The Detroit Free Press profiles a few of the participants in the 30th Annual Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon:

At 6-foot-9, Norm Allgood was the biggest of the 16,000-plus participants who turned up on Sunday for the 30th running of the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon.

So when he was asked why he chose the marathon for his first race, it was a bit disconcerting to see this giant of a man double over to hide his face as he tried to choke back tears and sobs.

Regaining his composure, the Detroiter, who completed the 13.1-mile half marathon competitive walk, said, “I’ve never done anything like this before. This is my first race. But I thought I had to do it for my wife, Di. She’s battling multiple sclerosis, and she’s out there doing the marathon for the fifth time.”

Julie Deardroff writes in The Chicago Tribune of how marathoning as a sport has changed over the years. No longer for elite athletes, everyone is encouraged to undertake the challenge:

Marathons have come a long way from the 1960s, when they were so elitist that women — who couldn’t physically run 26.2 miles anyway — were barred from competition. Back then, no self-respecting runner would walk the race if he could help it. Crawling could be heroic. But walking? Most would rather quit.

Today, walking a marathon is not just accepted, but encouraged. In Chicago (when there is enough water on the course), marathoners have 6 1/2 hours to finish the “race.” The Des Moines Marathon, which is touted as one of the most walker-friendly events in the country, gives participants seven hours to finish. If you need more time, you can sign up for an early-bird start time to gain an extra hour on a closed course.

As a result, marathons are flourishing as a mainstream sport. The bar has been lowered, enabling 45,000 people, including thousands who ran to raise money for 83 charities, to register for last Sunday’s LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

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“You don’t have to run competitively to reap the rewards running offers,” said John “The Penguin” Bingham, who helped popularize the slow-running movement. “What you do need is the courage to start.”

Notwithstanding, Gary Cohen, makes some important points about health and safety, in the aftermath of last week’s tragedy at the 2007 Chicago Marathon, in which many were treated for heat related injuries and one died in the 88 degree heat of that day:

Dr. Bill Pierce, an exercise science professor and cofounder of the Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training in South Carolina, said a medical sign-off would not necessarily prevent the kind of issues seen at Sunday’s race.

“A routine physical won’t detect certain coronary weaknesses or problems,” Pierce said. “So we’re now talking about a $1,000 procedure or time to do an echocardiogram on every athlete. That just wouldn’t be possible. It would be so extensive, and I don’t know that it would be effective.”

Author and marathon expert Jeff Galloway, who has been training runners since 1978, stressed that it is important that amateur runners take their training seriously, but agreed that restricting runners would cause more problems than it would solve.

“[Marathon runners] are adults and they have to be expected to take responsibility for their health and safety,” Galloway said. “But if you put a cap on it, you’re going to keep a lot of people who have the opportunity to improve the quality of their life from participating and gaining this wonderful set of experiences along the way.”