I recalled reading posts on this board comparing the level of effort expended day-hiking Whitney compared to running a marathon. My recollection was that this thread ran its course about 3 or 4 years ago. I used the board's search feature and found that over the years there have actually been several references to running marathons and training for a marathon. As I read these posts I my interest and curiosty peaked. Aside from summiting various Sierra peaks, I have been to the top of Whitney 8 times, 6 of these trips to the summit have been via day-hiking the Main Trail. I have been running sporadically for years soley for exercise, to stay somewhat fit for the more important activities of skiing, mountain biking, and hiking/mountaineering. I ran in some organized 10K's when I was in my 20's and 30's. I knew a few extreme athletes who had run marathons but I never really considered finishing a 26.2 race as a realistic or acheivable goal for myself. After reading the posts here, I realized that despite the differences of opinion as to which is more difficult, the two activities were being debated as if they were of comparable status as achievments. I decided that I should run at least one marathon and be able to make my own personal opinion.
I procrastinated for a couple of years until last winter when some of my co-workers started talking about running a marathon. The slight nudge from this peer pressure was enough. I trained and entered the 2007 San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon. I made my goal to finish in under 5 hours, to not do any serious long term damage to my body, and to run or at least jog the whole distance. My finishing time of 4:26 was within the goal.
In comparing doing Whitney in a day verses running a marathon, there are many aspects to consider. For me, some aspects of each are harder than the other.
The first major aspect is the time involved. To day-hike Whitney you have to be able to stay on your feet and psyched up for the whole day. For myself like most people its a sun-up to sun-down, 12 to 14 hour day of hiking with some brief rest stops. For me, the marathon was over in about 4 & 1/2 hours.
The second noteable aspect to consider is the toll on ones body, i.e. heart, lungs, muscles, bones, joints. In my experience, the prolonged and intense impact of running takes more out of your body. I had more discomfort in my feet in the marathon than I ever had on a long dayhike (running a practice marathon 2 weeks before probably didn't help).
The marathon was nice because all along the way there were spectators cheering everybody on. Every couple of miles there are people handing you water, or accelerade, or orange slices, or power gel, yes even vaseline swabs. (I could have used this treatment a few times on the final stretch from Lone Pine Lake back to the Trail-head).
There are so many other differences between the two activities. A personal bias is that I have always thought of running more as pure exercise, or cross-training to support fitness for other activities. On the other hand, I view hiking in the mountains as the highest form of fun or recreation.
So, the bottom-line for me is that running a marathon was a little harder than day-hiking Whitney.
