And if that's not a title that will bore everyone in some way I don't know what is.
I picked up a copy of Marathon & Beyond to read on the plane out to Los Angeles (on which more later) last week. Good magazine.
On the back cover they promise that in next month's issue one of the articles will be "A History of Canadian Marathoning."
First of all, that's funny because Minnesotans find Canada funny, in the way that people jest with their siblings and cousins.
But it's also funny because, frankly, the history of Canadian marathoning is quite undistinguished at the elite level compared to the United States, Britain, Australia, or even New Zealand.
American and British men and women have held the world record, and both nations have won numerous Olympic medals in the marathon. Australia's Olympic marathon history is not as glorious, but Australian men held the world record for 17 straight years (1967-1984). Starting with Lisa Martin, Australian women have won numerous Commonwealth Games marathons, and Martin won Olympic silver.
Two New Zealand men won Olympic bronze (Barry Magee in 1960, Mike Ryan in 1968), and Lorraine Moller won bronze in 1992. And New Zealand men and women have picked up the lower medals in several Commonwealth Games marathons (Ryan in 1966, Foster in 1974, Moller in 1986)
But Canada? I can't remember a Canadian medalling at the Commonwealth Games, let alone the Olympics in the last 30 years. A Canadian won gold in the 1906 Olympics, which aren't generally recognized as counting towards Olympic medal totals. And that seems to be about it.
It's sort of odd because Canada has a pretty good distance running tradition that seems strong today, especially in men's middle distance and the women's 5000m, and Ontario schools seem to supply a lot of good athletes to American colleges.
But no marathon medals it seems. Obviously the history of Canadian marathoning is more than elite performances. However, over the long haul medals reflect depth in a sport. Canada's lack of major championship medals in the marathon seem to indicate that marathoning in Canada is not as strong historically as in its peer countries.
(In case anyone wonders, the Commonwealth Games while not having the depth of the Olympics or World Championships are taken seriously by all the countries involved, including the strong running nations in Africa, such as Kenya and Tanzania, and now South Africa.)
Posted by robe0419 at April 20, 2005 10:28 PM