Shenanigans?

I've been following, on a popular culture blog, what might be termed the "Katie Holmes NYC Marathon Conspiracy". If you actually have a life, you might not be familiar with this particular conspiracy as, say, well, any conspiracy you may think of. Simply put, there are those who question whether or not Katie Holmes actually ran the 2007 NYC Marathon. There are pictures of her at the end, and I believe at a few locations along the course, but questions remain.

She said she trained while in Berlin with her famous husband, KooKoo Magoo. No one actually saw her running in parks as she claimed. (She apparently actually trained on a treadmill. Ugh! Can you imagine how dull that must have been?) She wasn't wearing a sports bra, which unless you're totally flat, would be quite painful in the long run. And for Katie, her marathon was just that, a looooong run.

Katie ran the marathon in over five hours. Purists forgive me, but I refuse to look up her actual time. If you're wondering, look it up yourself. I believe it was around 5:20. There are those who would contend that Mrs. Magoo jumped into the race sometime after the start. This contention puts me in mind of Inspector Grandpierre's response to Reggie Lampert and Alexander Dyle's contention that they were in their separate rooms at the time of Leopold W. Gideon's death: You must be telling the truth, for who would make up such a ridiculous story."

If you were going to cheat at a race, wouldn't you at least go for a respectable time? Okay, I have to go for full-disclosure here. In 2003, I ran the NYC Marathon. And when I say, "ran", I mean, I ran for most of it, but resorted to the run/walk plan at least halfway through. And my time was--I think it was around 5:40. I had Brightroom crop out my time on the commemorative photo.

I understand the desire to run a marathon, and particularly something as iconic as New York. Frankly, I hadn't been much of a runner before I started training. I have been pretty much a shuffler when I run. But, I was in my last year of residency and had the time to train. I signed up with Team in Training (shout out to TNT! 20 years of raising money for patients with leukemia, lymphoma and blood-related illnesses!!!) Originally, I was going to do the Marine Corps Marathon in Virginia, but I knew someone who knew someone who was able to get me an NYC entry.

It was totally worth it. I had a wonderful time, running with two of my training partners Jane and Victoria. I don't care that it took me far, far longer than a lot of people.

But anyway, back to Stockholm Syndrome Spice. She was almost ten years younger than me when she ran. She's an actress who had given birth within the last year and a half. She no doubt has had access to trainers constantly since the moment she popped that little poppet out. You'd think that she would have put in a better effort. You'd also think that maybe she'd be able to give better interviews about it. Oh, wait....