The Oprah line

The Oprah line is a colloquial term for Oprah Winfrey's finishing time of 4:29:20 in the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon (see the list of celebrities who have completed a marathon). Completing a marathon in a faster time (known as "beating Oprah") has become a notorious goal among the slower participants in marathons, much like faster runners might strive to finish with a Boston qualifying time.

The increase in popularity of the marathon in the 1990s and 2000s has been partially credited to Oprah Winfrey's participation, since her effort arguably inspired a significant number of people with sedentary lifestyles to improve their physical condition and start running. Some commentators, however, have criticized this "if-Oprah-can-so-can-I" attitude.<ref name"critics">"How Oprah ruined the marathon", salon.com, November 16, 2007

<ref name"critics2">"Plodders have a place, but is it in a marathon?", The New York Times, October 22, 2209

The main criticism is that a number of these new runners envision completing a marathon as a one-off milestone event, rather than as a small part of a lifelong fitness program (and, consequently, the improvement in health experimented during the training weeks is quickly lost after the marathon). It has also been argued that the increasing number of participants that can claim to have finished a marathon (albeit clocking in at well over five or six hours) might eventually devalue the achievements of serious recreational runners who train consistently and finish with a fast time.