A Primate Troop of 16,300

I went to Washington near the end of October for the 22nd USMC Marathon. The monument at the course start/finish lines evokes reverence for the sacrifices my father's peers made to take Mt. Suribatchi from the Japanese on Iwo Jima. It also reflects several evolutionary processes. First, we will expend a great amount in pursuit of a supernormal gain (mismatch?). (1) Second, relatively small decisions have a substantive impact further in the course (fractals).

I trained 4 months prior to race day, eventually covering 20 miles over local, hilly roads, averaging 10 minutes per mile and without significant discomfort. I projected a comfortable 4.5 hr run time. Two pair of sneakers, many quarts of Gatorade, and a lot of soreness all to be redeemed in these few hours in Washington.

Rain started about 10 minutes before the rest of us and continued through the day. Sixteen thousand began the looping course through Washington. No one quit at the start; over 13 thousand wet, chilled people completed the 26.2 miles.

There were several bridges to run under; all of us hooted in synchrony in the best primate style, letting other gangs know that we were on the move. Early, small decisions assumed great importance later. My GoreTex jacket soaked through in about 3 hours; people wearing plastic bags likely stayed dryer. I had almost worn a bag but chose high tech. I, slow even on a good day, slowed further after the 18th mile; slowed to the extent that I started to lose body heat faster than I generated it. The Marines had given me a rolled-up Tyvek cap at registration; I popped it onto my wet cap and immediately stopped losing heat through the top of my head. (I had almost left the Tyvek home.) The coaches remarked earlier that caffeine stimulates circulation and encourages burning lipids rather than glycogen. I took a Vivarin as I started the 4 mile loop out on Hains Point. The breeze kicked up off the Potomac and aggravated my heat loss. Still, the Vivarin helped; I had almost skipped that, too. (2)

Alliances were conspicuous. The Marines stayed on the course for the entire 6+ hours. The spectators stayed there with them, still cheering for us stragglers, yelling the welcome lie that "You're looking good!" I scooted up the final hill and accepted praise from the Marines at the finish line. One of them, about 21 years old, was shivering as badly as I. We made eye contact; I told him to get warm, he smiled and gave me a pat on the back that almost knocked me over. (3)

I finished the course some 15 minutes faster than last year when the sky gave us sun and 70 degrees. I treasure this years' medal far more than last's.

I've registered already for the next October.

NOTES:

1) People have many reasons to cover a marathon. Perhaps as many as 1% wore signs stating "Run in memory of" and followed by a name.

2) Barkley R (1997, ADHD and the Nature of Self Control, NY: Guilford) gives us a compilation of his many essays that relate the heightened impulsiveness (characteristic of ADHD & bipolar disorder) with subsequent failures in memory formation, language incorporation, planning, emotional regulation, problem analysis, and the capacity of generating novel response sequences.

Hartmann has suggested these defects are secondary to the discovery of agriculture; that ADHD is less of a problem in hunting situations. Anyone who has run more than a few feet realizes the degree to which planning takes importance. The capacity to imagine the location of game, to associate tracks and other signs with varying species and even individual members, to plan a concerted gang raid on larger creatures, and to ration effort (to pace yourself) require substantial use of Executive Functions. Emotional regulation is also an element given the need to save your adrenaline stores for the moment of confrontation rather than expending all of your resources early in a chase.

See "Hunters, Farmers, & Marathoners," posted 4/1/97

3) We apparently evolved under intense selection pressures, when our global numbers shrank dramatically. There is some evidence that the group leaving Africa may have consisted of 7-50 individuals for several decades before splitting again for Europe and Asia. These conditions likely required a closer contact between the people who defended the band and those who were defended. Indeed, it was probably common that everyone fought, shoulder to shoulder. There is now a far weaker return loop from those who fight and those at home. It was important to finish the course so that the Marines might be proud of the civilians they defend.

Several experiments offer hope. The Viet Nam Memorial lists the names of everyone. The evening news gave us immediate, convincing feedback during the War. Technology can help still further. For example, data bases and high speed computers make it possible to remind physicians not only of your symptoms but also that your kid had a runny nose the last time you visited and that your grandmother is nicknamed "Reds." The sense of alliance, perhaps illusory in these conditions, ought to be soothed a bit.

Things may get even more personal as electronic channel capacity increases. Each runner wore a computer chip, tied to his shoe laces. The chip provided an electronic signature as each of us crossed sensor mats on the course. Our times and location were available almost immediately on the Net. We could someday have this precision not only for members of a platoon but also for members of a soldier's family. (I suspect that Hollywood has a flock of evolutionists on payroll. Nicole Kidman in "Peacemaker" orders a raid that results in a chopper being exploded in midair. She cries later as she reads the personnel folders for each of the slain; "I wanted to know who they were.")

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