Marathons getting slower, traffic headaches even worse

There’s a growing trend among marathons around the world – the main field is getting slower and slower.

Aside from the top end, finishing times are much slower today compared to the past, according to a recent article in the New York Times.

In 1980, the median finishing time for male runners in United States marathons was 3:32:17. In 2008, it had risen to 4:16.

For women, the times have slowed from a median of 4:03:39 to 4:43:32 over the same period.

“It’s a joke to run a marathon by walking every other mile or by finishing in six, seven, eight hours,” Adrienne Wald, the women’s cross-country coach at the College of New Rochelle, told the New York Times.

The slower finishing times mean race directors are faced with the difficult decision to keep the course open, and blocked off to traffic, for even longer.

Last year, the Des Moines marathon closed streets for eight hours, instead of the usual seven.

In Toronto, motorists complained about Sunday traffic jams during the city’s two fall marathons. Perhaps if there weren’t as many slower runners, the streets wouldn’t have to be closed for so long – or there wouldn’t be enough demand to stage two big marathons in the city.

But the slower runners have their rights too, said Chris Burch, Des Moines’ race director. Regardless of their pace, all runners pay the same entry fee, and want to be treated the same, he says.

At the Baltimore marathon, vendors sold t-shirts that celebrated slower runners. One sticker said “I’m slow. I know. Get over it.”

While some competitive runners say the five-hour-plus crowd is taking the meaning out of running a marathon, others say all participants should be encouraged, regardless of their pace, in order to build a healthier society.