Life from the real world

OK, I’ll bite. The article from Mr. Carpenter in the December Long Run was written to create either a response for his own humor, or it was the babbling of a classic underachiever. I would like to try to address both points.

I have run the Pikes Peak ascent 7 times in different weather and physical conditions. Not once, Matt, did I feel unsatisfied or unfulfilled. Nor did I ever think there were other runners out there that thought I was half a runner — until now.

Fine! Let’s put the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon into perspective and place it in the category it belongs — a gimmick run with other runs like Mt. Everest, Mt. Washington, Fila Skyhigh, were you slide down a snow bank on your rear to go faster than your competitors. Could I win any of these races? No, but let’s look at the whole picture and see if that really matters.

Like me, a lot of runners who participate in such events, do so for the challenge and enjoyment, knowing we won’t win. In the real world, with a family of 5 and both parents working 40-60 hours each per week, it’s not always such a simple thing to dump the kids off on your spouse to run off on your 2 hour work-out each day. I guess it’s having more to life than just running or training for that type of race so as to do well and not just finish. Yes, that is my choice.

In the last paragraph of your article you made the accusation that some people might not have the courage to run back down the mountain. Matt, overcoming my fear is standing in subzero weather, soaking wet, waiting to get in a van whose driver is possessed by the maniac sprint of a NYC taxi driver and your destination is Devils’ Playground! Running downhill pales in comparison. Speaking of NYC, the big boys, by the worlds standards toe the line in places like NYC, Boston, Atlanta, Boulder, not just gimmick runs. Without that level of competition, it would be half of a career to them. It seems to me that a gimmick runner would avoid races he can’t win.

I guess for some people it would b like the Kansas State Checker champion going up against Garry Kasparov. You would learn to stay away from people from Russia, or as a runner, Kenya, Mexico, South America and instead, criticize normal, hard working people who run to what ever level they choose.

But Matt, there is a way to overcome your frustrations with yourself and others. The Olympic trials are coming again and if you qualify this time, you’ll be halfway to the Olympics! As far as my running goes, I guess I would rather run up Pikes Peak, have a full life being half a runner, not judging those around me instead of the opposite. I’m glad that Colorado Springs and the PPRR can accept every level of runner — from the Nielson Challenge to the Leadville 100 runners — as complete runners.

In closing, I hope you don’t fall into the category that the Dutch philosopher, Benedict Spinoza, wrote about, “It may easily come to pass that a vain man may become proud and imagine himself pleasing to all when he is in reality a universal nuisance.”

Grant E. Kennedy

Member, PPRR

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