We are all grown men and women, correct? We all SHOULD know right from wrong, correct? I’m pretty sure I graduated high school 14 years ago (okay that makes me feel REALLY old). But this week there has been some major drama in the running community that I wanted to address and speak my opinions on. I apologize in advice for the length of this post (maybe it makes up for my mini-hiatus?)
First off, let’s start with the “Bandit” or “Rogue Runner” of the Georgia Publix half marathon that occurred this past Sunday…a race that I, too, ran…a race that I, too, took selfies during…but also a race that I paid for! The “Rogue Runner” (who I don’t even want to link you to after finding out she gets paid for the hits on her blog) copied the idea from the woman who ran the NYC half marathon a couple of weeks back and took selfies with hot guys during the race and posted them to Instagram.
The “Rogue Runner” claimed to have “attempted” to find a bib (someone later saw on her Facebook page that she asked if anyone wanted to GIVE her a bib) and after seeing how much registration was at the expo, she stated, and I quote - “So, being the rule breaker I am, I ran it anyway. Spend $100+ to run 13 miles? No thanks–I’ll save that Benjamin for booze and brunch afterward” (she later edited her blog post to remove this comment, but as a fellow runner and blogger found, Google cache does not forget).
And her selfies and captions were neither cute nor witty - Poking fun at a runner’s facial expression behind her, making fun of a “rent-a-cop” on the course, saying a guy almost raped her arm with his (rape jokes are not funny by the way), as well as a picture of her with an orange that was meant for runners who actually paid to run this race. I have no idea whether or not she took a medal, but regardless, what she did was WRONG.
My entry fee went toward a variety of things – the permits to close the course and the police officers there for our safety, the on course refreshments – having someone reap the benefits without paying for an entry fee is, in my opinion, stealing. Also, her being able to “sneak” into a corral without a bib number raises my eyebrow for security reasons. If anyone can get into a corral and run 13.1 miles without a bib (still clueless as to how no one caught that) whose to say they don’t have harmful intentions???
She later posted a note at the bottom of her post once she saw all of the negative comments she had received -
*And to all the runners who have too much time on their hands and posted ridiculous hate comments below: A) Thanks for the page views. B) Please note I tried up until the night before to get a number. I didn’t even know if I would even finish the race–I just wanted to go out there, run on PUBLIC ROADS, show off our beautiful, amazing city, and make an entertaining blog post that was actually enjoyed by quite a few people who ran the race. And C) I’ve run this race two other times and paid for it and I plan to again. If you’re losing sleep over this, tell me where to send the check. I’ll take a selfie with it. LYLAS.
Why are people that call you out “haters”? My argument to this would be that you obviously did not try hard enough as registration was open at the expo. Also, although they may be public roads, they were closed for race participants…I saw plenty of runners who were not participating running on the sidewalks in many of the same areas as us, so I’m not sure why she thought she couldn’t do that as well. And it doesn’t matter if you paid to run this particular race for the past 2 years…you didn’t pay for it this year! I definitely haven’t lost any sleep over it, but maybe she could send that check to the race organizers.
I could go on and on about this, but a local running company, Big Peach Running Company, posted the following picture which I think sums it up perfectly -
Also, be sure to check out Mark Remy’s epic article I Stole Stuff From A Running Store. I hope she enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame ::eye roll::
Now onto today’s topic of conversation -
I have been an on again, off again subscriber to SELF magazine for years, but after the stunt they pulled on a fellow runner, I will be off again very soon. Monika of Glam Runners was contacted by the magazine and asked if they could use a picture of her and her friend wearing tutus during the LA marathon a couple of weeks ago. What they failed to tell her what the context in which they intended to use the picture -
How in the hell is a women’s magazine going to make fun of what someone chooses to wear during a race?? Isn’t the purpose of SELF to encourage women to get out there and be active? And, the icing on the cake, was the reason why Monika and her friend, Taramae, chose this as their race day outfit – this was Monika’s first full marathon since she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She ran the LA marathon smack dab in the middle of chemotherapy! She is truly a Wonder Woman in my eyes, as are all of the other amazing people I know who are doing this same thing. Why is it someone else’s place to say what’s “legit” and what’s “lame” to wear for a race? While I have never run in a tutu myself, I have run in other sparkly skirts and have many friends who have rocked a tutu. I would hate to hear what they would have to say if they ever attended a runDisney race…
And I find the apology posted to SELF’s Facebook page to be too little, too late -
REALLY??? You claim this was done “inadvertently”?? You knew damn well what you were going to do with that photo when you asked for permission to use it, yet failed to let Monika know because you KNEW the answer would have been “no”. If I were her I would not take them up on the offer to cover her in a future issue, but that’s just me :)
With that being said, I will end my rant here and say that I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. I apologize for my hiatus – I feel like I needed to take a break from the blog for awhile, but I have a few things in the works and am planning to be back next week!
What are your thoughts on both of these situations?
Until next time,
Cheers! (Thanks Jen for the photo)
