I admit it — I read Runner’s World. (I’m still a walker, but since there is no WALK! Magazine anymore…)

Today I read an article by one of the columnists about his running his first half marathon. It was a nice story. But at the end of the article he admitted to taking three extra bagels for his kids.

My immediate reaction was anger.

OK, this guy had never run a half marathon before. Newbies make mistakes. I tried to let it go.

But then I thought about all of the races I’ve entered where there was not enough food for me or my friends at the finish. I remembered the half marathon runner who walked away from one race carrying 12 doughnuts without blinking an eye or thinking about the full marathoners behind him. I thought about the guy who carried sandwiches to his kids (who did not race) when I didn’t get one sandwich. I remembered my friend Deb nearly collapsing at the end of a race that was unusally hot and there was no water or food for us. (She sat on the curb about to pass out, then we went to Wendy’s.)

This article appeared in Runner’s World! I have the impression that most of their writers are pretty fast runners, maybe they don’t know what it is like in the back. I had to say something.

So, I sent an email to the magazine. I congratulated the columnist on his finish, then suggested that RW not encourage people to take more food than they need, there are plenty of people who are a lot slower than a 2-hour half marathon, and they would like a bagel, too. (I hate to admit this, but I even made a grammatical error in the note! Ugh!)

I just sent the email earlier today and have not heard back from the magazine. (I’ve edited magazines. With the amount of email RW gets, I know I might not hear back.)

When I posted my thoughts about the article on the WALK Facebook page, I was a little surprised at the number of walkers who read the article and had the same reaction. If a bunch of walkers felt that way, I wonder how the huge number of runners who are slower than 2 hours who all read RW feel about it.

I’ll let you know if I receive a response.

(If you listened to my recent podcast, you know Deb and I are obsessed with bagels.)

 

 

(815)