Running Race Rant

This coming Monday marks exactly three months since I ran my last public running race. I had planned on running in at least one race per month, but my experience in the last three races (most notably the Melon Run in Gainesville on July 4) has soured me on them. Instead I decided to continue with my solitary training runs throughout the summer and then plan on entering in some longer-distance races in the fall. There will be a half-marathon in Gainesville in November and I will be running in it. And I've already mentioned the Jacksonville marathon event on December 19.

Many...actually almost all of the races... are charity-based. The cause being promoted often overshadows the actual race to the point where it is trivialized, which tends to annoy me greatly. The way I see it, I paid my entry fee and now I expect a reasonable race to be conducted, on time, with each runner's final time and placing recorded accurately and posted publicly. I don't want to have to jump through hoops regarding whatever cause is being promoted. If there is an awards ceremony following the race, then it shouldn't be delayed too long and certain winners kowtowed to over others because they either use the honorific "Dr." in front of their names or are personal friends of the race organizers. Also, I am sick and tired at the beginning of every race I've run having to put up with runners who aggressively crowd me out to the point where I have to fall back in the pack in order to avoid colliding with them. And to be perfectly frank, I really don't like the people running in these races anyway. They tend to be clannish, vain, and hypersensitive and tight-lipped about running competition and their training.

So you may ask why I would even bother running in the longer races if I get such a negative reaction from races in general. Well, I'm not sure, but maybe it's because I am hoping for some experience that changes my feelings about human nature and enables me to feel more a part of a community comprised of people with whom I share a common passion. Also, not only am I more oriented to running longer distances, but if (correction: I mean when) I get crowded out by others at the start of a marathon or half-marathon, then it matters little as the race's length diminishes the significance of its start.

I also have an ulterior motive for the marathons I plan to enter in other cities: this gives me the opportunity to be a "running tourist", gawking at the sights and snapping pix with my camera while the roads are closed to motorized traffic and I can freely "zip" through the city. The Jacksonville event will be the first opportunity I have to try this out. Unless, of course, I manage to sneak in a (long-distance) race in another city sometime before then!