The Spenborough Athletics Club was
taken by storm (of discontent) by the running community on Facebook
and Twitter last Sunday, as Netty Edwards, one of the participants in
the Spen's annual 20-mile road race, was pulled off by a marshal only
1.5 miles in for 'running too slow'. At 12 minute mile pace, Netty
was actually doing fine for a 20-miler...or wasn't she?
Come to
think about it, I am no better than Netty. At 5:2'23'' my marathon
time qualifies me to be pulled off track for running too slow. And
I'm a 25-year old, and at at 5'4" I'm a healthy weight of
approx. 115 Ibs...(so much about me as a matter of introduction :) )
So I really look up to girls like Netty who need to go an extra mile
to compete at that pace!
Hold on a sec, so why am I going that
slow? And why the heck am I taking part in races, if I'll obviously
land at the bottom of the K20 list?
Well, there's more to running (and even
racing!) than just results.
Dear marshals of #Spen20, some of us
run for fun! Some of us run to test themselves. Some of us run to
face their inner demons.
Chasing a PB is not something I'm
interested in. I don't mind closing the list (or even the race,
although that hasn't happened yet), as long as I can enjoy the
atmosphere and meet like-minded people. Racing is fun, going to a
distant location and packing in those 13.1 or 23.6 miles is certainly
worth it. It shows me that, yes, #thisgirlcan.
I was a very outdoorsy kid (football,
swimming, skiing, ice-skating, hockey...you name it) but I neglected
sports a bit (well, a lot) at college and took a real beating at Uni
and my first job. Before I knew it, I began crumbling under pressure. I hadn't a clue sports plays such an important role in
maintaining not only physical, but also mental health. Until one
day...I just got out for a run. At first maybe with the intention of
shaping up a bit, but then my attitude to running gradually changed –
it became a substitute therapy for the pressure I couldn't quite cope
with that well earlier.
And as my mileage increased, I began to
cope better and better. I learnt to let things go and – when I was
stressed - take it out on the asphalt rather than myself.
Four years after I first started
running regularly, I decided to take part in my first marathon. At
that time I had no idea what a 'good' marathon pace was. No idea, in
fact, about running whatsoever.
But as I started taking more interest,
I realised there was a lot of pressure in that too...pressure I
wasn't happy to invite into my world now that I had successfully made
running my pressure-coping strategy!
I began to question whether – at an
average pace of 10 to 12 minute mile - I am a runner at all. But
after a few failed attempts at 'starting to train properly' I
stumbled (pun intended) upon a really good article
(http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-youre-sabotaging-your-own-life-without-knowing-it/)
and finally asked myself whether I really wanted to compete with
other runners and whether results were really so important to me. And
the answer to both was a clear and straightforward 'no'.
I have finished my marathon within an
unimpressive time of five hours and two halves at equally
unimpressive 2:26'. I still run regularly, whenever I need, at a pace
I find comfortable. And running is still something that helps me cope
with stress without stressing me out.
So - to all that doubt in themselves - if you run, you are a runner!
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