Now it is truly just about the running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Ran my penultimate race of the year on Saturday. I only have 1 more race scheduled (Great Pumpkin 10K) for the calendar year, and I don't plan on adding any more. Which means it is just about running for the rest of the year, no longer in training for any races.

Which is a comforting feeling. Kind of nice to get up and go for a run when the only things that dictate where I go and how long are when I have to be back and how my body feels. Because in the end that is how it should be in my opinion.

Like I told Jimmy last week, I run for fun, not to compete. I know that I probably could have put more effort into my last race and beat Jimmy and my brother. But that wasn't why I was running, and really isn't why I run at all.

If that is the case, why even run in races? For 2 reasons. First, to give myself a goal, because even though I enjoy running just to run (still odd to write that) I do enjoy having a goal to focus on. Second, a race provides an easy way for me to measure myself against myself. It's one thing to try and beat my speed on a regular route, but it's not the same as running a different course and measuring myself against how I did last year (not as good this year, I was slower in every race but who's really counting.) And a third reason is that I can do things like organize the 3 generation races.

I was thinking about this because I saw this link on Facebook and it just drove me crazy. That whole mentality of why race if you aren't trying to win is counter productive in my opinion. Because that just leads to a 'why even play a sport or exercise if I can't win' mentality. And that, sadly, can lead people to stop playing sports or being athletic at all. Instead of criticizing these non-competitive races runners should be encouraging them. Because they get people who normally don't run at all to get out there and do so. And eventually some of those people will get hyped to run faster and join in competitive races. But not if they don't feel welcome.

I know that there are some races I don't run in because the whole focus of the organizers seems geared to drive away the casual runner. Just the same way some stores seem to have the same approach. Again, why do that? Why drive people away? Instead, encourage them in every way, because this country needs to applaud people who choose to get fit, not discourage them.