The Everyman: All I Want for Christmas

Jason Devaney’s holiday wish list doesn’t have the usual gear, nutrition and electronic items.

It seems that everyone has a holiday wish list these days, and they’re filled with things like running shorts, running shoes and stocking stuffers like packets of GU and speed laces.

Here’s my list:

Finish Line Tape For Everyone

Last year I wrote about wanting to break the finish line tape just once in my life, knowing full well I’ll never win a race. Why can’t race organizers hold up the tape for every finisher? In last Sunday’s Dallas Marathon, a relay runner upstaged the women’s winner by beating her in a finish-line sprint and breaking the tape. Her relay team finished sixth. So it appears we’re making progress.

A Boston Qualifier … Someday

Maybe this will happen when I turn 50. It’s almost guaranteed I won’t earn a BQ next year, but stranger things have happened in the sport of running. I suppose I could get a nice speed boost by using a jetpack to qualify for Boston. Anyone know where I can get one?

A Sub-2 hour Marathon

I have absolutely zero chance at doing this, but someone else could break the barrier and make history. I hope it happens. People thought a sub-4 minute mile wasn’t possible, but it was. The new magic number is the 1:59 marathon. Recent talk suggests it might happen sooner than we think.

No More Dopers

This doping thing has to stop. Cycling’s new doping scandal gives haters another reason to continue to dislike the sport. It’s sad, really. And we have another doping scandal happening in the running world. Why can’t these people play by the rules? Do they realize they’re doing more harm than good?

Faster Runners

I’d love to see the average race times continue to drop. The average men’s marathon finishing time, for example, was 3:32:17 in 1980, according to Running USA. As the sport grew, that number climbed to 4:20:01 in 2002 and 4:20:29 in 2005. In 2013 it was 4:16:24 — let’s keep the momentum going, people!