Making Marathons More Fair

To the editors:

We write to commend Andrea Johnson and Abigail Branch for their column criticizing the Bolder Boulder marathon for its steps to increase the success of American runners (April 29). The race committee's decision to limit the number of Kenyan entrants is absolutely unconscionable.

We believe, however, that it is important to remember that marathons like the Bolder Boulder take place within the context of a biased American society. This means that marathons is not just about commending the best runners. Marathons are, more importantly, about encouraging community physical fitness, stimulating civic pride and enhancing the self-esteem of all contestants. These more important goals make it vital that all groups in society believe the race is conducted with great attention to fairness and equity.

To better accomplish these goals, we suggest some small changes in the format of the Bolder Boulder and similar races. All caps on runner entrance should, of course, be lifted. Instead, runners should be grouped according to pertinent characteristics like nationality, height, hair color, eye color and physical fitness.

For example, Kenyan experts can run the full distance of the race, while Italian amateurs need race only 20 miles and a calorically-enhanced Kansan need only run 10 miles. This should ensure that winnings are equitably distributed among the race runners.

We need to remember that the so-called winners of the marathon are, after all, simply representatives of all the groups running. The staggered marathon we are suggesting will allow us to celebrate our differences while maintaining a race that is genuinely fair to all types of runners. DAVID MESKILL, GSAS   GAUTAM MUKUNDA '01   May 1, 1998