Pumps' Perplexities

Well, last weekend, the marathon season got underway in Boston,
Mass. with the Patriot Day running......There will now be races
all across America until the fall, with one of the last big ones
being in New York City......

These marathon runnings were an amateur 'thing' years ago.....
And, to this day still have many non professional runners in
them......In fact, thousands.......

Some twenty or so years ago, the promoters of these races
added money to the equation in order to attract world renown
runners.....The 'prize' money has now grown to a point that it
has become a business and livelihood for many......

You will now find a 'family' of runners from one country who
travel in a group, run in a group and have one of the group
win.....Each member of the 'family' wins one or two races so
as not to attract attention to themselves as a 'whole'.......

The next time you see a marathon winner be mindful of the
fact that he or she is returning to the hotel to eat dinner
with the rest of the racing 'family' that night.....The 'winnings'
of course get thrown into the 'pot' and the next race on the
circuit is planned out.......Pumps