The Competition

Over the years, I have faced some interesting competition in marathons. In the 1994 Marine Corps marathon Oprah Winfrey beat me: She ran the marathon in a time of 4 hrs,  29 mins; I finished about 10 minutes behind her.  It was pouring rain in that marathon, and all I remember is being wet and miserable.  My good wife Cathy had a dry t-shirt for me at the 15 mile mark, and that helped a lot. I don't mind at all that Oprah beat me, because a lot of people beat me in the marathon.  But Oprah missed the point.  She met her goal, then stopped.  It may have been her choice of personal trainers-- sometimes these personal trainers push their clients too hard.  Marathons are about daily life style.  It's what you do every day in the practice of living that matters.  Running and exercise need to be daily habits.  As Aristotle said: Excellence is a habit.  Hopefully Oprah has learned from the up and down battles she has had with her health, and I hope she tries another marathon.

This year in the New York City marathon I expect to face competition in Today show weatherman Al Roker  and the Subway guy Jared Fogle, who  lost 245 pounds by eating Subway sandwiches. I'll look for them both on the course.  We are all winners in the marathon.