When is a Marathon a Marathon?
I want to run a Volks-marathon tomorrow morning for my long run. The International Federation of Popular Sports (IVV or Internationaler Volkssportverband) marathon course is an official IVV event with a marked trail. Volkssport events are non-competitive events, thus are not timed and most people tend to walk them.
In the last three years I have ran 10 marathons (and five ultras). I also completed three “Volks” marathons in the early 90’s, running about 10-20% of the distance and walking the rest. When someone asks me how many marathons I ran I always say 10, as I don’t count the “Volks” events or ultras.
Is a marathon a marathon, or is a marathon a marathon only when it is marketed as a running event? And what about the ultras that I completed, and the 38 mile DNF 50-miler? Should these be listed in my total number of marathons?
Is there a proper etiquette on this subject?
I don't lose any sleep on this, but sometimes I wonder...
Comments
Personally I'd count neither the IVVs nor the DNFs. Case in point, I ran a bit over 27 miles on a training run a couple of months ago, but don't count that in my numbers.
This may be the proper etiquette, but does anyone care enough to declare one etiquette the real one?
Just like you, I won't lose any sleep on this.
Posted by: Thomas | June 6, 2008 11:39 AM
If it's specifically marathons, it's completed, formal events. If it's marathon distances, I tend to count things in the 40-50 km range, even if it's just me running through the woods on a Saturday morning....
Posted by: ART | June 6, 2008 1:03 PM