I've done a race or two in my time. I'm not, and never will be, a badass, hardcore, or (insert any compound word of your choice here) athlete, but I do enjoy a little friendly competition and working up a sweat. It seems that nowadays you can't open up Facebook or check your email without discovering another 5K. Mud races, benefits, corporate runs-you could easily sign up for a 5K almost every weekend of the year and accumulate a huge quantity of practically unwearable commemorative shirts (I feel like it's false advertising wearing my ING shirt when my time was beat by many sixty year olds). It can be a bit much, but I personally think-whatever it takes to get someone off their butt. Really. Whatever it takes to motivate or inspire or guilt (guilt works great!) someone into finally deciding to play an active role in their own health, I'm all for.
This is why I love the new proliferation of fun runs, as I call them. I just made that up right now. I'm signed up for
The Color Run and
The Glow Run happening later this year. For The Color Run we already have a team of 15 (!) signed up. (Team Colorin Colorado!) These are NOT serious, timed, competitive races-these are all about having fun with like-minded people who don't mind going outside in daylight hours, getting a little sweaty, and getting a lot silly. I'm sure for some people going it is their first race, and that's a beautiful thing, seriously. No doubt some people scoff at these races, but I'm sure a lot of people will be sleeping in that day and not doing anything more strenuous than lifting the remote and ordering a pizza. Like that meme going around says, "You are lapping everyone on the couch".
