Salem, Oregon's
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Willamette Valley Road Runners (WVRR)
www.WVRoadrunners.org.

Can’t we just get along……?

The Summer 2002 issue of Footnotes (published by RRCA) contained an interesting article titled "State of the Sport Report" by Robert Johnson. The gist of the article is that the latest running boom is "dumbing down" the sport of running and that the legion of Galloway- Penguin-Oprah-inspired walk/joggers are diluting the prestige of finishing a marathon. They are also accused of not appropriately appreciating "real runners".

After reading this article I mentally composed several barbed letters to the editor, but in the end, never sent them as I was convinced that an avalanche of mail would arrive with the same message. I guess I was wrong. In the next issue, about 8 out of 10 letters published praised Robert Johnson’s article. Excerpts of the letters include: "If you cannot finish a marathon in 5 hours you have no business running a marathon…." "It cheapens the effort of people who do it in 3 (hours)…." "It is pitiful to see people…. feeling like a 5½ hr marathon is some sort of accomplishment, perhaps it is, if you are crippled in some way."

Yikes – who are these people? – In 7 years of running in Oregon I have never run into anyone who vocalized such opinions, and these people actually signed their names. I have spent so much time over the last few years, cheering on, encouraging runners of all abilities that it never occurred to me that there would be some people who actually look down on and ridicule other runners.

We do have a lot of new runners entering our sport, and yes, they tend to be slower and more focused on fitness and camaraderie than times and PRs. Some of them even take………walk breaks. I just don't see how they detract from the sport. Should we only participate in recreational activities that we excel in? I don't think so. - Most of us spend our days on tasks where expectations from customers, co-workers or families are high, why not be just a face in the crowd, where nobody knows you, where the only expectations to be met are your own?

U.S. runners bemoaning the lack of world-class distance runners are short-changing themselves by pointing the finger at the 4-6 hr. marathon crowd. We have no effect whatsoever on elite runners. Gifted high school runners are not going to be content with walk/running a 5K race in 25 minutes; if they have the competitive fire to excel, they will run their hearts out.

We should be glad that so many Americans are looking to running as a simple form of exercise. They attend races, volunteer, spend money at running-related businesses, support our local clubs and may even inspire their children and/or grandkids to get in shape. They don't expect any affirmation from "real runners"; that comes from within, and they certainly don't expect to be ridiculed.

Our sport is large enough to accommodate the fast and the slow, the determined and the laid back and we should celebrate them all. I have yet to meet a runner of any ability that I have not enjoyed and got along with and hope that these letter writers are a minority from some other planet.

Mick Evans

Ed. note: If you missed this Footnotes article, you can read it at: http://www.rrca.org/publicat/sum02state.htm