How Oprah ruined the marathon.

From Salon.com

In 1971, the New York City Marathon was no bigger than a grade-school field day. It was the race's second year, and a shivering cult of 245 runners gathered in Central Park to run laps around the walking paths. Paying $2 to enter, they wore cotton T-shirts, drooping socks, and Tiger racing flats, those sneakers now cherished by Brooklyn hipsters. The first-place finisher, a high-school teacher named Norman Higgins, didn't even get gas money back to Connecticut.

Back then, America was more fascinated with competitive chess than with distance running. Yet at the next Olympic marathon, the U.S.'s Frank Shorter won the gold medal, transforming his oddball sport into a fitness mania.

This weekend's marathon will be a lot different from Norman Higgins' race. Now the ING New York Marathon (after its corporate sponsor), it's going to be a cattle call of 37,000 runners, each with far more sophisticated equipment than the pioneers of the 1970s. Today's runners suck gooey energy jolts from plastic tubes. Their $150 shoes are nearly shockproof.

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