Some Inconvenient Truths
Explicit content warning
11/17/24 • 25 min
I ran my first race in almost six months. It went well, except for the men who decided not to alert me that they were passing me, or who scared the hell out of me when they passed, or who almost ran me over on the course.
I am a 12-year veteran of trail races.
I am accustomed to the "on your left," courtesy.
Or "good job, runner!"
Yesterday, I seldom heard this, as guys nearly mowed me over because they thought they were going to win a course record.
It was a seismic shift in my experience with this sport and kind of concerned me.
One of the reasons I love this sport is for its egalitarian nature, and support of each other.
I didn't feel much of that yesterday at my FAVORITE race of the year.
Once I finished, I spotted some political signs asking people to vote Republican and mentioned Trump, Vance and Cruz.
The election was 11 days ago. Why are you showing these signs, much less at a dang trail race, where the expectation is to be egalitarian?
The offenders claimed that the "wind" (2 mph) blew away their signs of support for runners and left behind the hideous political crap.
They sat there for awhile, with those signs intimidating anyone who felt otherwise.
They obviously cared little for anyone who wasn't invested in their "cause."
Your team won. Yay. Just stop bringing your beliefs to MY happy place.
I ran my first race in almost six months. It went well, except for the men who decided not to alert me that they were passing me, or who scared the hell out of me when they passed, or who almost ran me over on the course.
I am a 12-year veteran of trail races.
I am accustomed to the "on your left," courtesy.
Or "good job, runner!"
Yesterday, I seldom heard this, as guys nearly mowed me over because they thought they were going to win a course record.
It was a seismic shift in my experience with this sport and kind of concerned me.
One of the reasons I love this sport is for its egalitarian nature, and support of each other.
I didn't feel much of that yesterday at my FAVORITE race of the year.
Once I finished, I spotted some political signs asking people to vote Republican and mentioned Trump, Vance and Cruz.
The election was 11 days ago. Why are you showing these signs, much less at a dang trail race, where the expectation is to be egalitarian?
The offenders claimed that the "wind" (2 mph) blew away their signs of support for runners and left behind the hideous political crap.
They sat there for awhile, with those signs intimidating anyone who felt otherwise.
They obviously cared little for anyone who wasn't invested in their "cause."
Your team won. Yay. Just stop bringing your beliefs to MY happy place.
Previous Episode
Some Political and Personal Stuff, But Some News!
Essentially what the headline says.
You may not like the first half because of my personal views. But, I encourage you to stick around.
Next Episode
Reminiscing, Recommitting and Resilience
As I ready to embark on the Snowdrop 55-hour relay event at the end of the month, I spent some time looking back at times when I needed to muster up my own resilience to help others reach their goals. It is a well I need to rely on for the coming year.
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