JOE McGINNISS

It’s being widely reported that the “Sarah Heath” who finished second in the Storm Lake Half-Marathon in Storm Lake, Iowa, this morning was actually Sarah Heath Palin of Wasilla, Alaska, and Scottsdale, Arizona.

40-49 Results – Women 21100 Half Marathon
1 Marks, Julie W46 Des Moines, IA 1
2 Heath, Sarah W47 Des Moines, IA 2

Granted, being in Iowa, the course was probably flat, but a 1:45 half-marathon is impressive for anyone, let alone a 47 year-old woman.

Those who are unable to give Sarah credit for anything will probably try to find ways to ridicule her for this–or even to claim it’s a hoax–but as a guy who once ran the New York City Marathon in 3:38, I give Sarah full credit for a strong run.

UPDATE:

Sarah checks her time at the finish line:

I post this because some people apparently believe she didn’t actually run the half-marathon today.

Come on, folks, please stay within the bounds of fact and reason.

There is no better way to discredit legitimate criticisms of Sarah than by making unfounded accusations about her mental and physical condition and then, when proven wrong, refusing to admit it and instead inventing a new conspiracy theory.

This opens the door to people saying, “Yeah, these are the same obsessives who say that she was never pregnant with Trig.”

To those of you who know that the whole Trig story is a hoax:  understand that to deny that Sarah ran 13.1 miles today in 1:45–observed doing it by hundreds who were there–is to make yourselves appear ridiculous.

I close THE ROGUE by writing:

“What should never have been more than a freaky sideshow performed on a carnival midway was transformed by John McCain’s desperation into what many still seem to see as the greatest show on earth.

“Actually, it’s long past time to strike the tent.”

 

But let’s give credit where credit is due: according to the Storm Lake, Iowa, Running Club, the woman pictured above, who entered as “Sarah Heath,” finished second in her age group in the 13.1 mile half-marathon, with a time of 1:45.

Is the Storm Lake Running Club part of a pro-Palin conspiracy, too?  Along with the Des Moines Register and the Los Angeles Times?

Sarah did finish second in the 40-49 women’s group:

Her updated and official final time was 1:46:10, or one hour, forty-six minutes, ten seconds.

As a 3:38:45 marathoner (New York, 1978, you can look it up), I again commend Sarah for a race well run.

And I again express the hope that she won’t embarrass herself and our nation by running for president.

P.S.  That first photo IS weird, and I wouldn’t trust Greta Van Susteren, who first posted it, as far as I could throw her (not that I’d ever want to try), but until hard evidence is presented that Sarah did NOT run the half-marathon today, let’s try to accept that even someone we might not like can occasionally accomplish a legitimate feat.