No Negativity Allowed

I have to tell you, I’ve been disappointed by the healthy living/running community lately.

One of the things that upset me was an article by SELF Magazine that made fun of a woman running in a tutu. Now, it didn’t help that this woman is a cancer survivor. But the latter is not relevant.

The other was an article by a woman who I shall not name, who pretty much ran a half-marathon without paying, then proceeded to not only use the race’s resources, but took a medal at the end.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I think this really sucks!

SELF magazine is supposed to be a publication that focuses on health, fitness, and nutrition. So someone please explain to me why the hell they would be making fun of someone who is out on the road, running a race, even if she was wearing a tutu? This woman could have taken the low road moping around, displaying a “woe is me” attitude (hell, that’s what I did when I was diagnosed with Stage 1 Ovarian cancer in 1998). Instead, she is out there raising funds, increasing awareness, and making her health a priority.

Someone at SELF Magazine needs to get fired. They simply just don’t get it.

This second story isn’t as big, but still irked the crap out of me.

A woman in NY decided to run the NYC Half-Marathon while taking selfies with “hot guys”. Okay. Then another woman (whose blog I refuse to publicize here) decided to take that idea and go a little further with it. She chose to run a half-marathon and take 20 allegedly “funny” selfies. Problem here? One, she stole someone elses idea.  Two, she didn’t register (or pay) for the race. Three, even so she still took advantage of the race’s resources and grabbed a medal at the end. Uh…excuse me.

In addition, she made fun of not only other runners (including making a stupid rape joke), but also of the police officers working the event. *side eye*

Now, I don’t agree with the comments that insulted the woman’s looks or character. Lowering the running community to a level like that is ugly, to say the least. Yes, what she did was not the right thing to do, but let’s keep in respectful, ya know.

What angered me even more was a comment by one of this woman’s supporter, which basically stated that the only people complaining were those who run over 10-minute miles. Uh, what?

I don’t understand why people in running/health communities cannot just simply support each other. Yes, I ran a race with a 9:38 pace, but generally, my races are finished in the 10:20-10:40 pace on average. So what? Why would someone’s pace matter here?

I do not like negativity. I believe in keeping a positive outlook and doing my best to help others. If someone is running a 12-minute mile backward while wearing a yellow tutu, they should be given the same support as someone running a 7-minute mile. They may be slow, but they are doing their thang. Why would you want to bring that person down?

One runner carrying the other to the finish line after she collapsed.

I guess I just expect us to cheer each other on. I expect that we, as a community, would not bully, insult, cheat, or steal from each other. I expect that hard work, sweat, and yes, sometimes event tears, would bring us together.

Lately, not so much.