Let's do something about the penguin

It's late, don't you have school tomorrow?

Your Mom wrote:

It's late, don't you have school tomorrow?

Yes, I do. Tomorrow is my fifth month in pre-school.

Twaddle on, friends. Twaddle on.

"John Bingham (born 1948) is an American marathon runner and author, nicknamed "The Penguin", who has achieved widespread recognition for promoting running to the general public.

Bingham is the author of several books and the No Need for Speed column in Runner's World. His writings are characterized by his espousal of the belief that the goals of running are to have fun and finish—and that for a vast majority of amateur athletes running fast should not be the only aim."

I don't see any praise; just a factual blah blah.

Ok, let's do something -- how about we IGNORE him? Unless you're in his target audience, what the hell do you care what he has to say anyway?

Thumbs up wrote:

Check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bingham_%28runner%29

It only has praise, so let's put some negative stuff in.

Do you want to do something about it, or DO something about it?

I am 45 years old. I like to "run," about 20 miles per week at most, and every now and then I'll up the mileage a bit to do a marathon or a half. I don't like to walk, but sometimes I do when I feel like I really need to. It's rare, but I will do it.

So what if the Penguin is talking to people like me? I'll never put in the effort to hang with the serious runners because I don't want to. I enjoy a 3-4 mile run 5 days a week, I add in a little speedwork here, and there and then I hit some 5k's, maybe a 10k and some longer races in the fall if I feel like it.

I have fun doing what I do, it keeps me in decent shape and putting in lots of miles, basework, speedwork, etc. is not a goal of mine. So what?

I respect the hard work the serious runners put in, I do admire the guys who finish near the top and even the top age groupers, but I don't compare myself to them. I just do what I feel like doing with my running, have fun doing it and stay in relatively good shape doing so along the way.

Is that such a bad thing?

Quit feeding that Fat Penquin. Your $65 to run 13.1 miles is paying for his big home on the lake. He is taking advantage of those of you who want a medal to hang on your wall at the office so that people can see you finished a half marathon or marathon. All because he writes articles about being slow. What's up with that shit. He has no experience as a runner, nor do his races support the concept of running. He fills his pockets with your donations!

Support grass roots races, and send your $65 to Hurricane Relief, Darfur, or the Red Cross.

If you are feeding the Penquin. Please stop!

A new low for Wikipedia.

I will ignore the whole site.

I love how people on letsrun get angry because people try to better themselves through running. Absurd. I wonder if the people at letsplaybasketball get mad when I go out and shoot some hoops into my driveway, or if the people at letsgolf get mad when I enter a scramble at my golf club.

Yeah, Wikipedia is really going to miss you.

There's a mindboggling level of self-absorption by some of the runners on this site. Just because someone does not address your needs and your situation does not mean he is not providing valuable encouragement, guidance, and even entertainment to different kinds of runners with different lives and goals. I manage to ignore the Penguin COMPLETELY, but I feel no urge to condemn him.

how much did it cost you to shoot hoops? did you feel an urge to pay for it, and then tell your friends about it at the office the next day?

Yeah the Penguin is realy going to miss you too.

My surprise lay in the fact that Wikipedia would have an entry on someone so trivial. But if you want ramble on about self absorption thats ok. Blow-feld. haha. you blew feld.

One thing I found kind of amusing is I went to Runnersworld's website and clicked on motivation and they had a bunch of links to The Penguin's articles. Is that motivating?

KnowItAll wrote:

One thing I found kind of amusing is I went to Runnersworld's website and clicked on motivation and they had a bunch of links to The Penguin's articles. Is that motivating?

If you're a penquin it is.

I don't know that many people who have to get motivated to go slower.

My medals are in a box in the basement. They mean nothing to me. I think it's quite silly to hand over a medal for finishing a half marathon.

I didn't know the Penguin gets a cut from my race fees. And if he's getting rich from running, it looks like he's smarter than you are.

I Plod, Therfore I Am wrote:

I didn't know the Penguin gets a cut from my race fees. And if he's getting rich from running, it looks like he's smarter than you are.

not really, there is a million ways to make money ripping people off. I just choose not to take advantage of stupid people like you.

No reason to stoop to grade school antics and name calling just because the Penguin makes more money than you do at a sport you struggle with to place in your age group, then go home with less money than it took you to run the race.

Don't get so defensive because the Penguin has found a way to make money off of running while you only pay. It doesn't bother me. I have fun running and doing my races. If it bothers you that much, then maybe you should do something else. Like forecast football outcomes.

While you're at it, please tell me how the Penguin is making money off of my race fees. I do know he makes money off of people who buy his books. Which interest is only fueled by people like you who keep a topic alive and keep people reading about it.

Yep, no doubt about it. The Penguing is much smarter than you.

I don't pay to run. and I don't struggle with age-group awards. as far as football picks, what does that have to do with this topic? that's right, nothing. You have proven my theory. You are stupid and you support the Penquin.

considering him the guru of the current running movement is a lot like buying Suzanne Sommers book to learn how to be healthy.

it really does not bother me by the way. It is just easy to make fun of the Penquin. Don't take penquins and yourself so seriously.