Why do People Run Marathons?

[AFrozenSoul]

So after doing fitness for a while and knowing what I know about the differences in fitness. I cannot understand why people still insist that they want to run marathons. I mean distance running eats away at your body so your require less energy to move long distances. In essence it just causes you to become weaker. I mean lets look at a couple of pictures of professional athletes, a sprinter vs a marathon runner. Male picture, and female picture. These are people who earn their living being in shape. The question is which one looks.... well very sick? I mean this is the body that you will be working towards should you continue running marathons.

So I am just curious really... I mean I understand it takes much less effort to do one exercise for a long time vs many different exercises... but still it makes no sense to me. Being an endurance athlete overall makes you physically weaker. ^_^ now then discuss.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Because it is a sport, like any other.

Why do people play sports? Because they are fun.

 

[a lonely person]

running marathons actually sounds pretty boring, running nonstop for 3-6 hours?

 

[SofiasMami]

running marathons actually sounds pretty boring, running nonstop for 3-6 hours?

Running marathons doesn't particularly appeal to me but haven't marathons been around since ancient Greece?
Also, have you heard of the Western States marathon? It's 100 miles and goes for 24 hours - crazy! The starting line is in my neck of the woods here in California.

-Teresa

 

[Badjedidude]

Ask an NFL linebacker or a 400-meter sprinter to run a 24-hour marathon and I bet they can't do it. Or if they can, their time of completion would be quite different from that of a trained long-distance runner.

It's not that long-distance running makes one weaker -- it's simply that they're training their body in a different way. Most sprinters and other athletes train their bodies to be massively powerful in a relatively short burst of activity. Marathon runners, however, train for endurance and long-term energy conservation and use.

I'm pretty sure anyone would look physically weak after running for 10-12 straight hours.

It's not about how they look or the way their body is physically built.

They simply train differently for different purposes; their bodies are different machines that they've built for different sorts of activity and energy use. It's not quite fair or accurate to compare a sprinter to a marathon athlete and say that one is healthier than the other.

And as for whether it makes one weaker... well, that just depends on how you're defining weakness. I wouldn't say they're weaker.

 

[Gutted]

One reason people do it is to raise money for charity. One or two marathons probably wont hurt.

 

[lostatsea]

It's a testament to fitness that everyone recognizes. Just like saying I climbed X mountain. It doesn't even matter your time, but to say you did it is a great accomplishment that only a small percentage of ppl will ever accomplish.

 

[NightHawkJohn]

I think for the super long distance marathons its about them pushing there body and seeing how far it will go which i think is worthwhile.

I do feel when i look at those really skinny long distance runners it does not look healthy for them, i just don't think we were meant to run long distances we are not really setup for it, if you think back to caveman days we certainly did not survive by running away from things, try outrunning a tiger lol.
Run and you will only die tired .

Although I enjoy a run usually 2miles but have been meaning to push that out to 10miles which is as far as I would ever want to run, I also did a lot of cycling over the years but find after about 15-20miles I am bored and want to come home.
I am mostly focused on weightlifting I would rather be big and strong and lift heavy things as that's what I enjoy the most and if people enjoy pushing themselves running long distance good on them.

 

[Triple Bogey]

sense of achievement, raise money for charity

 

[archy]

i think people like to run marathons for the accomplishment and something to aim for so they feel like they achieve something not many people can do

 

[TheWalkingDead]

I know a lot of runners who run marathons, I think it's about personal challenge.

I enjoy running, but the key word is enjoy, I don't feel I need to prove anything to myself by running 26 miles instead of 5 or 6 a few times a week to keep reasonably fit. I do enjoy running 10ks for the atmosphere.

One thing I've noticed is the people who run marathons and run 50-100 miles a week get colds and sick a lot more frequently than I do (maybe one every 4 years I get a sniffle).

I know people who run ultra marathons, 100 miles in a weekend, it's just not for me, talking to them gets annoying at times because all they ever talk about is running!

 

[a lonely person]

I do feel when i look at those really skinny long distance runners it does not look healthy for them, i just don't think we were meant to run long distances we are not really setup for it, if you think back to caveman days we certainly did not survive by running away from things, try outrunning a tiger lol.
Run and you will only die tired .

The human body is better suited for running long distances than for speed, most (if not all) four legged mammals are way faster than us, but they get tired before us too. Also I think we were mostly the ones chasing other animals, rather than the other way arround.