it.
He did not win the race, but for himself alone he won something more enduring and profound. It remains to be seen what he will do with that.
20Yep…and a great goal. But Chris did not complete the race. I think that’s the point people are trying to make here. I wish Chris good luck with all future endeavors.
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