Sunday, December 04, 2011

Dallas White Rock Marathon 2011

I was flicking channels and saw that they were televising the White Rock Marathon. I didn't know it was that big of a deal but I guess the local networks can air whatever they want when it's local. I'm not a runner and I'm not into watching marathons. I just started watching and got interested because there was only a couple of miles left. I figured I could watch the last few minutes—I guess it's like watching the highlights real of baseball or Nascar on ESPN. Anyway, this is what I've taken away from my first and probably last viewing of the White Rock Marathon or any marathon for that matter.

Maybe I don't understand marathons. I was watching the last part of the White Rock Marathon and I had to turn it off when they started interviewing the "winner" but I actually was getting angry during the last mile. The Kenyan ran the full 26 miles. The high schooler ran ONLY the last 2 miles of a relay. The commentators were bragging about how the high schooler was catching up to the Kenyan, passed him, and "won" the marathon. They were amazed the Kenyan faltered at the last few miles. Are you kidding me? 26 miles vs. 2 miles. I don't see the correlation and for the interviewer after the race to say something so stupid to the Kenyan as "When did you feel that the [high schooler] was going to beat you?" Again, WTF? They did say the Kenyan was the full marathon male winner but didn't acknowledge that the Kenyan ran 26 miles on tiring legs whereas the high schooler was fresh for the last 2. They just kept praising him for "winning." Sportsmanship should have come to the high schooler and he should have crossed the finish line with the Kenyan. Again, maybe I don't understand the race but for them to consistently praise this high schooler for "beating" the Kenyan was disgusting. The wife and I both could not watch it anymore.

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