I was shocked at all the controversy that stemmed from Glenique's finish, and I was really saddened by the fact then an elite, professional runner led the outrage.

I was a dedicated amateur runner for many years. I have a lot of marathons under my belt and years and years of training for marathons under my belt. I know runners and amateur running culture very well. I'm here to say that all of this outrage is entirely contrary to the spirit of amateur running.

Let me illustrate by saying that when I running in the same age bracket as Glenique, I ran a marathon an hour faster than she ran the London Marathon. Nevertheless, my time was not competitive or even something to brag about — except for the fact that FINISHING a marathon is a genuine personal accomplishment no matter the time.

To further illustrate, when I ran that marathon an hour faster than Glenique, hundreds of presumably cisgender women passed me like I was standing still. Dozens of cisgender women in my age bracket passed me like I was standing still.

Curious what place I took in that marathon? Sorry, I don't have any idea. I don't think I ever bothered to make note of it. But I can tell you down to the second what time I posted. I can tell you the times of most of the marathons I finished.

Because as pretty much any dedicated amateur runner will tell you, running is intensely personal. You do it for yourself or you don't do it. You do it for the joy of it, for the accomplishment of it, for all sorts of healthy reasons you have to have or you'll never put in the painful training necessary to finish a marathon. You don't get up at 5:00 in the morning and run for an hour before work (sometimes 5 or 6 days a week) unless you love running and have made it into a lifestyle.

Amateur runners NEVER go around boasting about what place they posted in a marathon. Like me, most of them probably don't even bother to find out what place they posted. That's the culture. We all talk about our PRs (personal records) and other times. We all congratulate each other on finishes and times, because we know how hard finishing is.

One of the most important mantras of amateur running is, "somebody is always faster than you are." Don't worry about what place you posted, because no matter how fast you run, somebody can run faster than you can. Worry about your training. Worry about your times getting faster because your training habits are doing you good. Be happy that your training is making you healthy and strong. If your training is hurting your body, slow down. Running is supposed to make you happy. If it isn't, you're doing it wrong.

All that above is the spirit of amateur running. There's no room in all that for anger or jealousy over what place somebody finished in. Podiums and medals at major marathons are for elite professionals, who run in different running worlds with very different cultures.

Glenique exemplifies the ethos of amateur running, running for joy and raising money for charity. She accomplished plenty just finishing the London Marathon, despite the fact that her time doesn't set her apart as an especially fast distance runner.