That is funny and a great analogy Harvey.But my patient who walks the marathon in 6 hours thinks of it as a real marathon accomplishment. That is faster than a lot of "runners" that finish.So is completing the distance laid out for a marathon matter if you walk it or slowly jog crawl to the finish line?
I am not one to criticize what someone thinks of as a real accomplishment. The range of human capabilities is vast, so each of us has his/her own personal definition of "accomplishment." However, I would think that we could get general agreement that walking a marathon -- in most cases 26.2 relatively flat miles on a good surface -- is easier than the 22 mile Whitney hike. When I think of a marathon, I think of running nonstop trying for the best time I can get. For me, that makes the marathon harder than, say, the Whitney Day hike. On the other hand, I have not run a marathon since 1977. Maybe I'm remembering them as harder than they really were. Also, I can always push harder on the hike.
