“They are all the same” – a humorous look at runners.

One of the quickest ways of destroying your reputation on social media or is to pick on a group of people and generalize them with the following statement, “They are all the same”. So, with that in mind, here is a blog entitled, “They are all the same”. Hopefully, though, this will bring a smile and maybe a bit of motivation.

I have met cyclists and swimmers with widely varying personalities, however, there are some similarities with runners that are just impossible to ignore.

So, here we go:

1. Put four people in a car. How do you tell who the runner is?  Watch what happens as the car passes a runner.  The runner will crane his/her neck around while staring at the runner. They will also have a look of longing in their eyes.
2. Runners get injured from time to time and they know how to sulk. You’ve heard of man flu, right? An injured runner is far more miserable.
3. How do you spot a runner at work? Look out for the person who is about to climb the wall because they were not able to get their run in that morning. It might be that the weather made it impossible to run, or, that it’s a Monday and they have scheduled Monday as a rest day. Almost every runner I have ever met runs primarily to keep sane.
   
4. Invite a runner to a late dinner function and watch them panic. There is a good reason for their panic, they know that they hit “basket case mode” just after 8 p.m.
5. Runners are addicted to running. They get a shot of chemicals during the run. The chemicals, endorphins, and enkephalins make people happy. Runners will often wear a smile as they go through the day.
6. When runners think of their weekends, they don’t think about which restaurant or shopping center to visit, but rather, what distance and route should they tackle.
7. Runners have an inbuilt “tap map” in their minds. They need water and their routes will be based around available water.
8. Runners participate in the least racially biased sport in South Africa. I have said it before and will say it again, Comrades Marathon represents South Africa on its best day. There is something about running that makes one blind to differences in age, race, sex. This is true for the 4 million or so supporters that line the roads too.
9. Most runners have a slightly wild look in their eyes. They have an inbuilt need for adventure that can be satisfied on a day to day basis as they go for their run.
10. Most runners have an unusual love for coffee and chocolate.
11. I am indebted to one of our customers for this one – If you ever see a runner run 30m past their door, turn, and run the 30m back, please understand, their GPS watch is indicating that they have just run 9 940m and that they want need to round things up to 10k.
    

See you on the road soon,

Regards,

Mike Roscoe.