Listen, I love this sport. I love the community, the chaos, the way complete strangers will cheer you through the worst miles of your life. But every so often, the running world serves up a series of moments that make me put my coffee down and stare at the wall for a minute.
We have had a stretch lately. From social media meltdowns to questionable race decisions to a pace vehicle that had one literal job, there is a lot to unpack. So let’s do it. These are my honest, unfiltered takes, and you are welcome to disagree with me in the comments.
Charity Runners Are Not the Problem, and Someone Had to Say It
A woman local to me recently took to social media to complain that charity runners were taking up space in the New York City Marathon, crowding the course and getting in the way of “talented” runners like herself. I will let that sink in for a moment.
The backlash was swift, it was loud, and it was significant enough that she eventually removed herself from social media entirely. I want to be clear: I do not support bullying, pile-ons, or anyone being harassed online, full stop. But the opinion itself was bad, and I am not going to pretend otherwise.
Charity runners raise millions of dollars for causes that matter. They train for months, sometimes years. They push through miles that do not come easily because something bigger than a finish time is pulling them forward. Anyone who has ever run a slow mile, a hard mile, or a “just surviving this” mile knows that pace has absolutely nothing to do with heart. Slower runners and charity runners work just as hard as the fasties, and sometimes harder. The course belongs to all of us. That has always been the point.
The LA Marathon Shortcut and Why I Cannot Find It in Me to Care
When unprecedented weather conditions hit the Asics Los Angeles Marathon this year, race organizers made the call to allow runners to take a shortcut and collect their medals at mile 18. The internet had opinions. Strong ones.
Here is mine: I do not care even a little bit who got a medal at mile 18, and neither should you.
Safety has to come first in racing. Always. I say this as someone who runs in Florida, where we regularly log long miles in heat and humidity that most of the country would consider genuinely unsafe. We know what it is to push through conditions that are not ideal. But there is a difference between choosing to run in the Florida summer and being caught mid-race in a situation that becomes dangerous faster than anyone anticipated.
Nobody cheated you. Nobody stole anything from you. Someone made a hard call to protect runners they were responsible for, and the people who took that option made the right choice for themselves. A medal at mile 18 in those conditions is not a participation trophy. It is common sense. Move on.
Ironman, and the Influencers That Ruined It for Everyone
Ironman’s recent crackdown on on-course photography and video content from influencers is one of those situations where I completely understand how we got here, and I am still a little sad about it.
Here is my honest take: I have zero problem with someone snapping a quick photo or grabbing a selfie mid-race. Running is joyful. Document the joy. But there is a significant difference between a quick candid moment and showing up to a competitive race with a drone, a camera crew, and a full content production setup. That is not documenting your race. That is using other people’s race as your backdrop, and when safety gets compromised in the process, it stops being a personal choice and starts being everyone else’s problem.
The influencers who treated race courses like their personal content studio ruined this for the people who just wanted to grab a quick finish line video. That is genuinely frustrating. Races are long and hard and people want to remember them. But safety on course is not negotiable, and once it became clear that some people could not find the line themselves, the line got drawn for everyone. You can be annoyed about that and still understand exactly why it happened.
The Atlanta Pace Vehicle and the Race That Should Not Have Gone That Way
This one genuinely broke my heart a little, because the stakes were so high and the error was so preventable.
At the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta, a lead cyclist directed the front runners off course, costing athletes the race they had trained their entire season for. Jess McClain, who was leading the women’s race, dropped from first place to ninth. A podium finish, and potentially a spot on the World Championship team, all gone in a wrong turn.
Atlanta Track Club CEO Rich Kenah stepped up and took full responsibility, acknowledging that the pace vehicle and unclear course signage contributed to the situation. That accountability matters and it deserves to be recognized. But it does not give Jess McClain her race back.
Here is the complicated truth: yes, runners bear some responsibility for knowing the course. That is standard. But when you are at the front of a national championship race, locked in and competing at an elite level, you are following the pace vehicle. That is the expectation and it always has been. When the vehicle goes the wrong way, the runners go the wrong way. The responsibility for that lies with the race, not the athletes.
This cannot happen again. Not at a local 5K, not at a championship race, not anywhere. Course marshals, clear signage, and lead vehicles that know the route are the bare minimum we owe every single runner who toes a start line. Get it right.
We Are All in This Together (Except Maybe the Influencers With Drones)
At the end of the day, running is one of the most democratic sports on the planet. You put on your shoes and you go. You share the road with charity runners and Olympians and everyone in between, and that is not a bug in the system. That is the whole beautiful, chaotic, sweaty point.
The moments that frustrate us, the bad takes and the wrong turns and the decisions that miss the mark, they matter because we care. And caring means we are paying attention. Keep paying attention. Keep showing up. Keep talking about it.
And maybe leave the drone at home.
What are your thoughts on any of these? I want to hear where you land. Drop a comment below.
Join us next week —> Luck and hard work: which one has helped you the most lately?
Link Up With Tuesday Topics
Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts!
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