WE ARE THE .1%!

although you'll find differing calculations across the world wide webernet, the most prevalent estimate is that less than 1% of the world's population has completed a marathon. of the folks who have NOT completed a marathon, virtually zero have any understanding of the desire TO complete one, EVER. so, right off the bat you have a very small number of people who even GET IT at all. then, of the folks who HAVE completed a marathon, even if you presume ALL of them understand the allure of RUNNING marathons, you have to know that nearly NONE of them have ANY comprehension of the motivation to WALK a marathon. i mean, c'mon. who does that? if you're "crazy" to run marathons, well what the hell do you have to be to walk them??

there is something simply beautiful, simultaneously peaceful and empowering, about moving your body with your body. sure, you can get in a car and go really far, or get on a bike and not have to hike. but... to simply use... this... this three cubic feet of bone and blood in me, this thew and sinew, this one foot in front of the other. THIS. HERE. ME. to use myself to move myself puts me squarely in the ultimate reality. thump, thump, thump goes my heart. thump, thump, thump goes my step. arms move. lungs move. eyes move. legs move. it's me, in action. whatever made me and whatever made this world did a job beyond wonderful to make me and the world fit together so precisely. the air is just right for breathing! my legs are just long enough to reach the ground! my feet bend and my arms swing. it's amazing. simply, simply amazing.

are you getting this? probably not. you're most likely of the 99.9% who don't get this shit at all, but even if you're of the .1%, the tiny percentage of people who GET marathoning, you're still not in the .1% of that .1% that gets walking. but that's okay. it's fine, really. i don't need you to understand it because i understand it.

and, with any luck at all, come sunday afternoon, there will be a new face in the .1% of the .1%, and if that happens... no. WHEN that happens, when that happens... then, she will understand, too.






i found this calculation of the .1%, and it seemed reasonable to me.
In 2007, there were an estimated 407,000 marathon finishers in the USA. Double that and add some and let's assume there were 1 million marathon finishers worldwide last year. Let's assume for the moment that nobody ran more than 1 marathon in the year (I know, I know...but I want to get a conservative number here). Let's also assume that the number of people who have run a marathon but didn't in 2007 multiplies the total number of marathon finishers by 10. That puts us at 10 million people who have finished a marathon at some point in their lives worldwide. 10 million as a percentage of the total world population of roughly 6.6 billion is 0.15%. I'd think the assumptions I made would drastically overestimate the number of people worldwide who have finished a marathon at some point in their lives. I'd say a fair estimate would be roughly 0.1%.