. . . a marathon is just about 4 miles further than Mt Whitney......and you don't have to run uphill, avoid rocks, deal with altitude issues, and so on.
This subject of comparing a Whitney dayhike and a marathon comes up often from runners who want to try a really big mountain like Whitney, and Joe and wazzu make some very good points. Joe's point about running uphill could be revised to "you don't have to run uphill for 11 sustained miles". And, unlike a road race, you can't bail if you decide you've had enough and the body's just not cooperating - when that happens on a big mountain, you are still exactly halfway to the quitting point, barring the need for SAR assistance and a chopper ride out.
When Joe and I summitted back in July, it was the tail end of the Badwater Marathon and we encountered several ultra-marathoners on the trail. Absolute beasts who did the Badwater-Portal route, then managed to snag permits and continue to the summit. No pack, lightweight running shoes and a single water bottle. After what they had been through, Whitney was just icing on the cake (those who didn't get slapped down with AMS, anyway).
When I hear this topic pop up, I think of a great story that Bob Rockwell recounted here at some point in the past year (can't find it, but I bet you can Steve
) - one in which a group of bad-ass, young distance runners essentially blew off Bob's offer to hike up the main trail with them one day. Bob, of course, made the summit just fine, but almost all of the young distance group dropped like flies along the way.
In comparing a Whitney dayhike to a marathon, there are just so many more variables at play with the hike that can produce less-than-desirable results.
