The Broad Running Broad

It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

Back on Sunday I was scrolling through the Blogsnark sub-reddit, which I used to do pretty religiously to see what’s new with running/healthy living influencers I periodically check in on. I say “used to” only because the time scrolling was getting out of control, I’ve since removed the app from my phone, and some of the comments were crossing into sour grapes territory for my taste (no, I don’t particularly care about wealth housewives from Utah having the time to regularly train and qualify for Boston. Or their lash extensions.) So I took that as my cue to take a break from scrolling.

Blogsnark was how I learned about the Twin Cities marathon cancelling the race two hours before it supposed to start this past Sunday due to extreme heat. According to CNN’s article on it, temperatures were forecast to reach 91 degrees that day. The average high for Minneapolis-St. Paul around this time of year is 66. Race leadership was concerned about overwhelming the local hospital system as well as the possibility of runners suffering from heat stroke and dying during the race, so they ultimately called it and are standing by the decision.

The Reddit commenters were sympathetic to the race directors, while also acknowledging that cancelling a race two hours before sucks for the runners who took the time to train and then spend the money to travel.

The comments on Instagram, meanwhile, are what motivated this post.

I’m not unsympathetic to the runners who were disappointed or even angry about going all the way to Minneapolis for a last-minute cancellation, and expressing those feelings. But I have to admit I’m side-eyeing the folks leaving comments like this:

“If they think this is bad, good thing they’re not in Florida.” If this was a hotter state that would be one thing. This is Minnesota. Willful obtuseness isn’t going to help matters.

“It’s the Midwest, the weather is always unpredictable.” Yes it is. I live here. And I’ve ran a few races that were black-flagged due to weather. However, I’d be willing to bet all of you complaining about the race getting cancelled would also be hollering if the race wasn’t cancelled and people were collapsing of heatstroke. Then the race directors would be called reckless and taking heat (no pun intended) for that as well.

“It started at 7, people could have been done before it got too hot.” Maybe the elites and faster runners. But the middle-of-the-pack and back of the pack runners would have still been out there in late morning, and those would be the ones suffering and needing medical help.

There were still some runners – I want to say about one hundred, although I have no idea what the actual number was – who still decided to go out and run the course, since the heat didn’t bother them and they figured they might as well. Frankly, I don’t get this line of thinking. Reportedly there weren’t any aid stations – which okay, maybe these were the hotter-state runners who are used to the heat and wouldn’t need water stops – but if they were running on roads that weren’t closed off, that’s a massive liability to motorists, the race and themselves. Road rage and drivers who don’t give two flips about others are a real thing.

Folks who look for the aspirational in everything can call it grit or determination, or maybe even trying to make the best of a crummy situation. But as a runner, I’m going to call it as I see it: it’s arrogance.

I’m not going to pretend I’ve never been the arrogant runner myself. Most of us are at some point. Because we train in all seasons, because we’re willing to stick our necks out there and do things that physically hurt us, we think we’re bulletproof. After all, it’s just a little heat or a little rain, right? And if folks who signed up for the race suffer during it, well then, maybe they should have trained harder, trained better or not signed up at all. There’s no possible good reason why a race should ever be cancelled at the expense of the “real” runners, right? Because real runners know how to suffer through anything.

2020 showed all of us that entire line of thinking is meaningless during a crisis.

Running is an individualistic sport, and training for a race even more so. But the races themselves are not solitary events. In between the volunteers who work the aid stations, the medical staff on hand just in case, spectators there to cheer you on and other fellow runners who put in the work and may be firmly planted in the middle and the back of the pack, races are group events that bring all kinds of people together. With bringing all kinds of people together, you do have to consider the good of the group.

That’s what the arrogant runner forgets – come race day, it is absolutely not “just you” and your tolerance levels for difficult conditions. You’re running alongside your fellow man or woman who has also put in the work, even if their pace is less impressive than yours. There efforts matter, their safety absolutely matters, and the race organizers have just as much a responsibility to keep them safe as they do keep you.

So as much as the decision sucked for the runners who traveled and were looking forward to the race, ultimately, the directors made the right call for the good of the group – the runners, volunteers, spectators and the local hospital system not getting overwhelmed. That’s not to say the runners aren’t allowed to feel as they do or be critical of that decision, but acting like they were the only ones affected and “it would have been fine” is myopic and ultimately, arrogant.

So to my runners and people gearing up for a fall race: run free, run for life and joy or whatever your motivation is. Train hard and accept that sometimes life happens. Don’t forget about your fellow runners, and do keep an eye out come race day in case someone is struggling and might need medical help or that extra gel chew you’re not going to eat after all. There’s been a big push in the running world to be more considerate and inclusive of all, and let’s prove consideration isn’t just lip service.

In simpler terms, don’t be an arrogant dick.

With that all being said, I hope you all have a happy day ahead.

Yours in running and life,

Allison