We can be more supportive!
Recently Runner's World Magazine wrote an article, “The Running Community Needs to Be More Supportive—Here’s How It Can Change.” I think any dedicated runner will initially be disappointed in this headline. Unfortunately for me and many others, we weren’t able to read the full article because there was a paywall behind it. With that said, even though headlines only tell us so much, I believe it’s important we use this piece to open a discussion of how our community can get better with supporting one another!
I, like many of you probably feel I do the best I can to be supportive and encouraging of all different levels and abilities in our sport. It wasn’t until I started coaching youth running programs where I learned that I had a lot of work to do in being a better teammate of the sport. My rule with the kids is that cheering on your fellow competitors whether they are faster or slower is an absolute must. My reasoning for that is that everyone loves the attention and positive noise at the finish line. I just believe it’s extremely selfish to reap the benefits and not pay it forward to others in the race.
I don’t have the perspective of what it is like to finish a race with no fans cheering you on so I won’t speak too much to it. I do know that races are expensive and when you spend a lot of money on an experience and you end up getting the short end of the bargain because you weren’t “fast” enough, that will most likely discourage you from participating in future events and perhaps will demotivate your running at large. What most people don’t realize about people in the front of the pack is that many of them started in the back at one point. It’s important that we remember where we came from too.
I am not addressing this article’s headline to point fingers at our running community. A lot of times we finish a race in cold weather and want to get inside as quickly as possible. Have you ever raced in the rain before? You won’t see me at the finish line unless I am there coaching. I have discussed this a lot with a runner who is a close friend of mine. She gets aggravated when runners don’t stick around after to cheer their friends and teammates on. I understand the frustration and would like to also believe that by not sticking around doesn’t mean you don’t support runners of all abilities. Sometimes we just need to be coached on how to be a better ambassador of the sport and there is nothing wrong with that. Here are a few ways you can improve.
Be open to running easier some days with runners of different abilities.
On your cool down at races, run the opposite direction of those finishing so you don’t miss the chance to cheer others on.
Stay connected with your friends and teammates through social media, text, etc. Learn what their goals are and make a conscious effort to check in with them pre and post race.
It’s crucial we all recognize how valuable it is to have the encouragement from strangers at our toughest moments of a race or at the finish helping us find that last patch of energy to make it all the way through the line. It’s important that we also acknowledge and credit those selfless humans who spend hours on end in the worst conditions volunteering their time to make sure we are safe on the course. I hope what we can all take away from this call out from Runners’ World is that our sport needs to be held to a higher standard. Runners are some of the most amazing individuals you will come across. It’s our job as members of the running community to hold each other accountable and to continue to come together to make distance running that much stronger. I will do better and I hope you all will join me in doing so. Love you all!
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