Everything one last time

Shortly before the third hour, something wondrous happens – or so it seems. Then shortly before the fourth, that’s when it’s especially wondrous. Before the four-and-a-half hour mark, similar. Actually before every half hour. From the fifth hour onward, the wonders become fewer, more tired – but remain measurable!

We’re talking about the finish times of runners at the Boston Marathon; see @JEBistline, 20.04.2026.

Theoretically, one would expect the runners‘ finish times to follow a smooth curve. Few super-fast ones. Some leisurely ones. In the middle, the healthy middle. A Gaussian normal distribution, smooth and unremarkable – but no!

With the actual finish times, it’s significantly more likely that a runner completes the marathon in 3:59h than in 4:01h.

The reason, if you think about it briefly, quickly becomes clear: Most runners are informed during the race about how fast they’re currently running. And people simply want to stay within the „magical“ times. So they push themselves.

Anyone who sees a chance to run under 4 hours will „give it everything one last time.“ With the goal in sight and possible success within reach, we can activate resources we didn’t know we had.

Not only I am wondering today why so many of us are so inert. Today I observe two kinds of inertia. The inertia of women who don’t want to admit to themselves how dire the situation is, because that would feel unpleasant – and who have been trained by feminism not to listen to men’s warnings. And the inertia of men, who have had their masculinity trained out of them from an early age (and who probably also lack some testosterone due to plastic and sedentary culture).

Yes, we appear inert and helpless. Helpless also in the face of our own inertia.

Some factors of our inertia are also psychological, determined more by our general times than by our individual past.

One cause is possibly: We see neither a near goal nor a realistic chance before us.

The runners who „give it everything one last time“ with the 4-hour mark within reach, they see a tangible goal before them, also literally as a finish line. And they see a realistic chance of reaching this goal (in time).

What is my realistic yet ambitious goal? The goal for which it’s worth „giving it everything one last time“?