Finishing a marathon is one of the few adult athletic feats that makes you feel like you accomplished something. After all, less than one per cent of the world’s population has run 42.2 kilometres (or 26.2 miles) in their lifetime. The finisher medal, the heartfelt Instagram post, the bumper sticker…they’re all part of the experience. But one public figure thinks the marathon celebration has gone too far.
On Monday’s episode of Wake Up Barstool on Fox Sports 1, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy shared his blunt opinion on marathon runners, saying they expect too much recognition for doing something they enjoy.
“Guess what? I sat around on Sunday and watched 10 hours of football. I don’t come into the office looking for people to say ‘Great job,’” Portnoy said. “It’s a hobby; anybody can run a marathon. People act like they just came back from war.”
Portnoy clarified that he has no issue with people challenging themselves, but believes they shouldn’t expect applause for it.
“Just shut up, run the marathon, and don’t tell anybody you’ve done it,” he added.
The topic arose after several Barstool employees ran last weekend’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon. The company, known for its outspoken takes on sports and pop culture, has one of its main offices in Chicago, where many of those employees are based. During the segment, Portnoy even called out one of them, Benjamin Mintz, who ran Chicago in five hours and 39 minutes.
#MarathonMintzy #GratefulSundays pic.twitter.com/fOA4pWNpfr
— Mintzy (@StoolMintzy) October 12, 2025
Despite his critique of marathon runners, Portnoy has never completed a marathon himself. In a 2019 interview after the Boston Marathon, he said he’d considered running one, mainly to prove his point.
