What dragged me to this very persistent issue?
I ran one morning while I was in Tacloban City. A young man approached me and asked if I’m a runner. I said yes. He said he also wants to run but does not have the money to do so. I said, he does not need so much money, just enough for a good, proper running shoes. He said buying shoes is not his problem but joining races. He’s studying in Manila and been wanting to join races but could not because of lack of money. I felt sad and that got me thinking.
While running, I reflected on the issue and I’m sharing some of my thoughts now. I am not saying I am right and my assumptions are accurate nor am I trying to blame anyone or pretend that I know so much about this topic. This is just thinking aloud as a frequent participant in different races, for whatever it’s worth. You’re very free to refute any of my statement or junk this post altogether. At the very least, what I hope to offer is an alternative thought or idea that runners and organizers might consider – taking or throwing away ;) Click here to read more, the rundown
About Runvocate:
"I am a runner and an advocate. I started running in August 2009 and in the anti corruption advocacy in 2001. These are two things that I am very passionate about. The runvocate blog will be a witness of how they shape me as they coincide and complement each other. There are countless times when running has been my escape from the challenges of being an advocate and how I ran to the advocacy to give more meaning to running."
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COMMENTS FROM THE INBOX:
ReplyDelete1. The purpose of the event should be stated clearly: TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY
FOR EVERYONE, AND I MEAN EVERYONE, TO PARTICIPATE IN A FUN-FILLED EVENT FOR
HEALTH AND WELLNESS, AND TO EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF LIVING, WHAT JFK CITED
AS "THE VIGOROUS LIFE."
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete2. Refrain from offering big cash prizes as this will attract the Kenyans and elite runners who make a living out of racing. I would not want to organize a race just for the benefit of elite foreign and local runners and
ReplyDeletesee them romping off with thousands of prize money while 99.99% of the participants are treated like nobodies. Why, for heaven's sake, don't race organizers just put events where everybody can just run and have fun? And if
we have that much money to give away, why not give the first 100 placers, or even the first 500 placers, some of the money. And while we are at this prize money, I still don't understand why male winners get more money than
their female counterparts. SO THE QUESTION IS, WILL YOUR MARATHON EVENT BE LESS PRESTIGIOUS, MEANINGFUL, OR SIGNIFICANT IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY KENYAN ELITE RUNNER PARTICIPATING?
3. Runners are classified as SERIOUS and FUN. I don't see any sense in this dichotomy of characters. From what I understand, the former are obsessed with their PBs, while the latter hardly care. I belong to the latter. I have ran over a dozen marathons, helped hundreds run their first marathon, I am among the pioneer Filipino race organizers and up to this day, while I am still organizing running events, I don't remember the times I have had for the various races I participated in--and I didn't care. What I remember is the FUN I had in all of them(including the agony of hitting the wall twice). And the healthy life that I am now enjoying because of them.
ReplyDeleteIf we time races the old way, the way we used to do it, disparagingly referred to by many current race organizers as "mano mano" and still come up with a decent monitoring and determination of personal records, then there would be NO DEMAND from anybody for race organizers to provide the expensive timing system. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not against the use of timing chips and the newer technology, but IF RUNNERS, SERIOUS OR FUN, WHATEVER,*ARE WILLING* TO TAKE PART IN RACES CONDUCTED WITHOUT BIG PRIZE MONEY AND WITHOUT THE EXPENSIVE TIMING CHIPS, then, let's have these events. It breaks my heart when I meet people in the provinces wanting to organize races for fun and advocacy but are discouraged and daunted when confronted with what appears to the "norm"--big prize money and expensive timing system. And elite foreign runners..