I just looked at the website in your signature.

What's a "mini-marathon"? Is it just a short run?
I have to say, it really annoys me when people undermine the commitment involved to complete recognised physical achievements such as an Ironman or a marathon, by giving their names to something much easier and allowing less committed/talented people to bask in the reflected glory.
Just call it what it is - A 5km, or a 10km. Those things are fine to be called what they are.

It's just another example of a culture where everybody has to be told that they are awesome.
I can imagine people in offices all around the state telling their colleagues that they did a "marathon challenge" and soaking up the praise when they actually ran about 5km.

It's no wonder that the bar for physical excellence amongst the general population is lowering all the time.

In Indiana, mini marathon is a half marathon. It's just regional slang.

That's fair, I accept that.

It was the 1mi, 5km, 10km options that threw me off.

Completely understandable. And I agree with your post.

If it helps you be a little less butt hurt over the inhumanity of the name of the Indy Mini.....it began b/f the wonderful awesomeness of Kona. I know hard to believe there was sport b/f Ironman. True story. It's a fantastic race I'd highly recommend, even though it's name is an abomination to those who do real marathons.

The fact that it began before Kona is irrelevant to my point.

My gripe was relating to the fact that they had appropriated the word "marathon" despite the majority of runners completing 10km or less.
I was informed that the phrase "mini marathon" is often used as slang for a half marathon in Indiana, which seems reasonable.

I included Ironman as a wider example because I have seen the term used to describe fun runs, smaller tris, and other non-related events in a similar vein.
An example:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/...zarre-things-5136585

I'm a big believer that a person should "earn their brags", instead of unrightfully latching on to the reputation and recognition of those that have actually done the work implied.

I used to be in the British Parachute Regiment, and we encountered similar things with the chefs etc.
If somebody asked them what they did in the army, they would often say "I'm with the Paras" (in their mind, they were being honest because they didn't say "I'm in the Paras")
They would never say, "I'm a chef" or "I'm in the RLC". They would instead align themselves with the qualities of those who had passed a selection process that we worked our arses off to get through and they hadn't.

I've got nothing against anybody who is a chef/potwasher/etc, we absolutely need them and they were mostly good people. I just wish that they could be proud of what they did instead of implying that they were something that they weren't.

I hear you I probably should have pink fonted that I was 90% ball busting. Dry sarcasm a lot here.

Odd you bring up jumping out of planes. I was an avid skydiver for ~ ten years. Did you guys ever come to the US to jump in the winter months? Home DZ was ZHills and is probably the busiest drop zone in the world Nov-April, second to maybe Arizona. Not uncommon to have 3-4 twin turbines going at once it's was fast as you could pack! Could get 10 a day in no prob. We definitely had a ton of Euros in the winter and tons of SOCOM/Golden Knights there. Would be funny if we were ever on the same DZ. I distinctly remember a group from the UK one winter doing some currency work with guys they bought up entire loads of Twin Otters for their guys.

Fair enough, text doesn't relay sarcasm well. So "dry" is pretty hard to pick up!

Unfortunately I've never jumped in the US, we had a lot of guys head out to Forts Bragg and Dix at various points though.
Apparently the hospitality at Dix was out of this world - The guys said that they went and did some low level heli runs over Jersey Shore and then basically got dropped off on the beach to go for beers. I don't think any of them opened their wallets once. I was so jealous!

Others said that Bragg was no comparison.
The people were great, but the lads all found it too hot/humid and it was in the middle of nowhere.

The military guys are great fun always enjoyed being around them. If you ever come to Florida bring your sport rig there are so many great turbine DZ's you literally can jump your way around the state. If you end up in the Panhandle go to Emerald Coast and jump into the FloraBama Lounge on the beach in the evenings. It's fun trust me you will get groped and fondled by saucy north Florida beach girls and not buy any drinks, especially being a foreigner. Thank me later.

What is your position on what to call a race that features a 1.2 mile swim and 56 miles of cycling? Ok, to call it
an "Aquabike" or should we reserve that term for real the water bikers?

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

I wouldn't want to devalue the hard work of the real water bikers out there, so I suppose the term "aquabike" will have to go.

When I first moved to Southern Indiana, the whole "mini marathon" threw me off too. There's actually a few races in Indianapolis and Louisville with that naming.

I don't know what the situation is more widely across the US with these things, but here in the UK there is a trend towards naming everything this way.
No matter how easy something objectively is, the organisers feel the need to to refer to it as "epic" etc. Or they will use slogans such as "Be brave, challenge yourself" for 5km runs and the like.

It makes me wonder where we are heading as a nation when it comes to physical endeavour. Have we sunk so low that just taking part in a fun run can be classed as an achievement?
It's gotten to the point where even somebody who takes part in a moderate amount of exercise is considered super fit by many people. My girlfriend tells me about the reactions that she gets at work from the people in her office when she mentions that she went for a swim before work. They will just not accept her assessment that she is simply healthy and that it's something that anybody should want/be able to do, they see her as a different species.

Only on ST do we get a post about AQB turned into a rant about some obscure BS.

The Indy Mini was THAT name from 1977..none other than Frank Shorter was the 1st Champ with a 1:03:05...So to say why use THAT name is like saying all cars made on assembly line should be called FORD...really? It was the largest 1/2 in the World for decades...and the one most emulated by hundreds of races across the world!

Focus people....it isn't about YOU!

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STIndiana
America Multi-Sport, Inc.
America's Half June 10, 2017
USAT RD Century Club
http://www.americamultisport.com

You sound like you have been around the Indy scene for awhile. Do you remember Jeff Evans? If so do you recall whatever happened to his running career? When I went away to college I never came back and lost track of him, but damn he was a special kid. I think he damn near took a Mini one year and he was maybe a freshman in h.s.? Kid was a freak.