It is no understatement to say that I respect marathoners. A long time ago, I was one for a day. I experienced moderate success, which is to say, that while hundreds of people beat me, I beat thousands. But I didn't run as fast as I wanted to. The world record would have suited me fine, or even the family record.

So I trained harder for my next one and made it most of the way there. Then I bought the stupidest shoe ever made, which was predicated upon the notion that since many runners wear the heels off their shoes anyway, perhaps a new shoe with the heel already beveled off would be much more efficient. It sounded good to me, being young and stupid. One run later, my hamstring and quad muscles totally shot, I gave up on my marathon hopes for that season. The shoe manufacturer, incidentally, gave up on the beveled heel at the same time.

Some years later, someone mentioned that I was getting a belly on me. I made veiled allusions to pregnancy for a while, but the fact of my maleness kept me from pulling that particular deception off. I had to start running again. I set my sights on a northern California race through the coastal redwoods. I even reserved a hotel room. Then I picked up a stress fracture in a cross country race. I had to cancel my reservations.

This year I thought I would try it again. I am older, and perhaps the smartest I will ever be, considering that I still read voraciously and I haven't started forgetting where I live yet. I trained all summer. I beat girls in races. I ran 13 miles. Of course, the problem with that was that I couldn't run the next day. It was a bizarre arch-then-groin-then-hip-then-the-whole-goldang-back kind of injury. It still hurts, but it has been a good thing for local chiropractors.

This weekend is the marathon I was going to run. I won't be there. My respect will be for everyone who toes the line in that race, whether or not they break any records, whether or not they win, whether or not they go the distance. They're out there. And the rest of us aren't. That's something to respect.

Radcliffe owns Chicago
Speaking of respectable, Paula Radcliffe fits the bill. The British star is the fastest-ever marathoner in history now, after crushing the world best with her 2:17:18 in the windy (yes) city. Sure, the race was set up by a pacemaker, but so are most of the fastest times in history. That's the business these days.

A local sportswriter paid tribute by saying that Radcliffe cannot be considered the greatest until she wins an Olympic gold medal. That was nice of him, and in keeping with the noble journalistic tradition of bashing whoever's on top. It's kind of a literary redistribution of the wealth. I can hear Karl Marx saying, "woohoo!" Now, this theory that winning the Olympic gold is the ultimate test is one that I often subscribe to. It makes for good dinner table banter after watching a great track meet. But maybe it doesn't work for marathoners. So few of them have careers that span four years at the top. It's just timing, and a runner who reaches peak two years before the Games often seems doomed to misfire when the time comes. And maybe some of the Olympic champions just aren't the greatest anyway. Try saying this: Gezahgne Abera.

Back to Radcliffe, I should note that for the first time in history, a female broke 2:20 and lost. Catherine Ndereba, the previous world record holder, ran 2:19:26. Farther behind, in sixth, Deena Drossin was the first American in 2:26:53. The guys' race saw two Americans in the top six. Khalid Khannouchi won in 2:05:56 and Alan Culpepper ran 2:09:41.

Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, Gete Wami of Ethiopia decided to run the race 10 days earlier and came through with a national record of 2:22:19. The men's race went to Benjamin Kimutai Kosgei in 2:07:26, as six men, five of them Kenyan, broke 2:09.

Then came the Beijing Marathon, where the Liaoning Province team, coached by Ma Junren (the caterpillar fungus dude), took 28 of the 45 top spots. Ma, however, did not coach the top three women. Wei Yanan surprised by clocking 2:20:23 for a Chinese record. Other rivals ran 2:21 and 2:23. Ma's Army produced some very notable times, including debuts of 2:24 and 2:25. The gentlemen's race was a more leisurely 2:13:09 for Li Zhuhing.

In Columbus, the Eastern Europeans dominated. Sergey Fedotov of Russia won in 2:18:05, holding off the charge of Jim Jurcevich, running his second marathon in three weeks. The Ukraine's Lydumyla Pushkina won the women's race in 2:28:23.

Team 5K coming up
The North American 5K Team Championships are coming up this weekend in Chula Vista, Calif. Sponsors there have put up $25,000 to see a great road race among the U.S., Canadian and Mexican teams. The teams each have three men and three women. The places of the top two of each sex will be added together (pseudo cross country style) to determine the winner. The U.S. team is led by Bolota Asmerom (13:30) and Libbie Hickman (15:11).

Hall of Fame news
USA Track and Field has announced four new inductees to its Hall of Fame. They will be recognized on the "Wall of Fame" that is being unveiled at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York City.

This year's class includes pole vaulter Earl Bell, sprinter Gwen Torrence, race walked Larry Young, and miler Steve Scott. All except Scott won Olympic medals.

While the new names are all worthy, they make me wonder if the Hall of Fame has turned a blind eye to many of the worthy athletes of long-ago decades who never got recognition, despite having accomplishments that dwarf the current crop's. One name that comes to mind is Otis Davis, who won two gold medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics (400 and 4x400), setting world records in each.

Runyan prepping well for her marathon
Marla Runyan is preparing for her 26.2-mile debut at the New York Marathon, and so far she looks good. She won the Tufts 10K in Boston with a time of 31:46, outkicking Kenyan Teresa Wanjiku. That gave her $9,000 and the U.S. title. Now all she needs to do is get herself to the starting line healthy.

Did I mention that I respect people who can do that?

Jeff Hollobaugh, former managing editor of Track and Field News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached by e-mail at michtrack@aol.com.