Serious question: do you consider yourself superior to others because you run?

Not running itself, but rather the good physical health that results from it makes me feel superior to out-of-shape people. Being overweight seems like a miserable way to live.

former ego wrote:

I've been humbled by guys way faster than me who are completely free of ego and I've never been happier.

Yep. I belong to a local running club and there are a few guys who are getting quite a bit older and they are still fast, still having fun and are completely free of ego.

They are running for the sheer hell of it but going strong/staying in the game without getting weird about it.

They could feel superior. But they don't.

hmm let me thing, am I in the slightest bit super to the mouth breathing 300 pound guy that we all pray doesn't sit next to use on the airplane? Is it conceivable that i'm superior to a women who has to take the elevator just to go up 1 floor? Could my mind possibly imagine that people that disguise extra fat as muscle by wearing form fitting clothes and going to the gym 3 times a week, are actually the opposite of fit? Tell me is it so insane that in an over commercialized fitness industry that actively demotes being fit because it drives away the genetically inferior, that I deserve the right to feel superior to the millions that have bought into a ridiculous lie of what being 'fit' should look like? Is it really that difficult to see why I as as someone who is actually fit would look down on a system that shames me for being far more fit than the mediocrity the system strives for?

I could care less how fit you are. However, I have every right to dislike unfit people who look down on me because of a web of lies and misinformation that promotes unfit fatties.

The American style has always been told to be honest about what you are good at and not to be afraid to tell it to everybody if you really are that good and can back it up with results of your superior work......

Nowadays I follow that American style and not the Scandinavian style I`m brought up with that teach you shal not think you are better than someone else in some skill and at no circumstances tell people about it...

It`s called "Jantelagen" in Scandinavia....."Don`t think you are better than someone else and if you think that just be quiet about it" , lol

- The Magic Wizard - :)

I surely did think as a runner I was superior when I was younger. Now that I'm nowhere near young, I think runners, except for the ones that can win money and titles, are pretty silly. to be honest.

No.

We're all human beings with relative strengths and weaknesses. There is always somebody fitter and faster. Humility/gratitude coupled with the right amount of ego/confidence makes for a happy (and usually successful) life. All we can do is try and get better every day.

I never thought I was superior because I ran. I did think I was superior because I won a national championship. So, unless I met another person who won a national championship, I knew I was better.

i used to feel the same way but now i feel it is nonsense. being good at running is like being good at bowling or knitting. of course you can compare yourself to to other runners and feel superior or worse as a runner, but not as human being

I am in top aerobic shape. I am superior to most other people however not in any other way. In fact I try to get others into running. Alas, it's infinitely easier to get someone to try beer then it is to run.

Running is just one of the many reasons why I am superior.

aoxomoxoa wrote:

When I was younger (mid 20s to mid 30s) I did.

Once I hit 40 I realized that having an ego and viewing yourself as superior to another person is a sign of insecurity, not superiority.

Except you do need to recognize how to keep out trash if you want security because they are always dangerous criminals. And many are predators who will take advantage of you if you let them.

I am 47 and I consider myself superior athletically to majority of 47 yrs I see at the gym. That doesn't mean I think of myself as superior as a human being.

Im just happy that I don't have to deal with bikes ,machines , trailers or any stuff like that. I have felt inferior to a good fly Fisherman.

I can have my moments where I get snippy with regular, non-active folks if they impose on my loaded schedule (busy career, lifting/running, meal prep, Spanish learning, sleep, etc.) by wasting my time, getting in my way, or constantly trying to hang out and getting irritated when I say I need some "me" time.

When I get really irritated, I can rationalize my anger to myself by saying that since they don't care to challenge themselves like I do with myself, they couldn't possibly care about things like missing a workout or not getting study time in. I realize I simply need to set boundaries with people and that they're not out to sabotage me, but if I hit a stretch of 2-3 days of being off my routine, I get pretty miffed.

Runners have the biggest ratio of ego to substance of any group of athletes, which is saying a lot given the amount of bootlicking one gets from being half mediocre at any popular sport.

I think a lot of trail runners think they are better then road runners because they run trails.

Yes, I do look down on those who don't run on occasion.

Sometimes I see walkers and think they are lazy fat assses for not running.

Maybe part of me knows running fast and running hills is all about heart and determination. You get what you put out, and it's something money can't buy.

Then I see these wealthy California fukkers who have big houses, big cars, and somehow claim how "hard they work at their jobs ", yet can't run one block.

If they can't work hard at running, how do they "work so hard " at their profession? Don't the two go hand in hand?

YES