Banning Teenagers from Marathons?

I wasn’t aware that among its many other restrictions the Boston Marathon requires runners to be at least 18 years of age. A news story quotes a track coach as saying that letting someone under the age of 16 do a marathon is “a form of parental abuse.”

I wonder what Rich Hanna would say about that. Here’s a photo of Rich completing the 1977 Sacramento Marathon in 3:01:14. Rich was 13 at the time and ran the race after a lovely breakfast of bacon and eggs. He went on to a distinguished career in ultra-running and still kicks major ass when he races today.