The Winner and the Real Loser
If you haven't heard, the Nike Women's Marathon last weekend showed that it's an elitist race by awarding the top prizes to women in the elite field when someone who started with the masses actually bested them all and ran the fastest time. She left San Francisco emptyhanded.
This apparently is the second time in a week that race officials have made that call. Last weekend in Chicago the Kenyan who finished fourth was shut out of prize money because he too started with the regular athletes and not a special pack.
You can read about it here.
One question I have is: Why do elite athletes even need a head start? I mean, aren't they supposed to be fast enough to split away from the others right out of the gate anyway?
And what an audacious excuse was given: The elite women might have put in more effort if they knew someone else was on their heels, in this case a 24-year-old schoolteacher who never considered herself elite. That's the other incredulous claim: that the woman disqualified herself by not signing up with the elite field.
From all of the other accounts I've read, those out there on their own personal mission enjoyed themselves. Even the woman who got the shaft. (Sorry if I just jeapordized this blog's G rating!) Still, this is almost as upsetting as discovering that the contestants on Survivor are now all actors and models. Keep it real, people. And consider signing the petition above.
This apparently is the second time in a week that race officials have made that call. Last weekend in Chicago the Kenyan who finished fourth was shut out of prize money because he too started with the regular athletes and not a special pack.
You can read about it here.
One question I have is: Why do elite athletes even need a head start? I mean, aren't they supposed to be fast enough to split away from the others right out of the gate anyway?
And what an audacious excuse was given: The elite women might have put in more effort if they knew someone else was on their heels, in this case a 24-year-old schoolteacher who never considered herself elite. That's the other incredulous claim: that the woman disqualified herself by not signing up with the elite field.
From all of the other accounts I've read, those out there on their own personal mission enjoyed themselves. Even the woman who got the shaft. (Sorry if I just jeapordized this blog's G rating!) Still, this is almost as upsetting as discovering that the contestants on Survivor are now all actors and models. Keep it real, people. And consider signing the petition above.
