As someone who has run nine marathons, I can attest to the end-of-the-run feeling Mark Singer cites in his fabulous article about marathon-run hoaxer Kip Litton. Here, Singer is hanging out in the finish area with his two adult sons, who have just run the Boston Marathon:
"We hung out there for an hour or so, as runners in varying states of elation and walking-woundedness wandered past, wearing ribboned medallions. This is what Litton was missing: the bonhomie and collective uplift of one of the world's great athletic events..."
Litton, instead, started races, logged in at a few key points to avoid detection, then jumped in near the end, often finishing first or second in his age-group, and he did this over and over and over until he was busted. The fascinating part, which Singer nicely emphasizes, is what, really, was the point of the fabulism, and may it in fact have very little to do with running? A fascinating read that may, unfortunately, only be available if you are a New Yorker subscriber, but here is the link nonetheless.
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