Sacramento Running News

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.

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While not necessarily saying he’s not legit, the folks at the Guinness World Records are not accepting Fauja Singh’s record for the oldest marathon finisher since he cannot produce a birth certificate. 

Singh’s supporters say that birth certificates weren’t available in India 1911.

WMA is still recognizing his track and field records since they accept a passport as proof of age. Of course this raises an interesting question regarding the quality of WMA’s records.

How many other record times are suspect?