The Penguin Chronicles

June 1, 2011

HAPPY NATIONAL RUNNING DAY!
That’s right. In case you missed it this is National Running Day. I had no idea until I got a call from a journalist who wanted to know my thoughts on – well – National Running Day.

Before you get too excited about running having come into the national conscience, let me remind you of a few other days.

January 13 is … National Blame Someone Else Day
January 14 is … National Dress Up Your Pet Day
January 19 is … National Popcorn Day
January 20 is … National Buttercrunch Day
January 21 is … National Hugging Day
January 22 is … National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day
January 23 is … National Measure Your Feet Day
January 24 is … National Eskimo Pie Patent Day
January 25 is … National Opposite Day

And that’s just a few of the days in January!

But, it’s still cool that there is a National Running Day. I’m not sure I understand exactly what we’re supposed to do today. I mean, it seems pretty clear what you’re supposed to do on National Dress Up Your Pet Day. I guess we’re supposed to run. Or walk. Or walk-run. Or run-walk. And, I guess we’re supposed to do it in public and make a big deal of it. Well, I probably won’t be doing that. I don’t care if anyone else does, but I won’t.

Running has always been a deeply private part of my life. It’s not that I haven’t run with small groups and in large events. I have. But, for the most part running has been my time to be with myself, by myself. It’s my time to reflect, to remember, to forget, to figure out, to just plain wonder about things. Running also been my time to undo the damage – physical, emotional, and spiritual – that I’d done to myself.  Even now, with 20 years of running behind me, I still find scraps of memories – good and bad – stuck in corners of my mind that I thought I had cleaned out long ago.

So while I’m happy that there’s a National Running Day, for me every day is a running day. And some of the most important running days have been the very days when I haven’t run.

Waddle on, friends.

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start,No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Order your EARLY copy of John’s NEW book  An Accidental Athlete  today.

Have a question for John? Write him.

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John “The Penguin” Bingham.

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I know this is Monday, or at least it’s Monday as I write this. Moving ahead I’m going to try to blog every Wednesday morning. The Summer/Fall/Winter event season is upon me and once it starts I’ll be traveling Thursday through Monday nearly every week until Christmas. So, think “Tuesdays with Morrie”, but “Wednesdays with the Penguin”.

And, as I said last week, I’m relatively new at this personal blogging. Jenny [jennyhadfield.com] has been a successful blogger for years, on RunnersWorld.com and other sites. She seems to be designed for the digital medium. She’s learned how to distill ideas into their essence. It’s quite a talent. I, on the other hand, tend to be a story-teller and my thoughts – like now – can sometimes wander like a child chasing butterflies. But I’m trying.

In the words of the Buffalo Springfield song, “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear “. With the ascent of American runners into the top echelon, the growth of the destination events, especially the half marathon, and the shift in the running demographics from nearly all men to – in some events – upwards of 70% women, there’s something happening here. I can’t put my finger on it yet, but it’s there.

In 1997 I met with the then president of a major running apparel company. I explained to him that there was a new running boom on the horizon, that they were a bit older, a bit slower, and that a whole lot of them were female. He told me straight out that I was wrong. Most people, and especially women he opined, would try running for a little while and then retreat to their basements and living rooms with their Jane Fonda videos. His company has since gone out of business.

When I was writing as the advocate – and almost the only advocate – of the second running boom I was viewed by many as a carrier of the disease of mediocrity that was trying to infect their beloved sport. What they didn’t understand was that I was fueled by their ridicule. I was right. I knew I was right. And they weren’t going to scare me off.

These days, though, I have stopped shouting. I have stopped waving my editorial sword at race directors, sponsors, and running specialty manufacturers. Most, not all, but most get it now. The battle for acceptance is over. We’ve won.

It’s a good feeling, but it is a different feeling. The baton has been passed to a generation of runners and walkers who will never know what it’s like to finish a marathon in 5 hours and be DEAD last. All I ask of those who carry the baton forward is to remember that a lot of very good people made this possible.

Waddle on,

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