Talk:Dane Rauschenberg

Hello

User Drunkenmonkey told me to assist in removing that last 2 posts by MRPreston and reporting them as vandalism. I'm a newcomer and don't know what I'm doing here. But I hope I'm doing right.--Oda Mari 05:12, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Hello

I sent Drunkenmonkey a note that the comment he felt was vandalism was actually factual and verifiable and should be put back in the site. I don't really know how to notify either. --MRPreston --

Stick to Merits and Facts

Now that the debate about deleting this article has been closed, let's keep this article to WP:N and WP:COI standards. The only notable achievement is running 52 marathons in one year.

• Drake Well Marathon - Winning a 20-person race which you organize yourself at the local HS track is never notable.
• PT Cruiser Challenge - again this event, although novel, is not of national stature, and there is no showing that top-ranked amateur talent participated in it.
• Presque Isle Personal Endurance Classic is a non-competitive event, by its own definition.
• RRCA Runner of the Year Nomination - anyone can nominate anyone else, being selected as the winner is the distinction that meets the notability criteria.
• JFK 50K - finishing in 97th place, 2 hours, 41 minutes and 29 seconds behind the winner is never notable.

Neither Dane, nor his sockpuppets, nor his naked IP addresses should attempt to edit this article.Xcstar 22:38, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

• • FYI, I have previously included your ID as a prospective sockpuppet, together with the dozen or so other User IDs who have developed an interest in Wikipedia that seems to exclusively revolve around Dane Rauschenberg and related articles. Your edit history at that point and so far to date don't instill much hope for a broader approach, even if you are a runner, and the fact that you have made about dozen Wikipedia edits that mimic the other sockpuppets and you are fully familiar with "edit wars" and WP:COI should be a flashing warning sign. I sincerely hope you will be vindicated when the checkuser is complete. I look forward to real users with a genuine interest in improving the article, but edits that summarize an article as "criticizing the project as possibly causing long term damage", when that is at best a tangential mention in the article leave me wary as to good faith intentions here. I am not sure what conflict exists with the dozen or so suspected sockpuppets or what the agenda is here, but a genuine effort to improve this article in good faith will be welcomed. Any further disruption of this article or sockpuppetry will be dealt with appropriately. Alansohn 23:01, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Let's please try to keep the article balanced and objective. Let's discuss changes on this page before we make major changes to the article itself. Thanks, Xcstar (talk) 22:18, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

• I find it humorous that you would make major changes to the article while posting a request to discuss changes. The recent changes you had made, which have been reverted, insert an unacceptable level of weasel words and unsupported POV (much of it in the form of "critics note..."), all of which is in violation of WP:NPOV. There is clearly room for improvement in this article. However, making modifications that make a mockery of a balanced tone do not help achieve neutrality, they just push it even further to one unjustifiable extreme. Can I suggest that you discuss changes on this page before you make major changes to the article itself. Thanks. Alansohn (talk) 22:31, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
  • I am trying to find balance between the material originally uploaded by Mr. Rauschenberg (which was previously removed) and the other relevant facts. During the AfD, several people made the observation that the notability had been established only for the 52 week "fiddy2" project. Your resurrecting the other stuff and labelling it as "accomplishment" could be viewed as unsupported POV. If Mr. Rauschenberg and his various sockpupets insist on including all of this non-notable stuff, it should be placed in context so that readers who may not be sophisticated runners can understand that a collaboration of Wikipedia editors did not find it of exceptional merit. One idea is to use the percentage ranking from the WAVA tables. A 90% ranking is elite and a 70% is a "regional class" runner. If you wish, I can calculate the rankings for these particular performances and include them in the article to demonstrate to the reader in an objective fashion how slow, non-competitive, and unnotable this running has been.Xcstar (talk) 23:03, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

• Forgive me as I do not know the exact etiqutte for posting a "talk" here. After looking at this page it seems obvious that none of the races run by Mr. Rauschenberg are, by themselves "notable" (save the 84 miles in the Erie race; non-competitive or not, 84 miles in 12 hours ranks as extremely notable, regardless of the level of competition). The best times run by Mr. Rauschenberg are, at best in the "regional class" as noted by the user above.

However, that is not looking at the point of the notability. Obviously, the times run are not that great in and of themsleves. But strung together over 52 consecutive weekends, they most assuredly are notable. In an attempt to find the other times this has been done, I was only able to find Mr. Rick Worley's times all of which were at or above 5 hours. The times of the predecessor whos recod he broke are difficult to obtain.

I do not see why the one user above appears convinced Mr. Rauschenberg himself added the information. It appears Mr. Rauschenberg is very forthcoming with any information necessary in either the interviews he has given or on his own website.

As for the other races listed for Mr. Rauschenberg, I think their relative nonuniqueness gives context to how very unique this Fiddy2 was. It does not appear anyone needs to know how many other runners were in the races Mr. Rauschenberg ran. The times listed are evidently not of world-class standards.

I feel the merger of these two articles is best. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.165.242.67 (talk) 00:13, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

* The times are not even worthy of regional-class standards, which can be verified by using the WAVA tables.

* The subject of multiple marathons as an endurance undertaking is now covered at: Marathon#Multiple marathons. Wikipedia users would be better served if we directed our energy into expanding that section instead of attempting to burnish Mr. Rauschenberg's reputation. Instead of a wikitable listing Mr. Rauschenberg's 52 marathons, how about producing a table showing the ten longest undertakings of running marathons on consecutive weekends. Mr.Rauschenberg was not the first person to run 52 marathons on 52 weekends, he was not the fastest, and there are several people who kept on going in a series longer than 52 weekends. Xcstar (talk) 03:16, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Please give a reference to the person(s) who have done them faster. All research shows Mr. Rauschenberg WAS the fastes (by a large margin) to complete 52 marathons in 52 weekends. Your obvious contempt for Mr . Rauschenberg is apparent and colors every one of your edits (so much that you continue to blame Mr. Rauschenberg for editing this page!) Runnerman (Runnerman) 16:53, 12 December 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.182.58.106 (talk)

• Runnerman welcome to the editing of this page. Please discuss changes on this discussion page, because we are trying to maintain a balance in this article, which started off on the wrong foot by WP:COI violations. Xcstar (talk) 13:55, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

Runnerguy, Danerunsalot, Arric, Revertedlesbo and 68.55.224.168 have all been blocked as Wikipedia editors. Wikipedia:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Runnerguy They are the same person, and I surmise that they are all Mr. Rauschenberg. Xcstar (talk) 14:12, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Fiddy2

Per Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Fiddy2, the content from Fiddy2 has been merged into this article. Feel free to edit down as required. Neil ☎ 11:21, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

This article is way over the top, and I agree it must be paired down and the WP:COI removed. Do people believe that the wikitable of 52 races is necessary? Xcstar (talk) 17:09, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

• For someone whose claim of notability is running 52 races in 52 weeks, yes. Alansohn (talk) 17:41, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
• This article needs to be trimmed way down. Most of this does not meet notability criteria. The AfD was inconclusive. Xcstar (talk) 21:14, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
  • The closure was no consensus for deletion. There still is no consensus for deletion of any of this material, and the result of your Fiddy2 AfD was to merge the content, not to delete it. You need to stop your efforts to spit in the face of the fact that the content of this article satisfies Wikipedia notability standards. The sockpuppetry must end. Alansohn (talk) 21:26, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Notability and Reliability of Sources

The Wikipedia policy states:

Self-published material may never be used in BLPs unless written by the subject him or herself. Subjects may provide material about themselves through press releases, personal websites, or blogs. Material that has been self-published by the subject may be added to the article only if:

• it is not contentious;
• it is not unduly self-serving;
• it does not involve claims about third parties;
• it does not involve claims about events not directly related to the subject;
• there is no reasonable doubt as to who wrote it;
• the article is not based primarily on such sources.

The problem with this article is that it is "based primarily on such sources." This article is an artifact of a shameless effort at self-promotion, and should be drastically cut back.Xcstar (talk) 19:47, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

The Hello, I'm Xcstar. I wanted to let you know that one or more external links you added have been removed because they seemed to be inappropriate for an encyclopedia. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message on my talk page, or take a look at our guidelines about links. Thank you. tag is appropriate when external references are used to drive traffic to a website, such as fiddy2 .org. I have removed the links to fiddy2 .org, where Mr. Rauschenberg sells fiddy logo merchandise. Xcstar (talk) 02:37, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

• The spam tag is entirely inappropriate. The pages linked are exclusively relevant details explicitly permitted as self-published material, without any indication that any attempt is made to sell anything. That the presence of a link that happens to do fundraising on the same site qualifies the entire article as spam is ludicrous on its face. Alansohn (talk) 02:47, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

• This is a clear application of WP:SPAM which states, "Adding external links to an article or user page for the purpose of promoting a website or a product is not allowed, and is considered to be spam. Although the specific links may be allowed under some circumstances, repeatedly adding links will in most cases result in all of them being removed." The original author is trying to drive up the Google rating of fiddy2 .org and to drive traffic to that website. Xcstar (talk) 03:08, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

• Other than your bad faith, you have no evidence to support your baseless claim that the fiddy2.org link is intended "to drive traffic to that website". Unless you have evidence to support your claim, it will be removed. If you insist that there are issues with notability, it's probably time to start a second AfD. Other than that, your notability tag also cannot be justified, as evidenced by the refusal of the community to support your previous attempt at deletion. In your new AfD, I encourage you to site WP:SPAM as justification for deletion. Other than that, your edits are simply a massive and persistent WP:POINT violation. Alansohn (talk) 04:43, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

• Google doesn't follow links from Wikipedia, and of course if you type in "Fiddy2" your going to get the Figgy2 website even if there was not a single link to the website on the Internet. Your thinking of people who want to have their websites show up when you type in "sex" or "car" as the top link, and that is dependent on the number of incoming links. So adding a link to a car dealership on every car article in Wikipedia would be spam, this isn't. Its no different than the link to Pamela Anderson's homepage where she sells t-shirts, photos, and a few years ago was auctioning of her used breast implants. A homepage link is part of the Person infobox, so I don't see it as spam. I am going to remove the spam tag. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 04:52, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Notability

I removed notability tag. If NPR and The Washington Post, and even the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are writing about you, you are notable objectively. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 05:03, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

• First of all, let me say it is good to see someone who is not a member of Dane's immediate family contributing to this article. Next, please note that reliable sources, such as the Washington Post, still does not count if it is advertisements, announcements columns, minor news stories, and coverage with low levels of discrimination." WP:N Mr. Rauschenberg sent out numerous press releases and some were picked up in "coverage with low levels of discrimination." A good example is the new references to the Arlington Sun-Gazette, which is a limited distribution, advertising supported newsprint publication. The fact that Mr. Rauschenberg's close friend, unpaid writer Jay Wind, has a puff piece published, does not make the reference the work of a paid journalist with the normal levels of journalistic judgment and discrimination.
• Assuming that an argument can be made that being one of several people to have run 52 marathons on 52 consecutive weekends is notable, the question remains as to whether it warrants separate coverage, or whether this entire matter should be treated in Marathon#Multiple marathons where Mr. Rauschenberg can be viewed in the same context as other people who have run 52, 79 or even 159. Xcstar (talk) 19:50, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

• There seems to be a deep and fundamental understanding as to what the term "notability" means in general and in Wikipedia. Notable does not mean "fastest", "best", "most" or "unique". Notability means that one is "worthy of notice". The entire effort to try to "prove" that others have run more marathons, done so in a shorter period of time or raised more money is not only irrelevant, but seems to be part of a deliberate effort to drag in unrelated issues that are unconnected to the article's notability. While one may quibble about some of the sources, the year-long coverage from The Washington Post, NPR and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, among many, many others, is a prime example of the "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject" that WP:N defines as supporting a subject that is "presumed to be notable". Your monomaniacal obsession with this one article simply does not stand up to any objective scrutiny. If you truly believe that the article does not meet Wikipedia's notability standards, it's time to start a second AfD or move on to some other article that can be the target of your newest obsession. Alansohn (talk) 00:52, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

• I agree that something does not have to be unique to be notable. "Man bites dog." would be notable even if it happened a dozen different times and each is reported in the newspaper by professional journalists. The problem is that this article is "Dog bites man," coupled with a systematic effort at self-promotion, including the creation of two Wikipedia articles. We need a notability standard that can be objectively applied to prevent runners from creating wikitables of all of their past races. There are websites for that purpose, such as yourrunning.com or marathonmaniacs. My fundamental concern is that Wikipedia needs credibility in the running community to attract editors and gain valid, competent coverage. This article has received widespread attention and ridicule, and is doing damage that outweighs any gain in providing reference information to the few people seeking objective data on Dane Rauschenberg. I hope WP:RUN can work up a standard. Xcstar (talk) 17:02, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

• Your fundamental obsession is with this article, to a point where you have edited the article two or three times more than any other editor. Your edit history shows that all but ten of your nearly 150 edits are related to this one article. You have already acknowledged that you are a sockpuppet. My concern is that notability has already been demonstrated, consensus is that the article should stay as is and you are still working day and night to disrupt this one article. I will tell you again that it's time to start another AfD or to move on; $#!+ or get off the pot. Move on, already. Find a new hobby. Perhaps running. Alansohn (talk) 17:08, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

• Thank you for your suggestion. If we can control the WP:COI contributions from the friends and family of Mr. Rauschenberg, I would not object to continuing the existence of the article. I will edit any changes from IP-address-users who seek to shift the article from neutrality into a puff-piece of favorable publicity. My AfD on Fiddy2 was prompted by unrelenting puff-piece editing by the Pro-Rauchenberg editor(s). Xcstar (talk) 17:18, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

• That's an interesting offer, but the biggest problem with WP:COI on this article seems to be your persistent obsession with inserting WP:POV edits. Other than trying to create stilted comparisons to other notable efforts or to make snide comments about how the feat was accomplished, you've done nothing but disrupt this article. Please start the second AfD already and see if there is anyone who agrees with you. Otherwise, it's time to end this obsessive-compulsive behavior. Start running, say, five miles a day. After a week, you'll be 35 miles away from your computer and be far less disruptive on this article. Alansohn (talk) 17:24, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Presque Isle

Runnerguy has asked whether we should continue to designate Presque Isle as a "non-competitive" event. My concern is that if you don't include the word non-competitive, people will assume that it was a competitive ultramarathon race. As for 84 miles being noteworthy, there are no records maintained for 12-hour races. Official records are maintained for 1-hour track runs and 24-hour track runs. By way of comparison, the US record for 24-hours was set in 1999 by Mark Godale who ran 261,454 metres (162 mi). [1] So assuming that a national-class runner would run much more than half that distance in 12 hours, Mr. Rauschenberg's performance would not set a record. The article probably should not mention the event at all, but certainly not twice. Xcstar (talk) 16:55, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

• The problem again is that no one is claiming that Rauschenberg holds any records, is unique, better or faster than any other individual. The Wikipedia standard is notability, and the ample evidence from multiple sources is that he is notable. That the event is non-competitive is irrelevant; he participated in the event, ran 84 miles and there is reliable documentation for the fact. Alansohn (talk) 20:10, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

• I respectfully disagree that there is reliable documentation for the 84 miles, and I am trying to verify the claim. This is not like the NYRR's 24-hour run or the Ft. Meade 24-hour run where there are officials counting your laps. The new footnote is an effort to capture the casual, non-competitive nature of the event. The 2007 edition did use transponder timing, but I have made inquiries as to how the laps were recorded in 2003. Xcstar (talk) 21:24, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

• I can live with the Alansohn (talk) current edit until we get contrary evidence on the 84-mile issue. Thanks, Xcstar (talk) 22:38, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
• It is implausible that a person with a marathon PR of 3:29 could cover 3.2 times that distance in only 3.4 the amount of time. I am waiting to hear back. Xcstar (talk) 20:28, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

It is essential for the accuracy of the article to state that the Presque Isle event was non-competitive, if the event is to be mentioned. I personally think that the event is not notable. Xcstar (talk) 15:48, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Reliability of Sources

Wikipedia requires reliable sources. "'Reliable' means sources need editorial integrity to allow verifiable evaluation of notability, per the reliable source guideline. Sources may encompass published works in all forms and media. Availability of secondary sources covering the subject are a good test for notability." A major problem here is that Mr. Rauschenberg (with his unique world-view) is the ultimate source of much of this information. If he asserts a fact, and it gets repeated on a blog or in print media without fact-checking such as the Arlington Sun-Gazette, that does not establish the fact as true.

The Guidelines confirm this: "'Independent of the subject' excludes works produced by those affiliated with the subject including: self-publicity, advertising, self-published material by the subject, autobiographies, press releases, etc." Most of the stuff here is just rehash of the fiddy2 press releases or are blog submissions.

Is there a source, other than Mr. Rauschenberg, that saw him run 84 miles at Presque Isle? How do we know whether his expenses were self-funded vs. donated? While Mr. Rauschenberg's statements are reliable if they are "admissions against interest,' they should not be accepted without fact-checking. Xcstar (talk) 13:45, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

• The personal attack crusade on Rauschenberg has to end. Asking for "improved references" in an article with over two dozen sources is simply unacceptable. If there is a specific fact that you question -- and you will question and attack every word ad nauseum, emphasis on the nauseum -- then tag it and make a genuine effort to find a better source. The snide, smarmy attitude from you that every single statement about Rauschenberg requires is completely contrary to Wikipedia's goals and objectives. The fact that over 95% of all of your edits are about this one article demonstrates that there is some deep and fundamental obsession that must lead to questions of your rationality. Alansohn (talk) 14:31, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

• Sources are not reliable or verifiable if they are based on the untested assertions of the subject. A sports story in the Washington Post is a good source. A puff-piece written by an unpaid friend for the local penny-saver is not a good source, as demonstrated by the false assertion that there were no other marathons on Christmas weekend 2006. Mr. Rauschenberg would be presumed to have known about the race, because it was featured on the website of one of his organizations, marathonmaniacs.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xcstar (talk • contribs) 18:43, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

• If you believe a specific source is in question, use a "fact" tag and try to have a meaningful discussion here of what your real issue is. A reliable and verifiable newspaper source has been added about the 84 miles run at Presque Isle. If you have an issue with this source, I would suggest trying to have the WP:V and WP:RS Wikipedia policies rewritten. Other than that, it's time to find move your abusive crusade to some other article that might benefit from your disruption. Alansohn (talk) 19:05, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

• I believe that WP:V and WP:RS support my position and not DR/Runnerguy. If DR self-reports "I ran 84 miles," and then the Erie Club lists everyone's self-reported distance without any claim that it was something more than an non-competitive, unofficiated, self-reporting event, and the Erie Paper reports that DR self-reported the 84 miles, there are no "reliable, third-party published sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy." It could be that DR believes he ran 84 laps, but most people cannot keep accurate count during 12 hours of hard running. Xcstar (talk) 20:36, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

• Here's the problem: I've added reliable sources from both the sponsor and from a reliable newspaper source for the Presque Isle event. These sources re in complete and total compliance of WP:RS and WP:V. If the next step of your disruptive jihad is to continue to attack the individual and the sources, the burden on you is to come up with a reliable and verifiable source that contradicts the information in the sources already provided. Other than that, all we have is your bad faith presumption on your part of an inaccuracy. Alansohn (talk) 22:14, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Fundraising Component of Fiddy2

By Mr. Rauschenberg's own admission, he did not undertake Fiddy2 as a fundraiser. He added a fundraising component a few months into the planning of the project. http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum9/HTML/001605.shtml We need to avoid any implication that fundraising was an initial component. Xcstar (talk) 16:24, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

• False. Completely and totally false. Please read the following article "Top This Resolution: A Marathon a Week" from The Washington Post dated January 8, 2006, and written before the first marathon started. "Rauschenberg's quest, which he dubbed Fiddy2, begins today. He plans to travel all over the country, including to Alaska and Hawaii, to run in 52 marathons." and continues to state that "As he runs, Rauschenberg is raising money for L'Arche Mobile, which helps people with mental disabilities.... He hopes to raise $52,000." The source has been included in the article for weeks, if not months, was written before the 52-marathon streak started and makes the clearest possible statement of the fundraising goal. Any further effort to falsely imply that this was not the case will be treated as vandalism. Alansohn (talk) 16:34, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

• True. DR states that it took months of planning in 2005 before starting the project. The Jan 8 article was the result of DR's initial blast of press releases in 2005. To quote Mr. Rauschenberg himself, he "added L'Arche Mobile as the beneficiary of the endeavor a few months into the planning." He decided to run the marathons, and then decided later to add a fundraising component, when the non-charity version of Fiddy2 did not capture media attention. Xcstar (talk) 16:55, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

• Misleadingly False The article does not state that the marathon plan and fundraising goal began simultaneously. Nor is there any reason other than pushing your own POV to turn this into an issue. As the article stated before your vandalism, the first race of 2006 was run with the goal of running one marathon per week AND to raise $52,000 for the Mobile, Alabama chapter of L'Arche International. If you have a reliable and verifiable source to rebut that claim, please provide it. Your depiction of the fundraising effort as a "controversy" on the L'Arche article is patently despicable POV pushing on your part. This type of behavior will not be tolerated. Alansohn (talk) 17:03, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

I find this kind of information to be completely irrelevant in the L'Arche entry. If someone wants to start a L'Arche Mobile page, then start one and put this information there. L'Arche has over 100 chapters in the world and falling short of $10,000 is an irrelevant factoid that is more than distracting, it's annoying. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.55.18.149 (talk) 03:57, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

• The contrary view is that it is indicative of the degree to which L'Arche supervises its fundraising efforts. The original goal was to both net $52,000 to fund L'Arche as well as to underwrite the cost of a year's worth of travel to marathons. Xcstar (talk) 18:58, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
  • This "contrary view" exists solely as your obsession. Insinuations of supervisory failures or of perceived shortcomings in the manner in which the fundraising effort was conceived and initiated, and in its success are purely POV on your part that violates WP:SYNTH. These shameless efforts at defamation in clear violation of WP:BLP must be put to a stop. If you cannot find reliable and verifiable sources to support your repeated false claims, it will be removed again in compliance with WP:BLP. Alansohn (talk) 19:13, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Other projects

By Mr. Rauscheberg's own admission, he did not research other on-going running projects to see if a 52-consecutive week marathon streak would be outstanding. What public attention he got was from people who did not realize how his 52-week effort compared with the other projects. This article should not repeat that mistake. Xcstar (talk) 16:24, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

• There is no Wikipedia requirement that someone make a plan to do something "outstanding" in order to recognized as being notable. There is nothing in the article that says he planned something "outstanding" nor is that in any way relevant. Alansohn (talk) 16:34, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

• There is a requirement that we acurately state the facts and place the project in context. Otherwise the article becomes a puff piece. Suppose Fiddy2 was one of thousands of family vacations to drive across the country by car. Wikipedia would not write "Dane Rauschenberg completed his impressive goal of driving his car across the country from Washington to California." Xcstar (talk) 16:59, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

• The only inaccuracies are being inserted on your part. I couldn't care less how you or anyone else spend your vacation time. Notability is not determined by whether or not you think the goal is interesting, unusual or unique. Notability is based on how notable the individual is based on reliable and verifiable coverage, a standard that has clearly been met by this article. The goal was stated before the marathons started, it was regularly reported on before, during and after the 52 marathons, and the Wikipedia:Notability standard could not be more clearly satisfied. Other than your pathetic efforts to insert your own bias, the article is neutral and balanced. If you persist in your BS claim that he is not notable, please start a new AfD. Otherwise, please move on. Alansohn (talk) 17:09, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

• Isn't this just an article about how Mr. Rauschenberg chose to spend his weekends and vacations in 2006? My point is that the article should place this activity in its context so that the reader will know there were other people doing similar things contemporaneously, but were doing them with more impressive attributes. Otherwise the article becomes a puff piece. Xcstar (talk) 21:01, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Amateur status

A long-time contributor to this article User:69.143.1.252 (talk) continues to raise the question of whether Dane Rauschenberg can be classified as an amateur athlete and whether it matters. An argument can be made that because DR sought financial support with the goal of providing all of his expenses for the year-long project, it is arguable that it can be classified as an "amateur" undertaking. Rather than get into this issue, the best solution is to be silent. Certainly that characterization does not belong in the lead paragraph. The debate emerged previously, when some editors sought to compare DR with other runners who had successfully raised corporate support for their multi-marathon projects. (E.g., Dean Karnazes and Chuck Engel are "professional" runners.) All three sought financial support for traveling around the country during 2006, and the "amateur"/"professional" label is not meaningful in that context. I welcome the thoughts of others. Xcstar (talk) 19:05, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

• You'd think that you would have given up the charade now that you've been outed as a sockpuppet. Your distinction that an individual receiving any form of financial assistance would be a "professional" may have been valid in the 1960s. See the Jim Thorpe article for someone whose Olympic medals were taken away after it was discovered he had been paid yo play minor league baseball. In the past few decades, Olympic athletes can receive extensive compensation for their efforts while retaining their amateur standing. To call Rauschenberg a "professional" athlete because he "sought financial report" has to be one of the most ridiculous claims you've made so far in a rather pathetic spiral of ludicrous claims. That Rauschenberg undertook this effort, paid his won expenses out of his pocket and accomplished this goal as an amateur only affirms his notability. If you are still arguing this BS claim, why do you refuse to start another Afd? Alansohn (talk) 19:37, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

• The NPR reference does not address the amateur status issue. If DR introduced himself to the interviewer as being an amateur, the NPR reporter would have no way to independently evaluate it. Please state what your definition is. DR and his sockpupets sought to draw a distinction between DR and Dean Karnazes and Chuck Engel -- DR was unable to gain financial support, while Karnazes and Engel were successful to a limited degree. Perhaps it would be better to use the "unsuccessful"/"successful" label instead of the more confusing (and emotionally ladden) "amateur"/"professional" distinction. By the way, I objected to characterizing Karnazes and Engel as professionals in the article which lead DR to try to label himself as an "amateur." In the business of running 50+ marathons within a year, there is no amateur or professional status.
• Alternatively, perhaps you are trying to label DR's fundraising efforts as "amateur." I doubt that anyone with good business judgment would solicit funds expecting to receive them from a 170-member running club. Xcstar (talk) 20:55, 9 January 2008 (UTC)