The Integrity of Running

I am just back home after one of those special runs! Every so often, I have one. But there are no predictors. This morning, I took off feeling good and continued to feel that way when I joined a neighbor for about a half mile as he finished his run while I continued mine. On I went afterwards for just a little over five miles. The result was a feeling of happiness that just bubbled from within, almost to the point of running with a smile at the end that wipes away any concerns otherwise. What a great way to start the day!

But what if I didn’t actually do my own running? Just last week, 60 Minutes did a story on yet another way that professional cyclists have been cheating. A small motor has been invented that fits in the bike hub. While running seems so basic and clean, I have some concern recently about amateur athletes finding ways around using training for best results.

I had a conversation with a running friend last week about one of the latest crazes. Some runners have become so desperate to run in the Boston Marathon that they work out a way to have another runner actually wear their race bib that results in the required qualifying time from another event. Sometimes, they just swap bibs and chips or in extreme cases, the faster runner is actually paid to do this.

Now that I have 38 years of running and will finally eclipse 80,000 running miles next month, I have seen a few dishonest things first hand. Every so often, an apparent winner of one of the world’s most famous races is found to have not completed the entire race course. The runner, hoping for a huge payday, jumped in somewhere along the course hoping to avoid detection. Most major races now video certain surprise checkpoints since a timing chip could be passed between runners.

Other things, such as lying about actual age or pre-arranging a route that cuts off part of the course have been used. The worst of this group is the runner who decides to participate or jump in a race and enjoy it without registering and paying the entry fee. It’s been said that the roads are free. Well then, go ahead and run that road some other time. Not when the police and volunteers are keeping the roads safe, and the reason for the event is to benefit a local charity. And don’t think about taking the refreshments the organizers got for participants. We call these folks “bandits,” because they are fine with stealing something. Never be a bandit! All of the things in this paragraph have happened in Salisbury in recent years but are extremely limited.

A still bigger concern is the use of an illegal performance enhancer. I remember racing against two particular guys years ago who just didn’t have the lean and wiry body type that was expected of successful distance runners. They were stockier and had bigger muscle development that seemed out of place, yet both had racing success at the shorter distances. There was a little talk about what they were using and how readily available it was. Now today, most of the major races have random drug testing afterward but honestly, the good guys struggle to stay ahead of the latest performance enhancers.

Sophocles said, “I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating.” If you race or if you simply run for its many rewards, make the successes be your own. And one of those rewards will occasionally be a run that feels so good that you could share the resulting happiness.

The next local Beginning Runners Class starts at Novant Health on Tuesday, March 14. The next race locally is the Love Thy Neighbor 5K/10K at Concordia Lutheran Church on March 18 and the UMW Missions 5K at City Park on Sunday, March 19. Check www.salisburyrowanrunners.org for more information.