Posted by Jon Adams on December 11, 2008 at 15:36:42:
In Reply to: Do you have running/racing goals?? posted by Jon Adams on December 11, 2008 at 12:12:13:
....Sorry, I was interrupted and just wanted to try and finish up my original "thought"....now where was I?
Oh yes, different runners....different reasons. My comments above pertaining to runners with "abstract" goals is actually in reference to those who run primarily for the competition. The other end of the spectrum, those who run for the sheer "pleasure" of running....those are the ones I envy just a bit. Don't get me wrong, I do get pleasure out of my running but that pleasure is directly derived from the aspect of competition in running. At times I wish I was more the other way. I was reminded of this just the other day as I found myself re-reading a story on past Boston Marathon Champions. Case in point is the first female to run the Boston Marathon....Roberta Louise Gibb. Katherine Switzer was the first female to run Boston as a "registered" runner, but "Bobbi" was the FIRST female to run the race albeit as a bandit.
"Bobbi Gibb was not a competitor. Bobbi Gibb was an artist. When she ran she felt connected with everything. She felt an awe and sheer joy in being."
....."she saw in the stream of runners a stream of consciousness, not a race, not a competition. She slipped into the stream to join that consciousness."
There are times when I wish I was more like Bobbi, but I'm simply not wired that way.
So in which camp do you fall?