Here’s a little tale (a parable of sorts) about Messrs. Woods, Johnson, and Beach.
Not that long ago, many folks wrote off Mr. Woods as a contender. But yesterday–after much work and many great shots–he proved that he (or any serious athlete) should never be written off.
Photo courtesy Golf Week
Five wins in Augusta is quite remarkable. It’s something I don’t fully understand but fully appreciate.
I’m much more familiar with what will happen today–the 123rd running of the Boston Marathon. I’ve raced it, and many other marathons, as a runner and hand cyclist.
For whatever reason, many outlets have written about a sidebar of today’s race. NASCAR driver, Jimmie Johnson, will be running today in Boston. It will be Johnson’s first marathon. Five years ago, he ran a half-marathon, clocked at 1 hour 28 minutes and 16-seconds.
From what I gathered in an article published in my local newspaper, Johnson views that time as an indicator of a sub-three-hour run.
What the heck! Since it was a half marathon, double the time. Right?? Well, no!
Any athlete with experiences knows that the second half of a marathon is more complicated than the first half … and for obvious reasons. What galls me more, though, is that Johnson didn’t qualify for the race. Gatorade, his long-time personal sponsor, exempted him.
Johnson says that he preferred to qualify the old-fashioned way, but that NASCAR racing prevented him from running a qualified time. But, in comparison, over 7,000 runners who DID run qualifying races were turned away by the BAA because of safety concerns, especially at the start. However, the privileged boy of Gatorade will line up in Wave 2, wearing 4848, not #48, his NASCAR number.
An elite runner, Jonathan Mott, will be wearing #48. Poor Johnson!
I predict that Johnson will falter. There are many reasons why, including his training, inexperience at a distance, the course (first ten miles are downhill, giving a false sense of pace), and the Boston weather.
Ben Beach (photo courtesy The Washington Post)
On the other hand, Ben Beach of Bethesda, Maryland, will line up for his 52-straight run at Boston. Beach ran his first Boston Marathon way back in 1968 as a high school senior. His time that day was 3:04, a time Johnson would like to run today.
Now in his late 60s, Beach is happy to be on the course. He’ll be pushing to pass Johnny Kelly’s number of runs for Boston. A time of around five hours today would satisfy, double his best time.
Beach suffers from dystonia, a movement disorder in which a person’s muscles contract uncontrollably.
What’s the story here?
Tiger Woods fought hard and came back to win a major. Beach, dystonia and all, continues to run each third Monday of April in Boston. Johnson is given an exemption. Let’s hope he makes the most of it.
