Amusing & infuriating Runners World quote a friend just sent me

old guy 70 wrote:

So...if I'm only capable of running a 25 minute 5K now, but am running as HARD as I did when I was running 8 minutes faster forty years ago does that make me a hobby jogger?

I think anyone training hard to run their best is a runner. Regardless of their age, sex or weight.

I know your 70, but, can you still read? NOTHING I wrote even remotely applies to what you just said. Just go reread it

coebra wrote:

Just because you're struggling doesn't make your activity worth more.

This, this, and more of this.

Don't get me wrong; in the moment, I'll cheer my a** off for the struggler. It's a nice thing to do, and it's great theater. But at the end of the day, it's not the struggler that I'm inspired by. What's so inspirational about lack of preparation?

(Liked the rest of the post too coebra -- didn't mean to imply otherwise by pulling one sentence)

Just finishing a race is the most basic and simple goal you can achieve.

Normally, just covering the prescribed distance is the bare minimum that a runner should strive to do. Unless the event is a long ultramarathon, just covering the distance is no big victory.

Real athletes have a whole set of goals they try to achieve when racing.

These can include, but are not limited to:

-setting a pr

-giving maximum effort

-beating other people

-running a certain time

-racing other people

-etc.

Unless you are massively obese, very sick or have some other type of abnormality, finishing your average 5-10k is no big victory. Especially once you have done it once (in a race or in training)

Most people who participate in races do not see themselves as athletes, and are thus simply satisfied/thrilled to win by finishing. Just finishing is a victory, but there is so much more to try for.

old guy 70 wrote:

So...if I'm only capable of running a 25 minute 5K now, but am running as HARD as I did when I was running 8 minutes faster forty years ago does that make me a hobby jogger?

I think anyone training hard to run their best is a runner. Regardless of their age, sex or weight.

I think so too.

My issue is with the rather silly notion, that all effort levels are equivalent, that all that matters is finishing, and finishing at all is to be revered.

simple, really wrote:

Without us hobbyjoggers, you guys would be back to the 2.9 mile 5Ks with 15 males, start and finish line drawn with chalk in front of the RD's house, run on the sidewalk with no traffic monitoring.

Back in the day it was probably closer to 3.5. One of the oldest races in WV used to be called a 9 mile race. Now it is called a 15k even though it is the EXACT same course. Actual distance is 9.2.

We used to run on real 440 yd tracks. Now they have shortened them to around 437 yds. This new generation keeps getting softer and softer.

So why do you run a race then? It is doubtful that you are going to win it.

I dare folks who think this way to go to a marathon and say this to the folks finishing.

Arrogant A**holes.

old guy 70 wrote:

Who deserves more credit: The elite runner who jogs a local 5K in 16 flat 'for the win' or a 60 year old woman, busting her ass, finishing last in 55 minutes?

I did not realize that "credit" was in limited supply. Why can I not recognize the accomplishments of both?

I have had the pleasure of meeting many elite athletes including Olympic medalists. From that group, I cannot think of many (if any) that would belittle another person like folks do here.

I have sat with Meb on many occasions. Once he asked about my marathons and seemed genuinely interested in my slow time.

Grete Waitz once commented how she was impressed at the folks who took so long to run a marathon (this was following her last run with Lebow).

Another thought: Fred Lebow has done more for running in this country than probably anyone else on this board. (Jack Daniels excepted and maybe a very few others).

Yes continue to mock runnersworld. A business who's objective is to make money and is very good at doing so. Meanwhile letsrun makes less than a grocery cashier off adsense and crap shoe surveys

old guy 70 wrote:

Who deserves more credit: The elite runner who jogs a local 5K in 16 flat 'for the win' or a 60 year old woman, busting her ass, finishing last in 55 minutes?

Why do we need to give either ANY credit?

My mom is 65 and runs a 25 minute 5k off a couple of LSD runs per week. If your 5k time is over 40 minutes there is no way you didn't walk part of it.

aspiring elite hobber jogger wrote:

old guy 70 wrote:

Who deserves more credit: The elite runner who jogs a local 5K in 16 flat 'for the win' or a 60 year old woman, busting her ass, finishing last in 55 minutes?

Why do we need to give either ANY credit?

My mom is 65 and runs a 25 minute 5k off a couple of LSD runs per week. If your 5k time is over 40 minutes there is no way you didn't walk part of it.

pics?

old guy 70 wrote:

Who deserves more credit: The elite runner who jogs a local 5K in 16 flat 'for the win' or a 60 year old woman, busting her ass, finishing last in 55 minutes?

The 60 year old elite runner deserved more credit because that person has probably worked a lot harder in training to run that 16 flat 5k easily. The elite runner put in more trAining and did the work to where they are where as the 60 year okd hobby jogger only put in a haed effort once probably and thats at race time.

coebra wrote:

I don't know why people think they need some fvcking chorus of trumpets for completing a 5k.

A lot of people here seem to miss the "good old days" when everyone who ran was serious about it, and those people respected hard efforts and fast running.

What I don't understand is what has changed. Back in the day, a small niche group of hardcore runners cared about serious competition, and no one else cared about running at all. These days, a small niche group of hardcore runners care about serious competition, and a large group of other people jog as a hobby and don't care about serious running at all.

What's the difference?

Or to put it another way, if you're running 15:00 for 5K, why do you care whether there's 100 people or 1000 people behind you? The people who are getting excited about their co-worker's 25:00 5K aren't robbing faster runners of credit; they wouldn't have known or cared that a 5K even happened if their coworker hadn't run it. If you're proud of your 15:00 run, have the self-respect to find your validation internally instead of complaining that other people aren't giving you enough pats on the head.

Slogans like that RW quote aren't an executive order. You don't HAVE to think finishing is an accomplishment; so why do you care if some other people do find it meaningful?

I would never, ever mock RW's savvy at making money. What they do is pure marketing genius.The attitudes and mindsets they propagate, as part of their marketing, are things I find highly objectionable. But since it works like gangbusters, I don't blame RW for a second for putting it out there. I just wish it didn't work like gangbusters.

ricktheobvious wrote:

Yes continue to mock runnersworld. A business who's objective is to make money and is very good at doing so. Meanwhile letsrun makes less than a grocery cashier off adsense and crap shoe surveys

Oh you brave, brave defender of the weak.No one is belittling people for being slower-than-amazing.No one is suggesting racing is pointless if you're not going to win.No one is proposing being rude or unpleasant towards people who are just out for a run or jog or walk.No one is actually saying any of the things you are all fired up to object to, so you can feel important.The only one calling people 'a**hole's for what they do, or believe, is you.You're the a**hole, a**hole.

luv2run wrote:

So why do you run a race then? It is doubtful that you are going to win it.

I dare folks who think this way to go to a marathon and say this to the folks finishing.

Arrogant A**holes.

Kelly Lundy wrote:

Blah Blah Blah Blah wrote:

There is also satisfaction after taking a shit, but I don't tell everyone about it.

POD

Winning quote for the next lrc t-shirt contest. I'll take a dozen.

simple, really wrote:

Without us hobbyjoggers, you guys would be back to the 2.9 mile 5Ks with 15 males, start and finish line drawn with chalk in front of the RD's house, run on the sidewalk with no traffic monitoring.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Real runners prefer minimalism in their races. Hobbyjoggers need an expo, shoe seminars, and fuel stations every mile. Need at least 3 goo packs to make it 5 miles.

You're right, a lot hasn't changed. But, some of the runners in this hardcore niche feel slighted for not getting the recognition that they feel they deserve, when Gladys goes out and walks a 60 minute 5k, and gets a personal interest story in the paper.

It takes a lot to be secure and mature about your accomplishments and not feel envious of Gladys, even though were done in 1/4th of the time and devote more of your life to the pursuit. I don't think you realize how much you're asking, by telling someone to be internally validated by their accomplishments.

And besides; they're complaining about it to other runners in the hardcore niche on Letsrun. Who better to commiserate with than a fellow runner?