causing a stir
I've never been one to shy away from saying what's on my mind...especially when it comes to something that really bugs, bothers, or pisses me off. I'd like to say I am a passionate, sometimes intense, person...others may consider me just flat out obnoxious. Call it what you will.
One of the many things I am passionate about is running. I love to run and look at it as not only a means of healthy competition, mainly with myself, but also as a form of mental and physical therapy. I just love it. I ran my first marathon in January of 2003 and since then have completed 3 1/2 marathons and many various 10k's and 5-mile races. You might say I've grown into a running fanatic.
This past Friday I ran in Media's 5-Miler - one of my favorite races to participate in because of the festive atmosphere that surrounds the event and the distance is a perfect medium - not too short, but just long enough to have to put some semi-serious training into it. The route I run about 4-5 days a week is exactly 5 miles, so the training was convenient for me. And train I did. In no way was I going to come close to winning, or even placing for that matter, but I really looked forward to impressing myself with a descent time.
Well, long story short, the race was a huge disappointment in many ways. For starters, instead of experiencing the thrill of crossing the finish line, you were stopped a few hundred yards just before and made to line up, single-file, to record your time - all the while, an official told you what your finish time was as you looked at him like he had 3-heads...totally confused with what was going on. How anti-climatic. And, to make matters worse, once you went through the 10 minute line to finally record your finish time and race number, it took you yet another 10 minutes to find water. Is it too much to ask for a sip or two of water after busting your ass for 40 minutes?
humph.
So, come Tuesday I logged onto the race website only to find that they logged my time incorrectly by 2 minutes (that is a biiiiiig difference in the mind of a runner). Well, that blew my top off. I was offended and felt someone needed to know about it. (I know...uh oh...) I composed a letter to Media Recreation venting my disappointment, with the tone of trying to 'help them make next year's race hopefully that much better'. I wanted them to know that, while I was aware it was not The Boston Marathon or some big qualifying race, I, along with every other participant, trained very hard for that race and deserved the respect of logging my time correctly. I went on to explain my discontentment with how the race was concluded and hoped that next year they would consider using race chips to officially log racers' times, as I would be happy to pay extra to avoid the frustration I experienced this year.
I can only imagine what the recipient of that e-mail said after reading it. But, although I feel like a grouchy old broad just looking to complain, I actually feel much better having gotten that off my chest. I don't think I could have slept comfortably with not saying anything...the lucky person who read my e-mail may not have quite the same sentiment.
One of the many things I am passionate about is running. I love to run and look at it as not only a means of healthy competition, mainly with myself, but also as a form of mental and physical therapy. I just love it. I ran my first marathon in January of 2003 and since then have completed 3 1/2 marathons and many various 10k's and 5-mile races. You might say I've grown into a running fanatic.
This past Friday I ran in Media's 5-Miler - one of my favorite races to participate in because of the festive atmosphere that surrounds the event and the distance is a perfect medium - not too short, but just long enough to have to put some semi-serious training into it. The route I run about 4-5 days a week is exactly 5 miles, so the training was convenient for me. And train I did. In no way was I going to come close to winning, or even placing for that matter, but I really looked forward to impressing myself with a descent time.
Well, long story short, the race was a huge disappointment in many ways. For starters, instead of experiencing the thrill of crossing the finish line, you were stopped a few hundred yards just before and made to line up, single-file, to record your time - all the while, an official told you what your finish time was as you looked at him like he had 3-heads...totally confused with what was going on. How anti-climatic. And, to make matters worse, once you went through the 10 minute line to finally record your finish time and race number, it took you yet another 10 minutes to find water. Is it too much to ask for a sip or two of water after busting your ass for 40 minutes?
humph.
So, come Tuesday I logged onto the race website only to find that they logged my time incorrectly by 2 minutes (that is a biiiiiig difference in the mind of a runner). Well, that blew my top off. I was offended and felt someone needed to know about it. (I know...uh oh...) I composed a letter to Media Recreation venting my disappointment, with the tone of trying to 'help them make next year's race hopefully that much better'. I wanted them to know that, while I was aware it was not The Boston Marathon or some big qualifying race, I, along with every other participant, trained very hard for that race and deserved the respect of logging my time correctly. I went on to explain my discontentment with how the race was concluded and hoped that next year they would consider using race chips to officially log racers' times, as I would be happy to pay extra to avoid the frustration I experienced this year.
I can only imagine what the recipient of that e-mail said after reading it. But, although I feel like a grouchy old broad just looking to complain, I actually feel much better having gotten that off my chest. I don't think I could have slept comfortably with not saying anything...the lucky person who read my e-mail may not have quite the same sentiment.
posted by GoodTimes at 2:23 PM
1 Comments:
Well, regardless of how they might take it, I think you are certainly not the only one to feel that way.
And, I would like to say how terrific you did, even if it was a disappointment for you and your goals. I am always in awe of your determination, ability and love of running. 3 things I will never possess when it comes to running.
Great job!!!
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