Interesting discussion topic and lively debate. In my personal experience a marathon is considerably harder than Whitney, but I do think this is a bit of an "apples to oranges" comparison. It think it depends upon how you approach each activity. The big difference is that most of us "hike" Whitney while we "race" a marathon. It would obviously be much easier to walk 26.2 miles on a typical marathon course than hike 22 miles gaining/losing 6,100' of elevation over broken ground, and deal with the altitude. However, if you really run a marathon, it is pretty darn tough.
I have trained for 3 marathons, but only ran one due to injuries sustained while training for the other two that caused me to have to stop training and withdraw before the races. When I ran my first and so far only marathon, it was a very hot day and I was pushing hard as I wanted to hit my time goal which would qualify me for Boston, (under 3:30 for my age group). I did hit my Boston qualification time goal even though I didn't do as well in the race as I was expecting. When I crossed the finish line, I was done, finished, kaput. I had a hard time walking after the race and was limping around for the next couple of days. Conversely on Whitney I felt good when I arrived back at the Portal Store and had plenty of gas left in the tank. Furthermore my 17-year old son hiked Whitney with me without doing any training at all and really performed well. I am pretty sure he wouldn't have any chance of "running" a marathon unless he put in a considerable amount of training. In fairness our trip was an overnight hike up the Mountaineers Route which I don't think would be as fatiguing on the legs as a day hike of the 22 mile MT.
Again, it is apples to oranges as most of us would generally "race" the marathon while we "hike" Whitney. In a marathon I never stop running and drink my water/Gatorade and eat my 3 GU's without breaking my pace. I think when most of us hike Whitney we take plenty of rest stops to enjoy the views, drink/eat, take pictures, and talk to fellow hikers. If however I was to actually attempt to run/race the 22 miles up/down Whitney with 6,100' of elevation gain/loss while pushing as hard as I could, I am quite sure I would be a total mess when or if I finished. Perhaps a more apples to apples comparison would be comparing a day hike of Whitney to someone who completed a marathon using the Galloway Method, (run/walk), to cover the 26.2 mile distance in a more relaxed fashion than many runners take when they show up to "race or run" a marathon.
Running a marathon and hiking Whitney are both allot of fun and accomplishments to be proud of no matter how long they take you. It is all good.
Off topic, I am currently training for Boston 2011....anyone else in the Whitney Zone family running Boston this year? Joe: I will have to remember that Wild Wild West Marathon.....sounds pretty cool...maybe we can put together a Whitney Zone Team? If we end up doing Wazzu's East-sider vs West-sider with loser buying the beverages wager, I guess I am a East-sider since I am coming from Florida?
Kent Williams
