By Joe Philpott
Why do we run?
When asked, I suppose runners would give a myriad of answers to that question, such as:
I love the competition. I am trying to lose weight. I want to be able to fit into that dress for my daughter’s wedding. We enjoy the comradeship. I just want to lead a healthier lifestyle with exercise and good nutrition. I’m trying to relive/recover my lost youth. I want to live longer. I want to test my limits. I wasn’t big enough to play football. I meet happy, energetic people. I enjoy the attention drawn from receiving medals, wearing race t-shirts, and listening to the praise and adulation at cocktail parties.
Maybe most of us resemble all of the above!
Race day is the reward
We run for health. We run for obsession. We run to lose weight. We run to compete. For me, there’s nothing more motivational than signing up for a race. It makes going out the door every day easier. I know I have a certain number of days, weeks, months to prepare for a unique challenge. I love thinking about my goal for that race and trying to tailor my workouts to achieve that goal. I love the shot of adrenaline I get when I arrive at the venue and see people warming up. I love getting teary eyed when they do the Star Spangled Banner. I love getting cold chills when I think about what I’m about to undertake. I love talking with the other runners and sharing pre-race excuses and post-race excuses. I love the post-race party. I love finding out what I’m made of on that given day!
Yeah, we runners do like to show off a bit
I admit that I’m very proud of my lifetime of running. I think it is okay for us to display our medals, plaques, and trophies. I wear those race t-shirts and hats until they fall apart. I purchase the photos provided at the big races and share them with friends and family. I put the 26.2, 13.1, 8K, 5K decals on the back of my car. All of these things carry, for me, cherished memories of good times. They remind me that, at any age, a good bit of hard work will enable us to do things others might not imagine!
Old is Gold
The community of runners encompasses all ages. There are the “young guns” who run long training runs at 6:00 mile pace and think of it as jogging. You have the middle age folks who take up the sport as they seek a healthier lifestyle. Then, there are the geezers who’ve been doing it for many years. I really enjoy being around older runners. Maybe because I am one! They are refreshing in their exuberance and competitive in their age groups. They don’t run as fast as they once did or as long as years ago or as often as they once could. But they are still youngsters standing on the starting line at the local 5K or the Boston Marathon. And, you can be assured that they love to see how many runners they beat in the younger age groups!
In this vein, my very favorite passage on the subject comes from a Runners World article written by Roger Robinson. He quotes an ancient French book in which the author discusses a foot race for older runners. And he writes,
“How good it is to see they have kept the fire of youth under the creases of age. As they run, they look like a sunny day in winter.”
Fortunately, there are no mirrors on the road, the trail or the race course. Yes, I’m old but running makes me feel young!
Maybe I’m vain, but it’s more than that… Nice compliments really give me a charge. This winter I was out running at 5:00 PM; it was 23 degrees and snow was in the air. I was bundled up like Nanook of the North! A guy who, to my knowledge, I’ve never seen before, stops his truck, rolls down his window and says, “Even feels like Boston doesn’t it”. All of a sudden, it wasn’t cold anymore. It was a good run! Another day I was in the middle of a 10 mile run and went past two obvious non-runner older ladies sitting on a park bench. One says to me, how long you been running? I said about an hour. She said, “No, how long you been doing this?” I said, “Oh, about 50 years.” She said, “I thought so”. It took me two miles to get the grin off my face! There are a lot of nice people out there!
Smiles are catching
That’s the thing, isn’t it? We are all smiling at the post race party and awards ceremony. The elation of the first time racer, whether it be at 26.2 miles or a weekend 5k, is a wonderful, contagious thing! It’s a great way to spend a Saturday morning.
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Joe Philpott is a retired banker who often wishes that he had pursued a career in coaching. At 72, he still enjoys competitive age group racing at distances from the mile to the marathon. In addition to 5Ks he has age group wins at the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Richmond American Family Fitness Half Marathon, Martinsville Half Marathon, Virginia 10 Miler, Richmond’s HCA 8K, and Blacksburg’s Draper Mile. He loves sharing his insights from five decades of running with developing runners of all ages.
