Fast Running Blog

I think it is completely unfair that some people can run faster than me and that the government should intervene and “tax” any runners who beat me to the finish line.  It isn't fair that they should be able to run faster than me just because they train harder, have a better diet, or have more desire to win than I do.  Aren't we all created equal?  Shouldn't everyone be able to run just as fast as everybody else?  Shouldn't we take some of the speed from the fast runners and give it to the slower runners?  I think someone like Sasha should be penalized the most because he has been able to go out and train and get faster while I've been “less fortunate” because I have wanted to watch TV and not train in the freezing cold.  Sasha is just lucky.  That is why he runs fast!

This reads suspicously like an annoying email I got recently.  Probably just a coincidence.   ;)

Uh, I didn't send out any "annoying emails" to anybody.  I have no idea why you would say that!  Is that your way of creating a straw-man argument against my last post? lol

My apologies.  What you're implying is completely reasonable.  Carry on.

Regards,
Comparing Apples to Oranges  ;D

What you're suggesting doesn't sound feasible. I think instead they should take the prize winnings from fast people like Sasha and spread it among all the runners, especially walkers. That'll teach Sasha not to run so fast.

Ok, I can see where I'm making an unrealistic "apples to oranges" comparison.  My energy would be better spent demanding that the government force the NBA and NFL to allow short, skinny, white runners like me to play and make the big bucks!  :)

I don't know about you but if the sinister federal government made me pay 3% more, on the margin, for every dollar I win above 250k then I would refuse to run fast.  Why bother?  Its just gonna go to welfare queens, lazy people and frivolous things like roads, hospitals and schools.  I'd run just fast enough so that I didn't fall in the upper bracket of finishers.  This is science.

I believe that what Ben is saying is the basis of socialism ...  :o

3% Naw. I think 40% or more would be way better.  Sorta like the taxes I'm paying right now.  We need to make sure the government has as much of our money as we can give them because they do SUCH a great job of running things efficiently.  Everybody knows that kids that come from private schools aren't nearly as educated as those who come out of public schools..... and our roads and hospitals are flawlesslessly run by the omniscient government.

Steve:

They already do that with raffles. That works to a point -  keeps me from coming to some races, but I am only that smart. I still train and still race for some reason.

Sasha,

I can't say I feel quite the same way as you on all things related to running and prize money, but I definitely agree on raffle prizes. It is such a bizarre practice to me.

Though I will admit that I usually stick around and try to get one if I can, because I am on a tight budget. But I would have rather paid a smaller entry fee.

By the way, I would imagine there's some intangible rewards you also find in training and racing that keep you going?

-Steve

This is brilliant. LOL. Next, please explain how running is really just a deep-seated plot to euthanize the elderly.  ;D

Another straw man argument, eh?  I'm disappointed.  :(  Of course, runner who put on a lot of miles do start to resemble straw men.... perhaps that's the source of your confusion. lol

I'm not advocating anything, its your thread.  I'm just admiring your brilliant deductive skills and thought you could apply them in another context.  C'mon man, step it up!  I'm sure that if you twisted your analogy a bit further you could make it fit.   ;D

Steve:

Yes, there is an intangible reward. Which I can get in a time trial. I find the raffles that reward random luck above performance offensive. So do my children. I asked my 10 year old son Benjamin - how would you feel if you ran 19:59 5 K, got a ribbon for winning your age division, and a prize worth $100 in the raffle? His answer - "I would wonder why I just did not jog it at 8:00 pace".  I could not have put it better myself - this is exactly how I feel. Even if I end up winning something valuable in the raffle myself. That actually makes it worse! It insults my training effort, it insults laying everything on the line in the race. It tells me I am an idiot for doing my very honest best. The message I get - we do not care how hard you train, we do not care how hard you race. We just want you there to help us pay for the party.

I understand when a race director gives nothing for an good performance because he honestly has nothing to give. But when there are a lot of valuable raffle prizes, he does have something to give. Thus a failure to give now begins to reveal an attitude. Which I find too much to bear. Because I see a high intrinsic value of running better I find it too much to bear to witness a large group of people completely miss the boat. Thus I'd rather run a time trial than a race with this kind of raffle.

Sasha - I still enjoy the headband I won at the TOU Half raffle last year...with your number. I ran slow and placed poorly too, with little training. It was great. My goal this year is to win the treadmill. I can double my chances if you give me your bib number again.

Except I am not running it this year.

Sigh. Then I blame you for my lack of success in raffle drawings.

Sasha's point exemplifies what I am talking about.  Rather than focus on what is important (better running performance), many race directors choose to deflect the obvious into a cesspool of what makes people “feel good.”

I started out this thread with an analogy that explains why running is such a beautiful sport at its core.  The individual is responsible for their results.  No short cuts, no B.S.  You reap what you sow.  We live in a society today where people don't want to pay the price for success, but would rather focus on “raffle tickets” instead of running performance.  This makes it so that runners who don't pay the price for fast running times can still feel good about themselves... regardless of the fact that everybody ran the race to cover the distance or get the best time possible.  I alluded earlier to how this mentality has infiltrated most of our society.  People like Neil confuse themselves by not realizing that ultimately we are all responsible for what we reap, and not somebody else.  The government can't run the marathon for me, just like the government can't make better decisions for my life than I can.  People who think like this are unwilling to address things head on because they occupy themselves with things that distract them so they don't have to deal with harsh realities.  This is similar to me focusing on bench pressing more so I don't feel bad about my poor running performance.  Perhaps benching more is a good thing, but it doesn't make me a faster runner.

I don't run for the money, but if I do happen to win something I really don't want the government to come and take my money away and give it to slower runners. I don't mind paying my entry fee for the road I ran on, my police protection and the gatorage at the aid stations. However, should I have to pay more for the raod, police etc just because I ran faster and won a prize? I didn't use the road any more than the slow guy.

Here, here!!! Those slowpokes should just pull themselves up by their own shoelaces.  The FRB is the Fox News of running blogs.  ;D

The government does tax the fastest runners, because the fastest runners get prizes, and those prizes are subject to income tax.  But there is a tax break (itemized deduction for medical expenses greater than 7%) for couch potatoes who do not run and need a triple bypass or other expensive medical care due to their poor health.  So that is a redistribution of wealth from the fastest to the slowest, in a way.  Kind of makes you want to eat a bacon burger, doesn't it :)   

More thoughts. As many of you know I grew up in the Soviet Union. I am old enough and do have good enough of a teenage memory to remember some things about the system. I remember Brezhnev speaking on TV for hours when I wanted to watch a soccer or hockey game.  I remember being taught that American population consisted of drug addicts, homeless, unemployed, prostitutes, and very rich people. I remember waiting in line to buy food and wishing that the store would be positioned in such a way that you had to walk or run a mile to get to it so that I could outrun everybody and not have to wait in line. I remember being very excited when I saw the speedometer of a bus go over 80 km/h ( that is only 50 mph) for the first time. I remember wanting to puke when I had to summarize Lenin's writings for a Soviet history class twice a week for the whole semester. I believe I do know something about socialism.

What I learned from the experience:

a)  In a system that fails to reward performance (Everyone is a winner!) about 5-10% perform anyway because doing well is deeply part of their nature. They try as hard as they would had they been rewarded properly. They may not have the opportunity to truly reach their potential due to the lack of support, but they do a good job of getting around it.

b) The remaining 90-95% sit on their bums, do the minimum required to get through the day, and laugh at the 5-10% that are honestly trying.

c) Once in a while somebody in the "honestly trying" group gets tired of being laughed at and joins the laughing group. But the laughing group does not have anywhere near the same level of desertion.

Now here is something that many people might have missed. The reason United States did so much better than the Soviet Union did not come from the differences in the "honestly trying" group. The Soviets "honestly trying" did OK - any task that did not take a whole lot of people (relatively speaking) to do they did well - space research, scientific breakthroughs, music, dance, sports, etc. Where the difference came out is how motivated your average Joe was.  Any time you depended on the average Joe to do a good job, it did not happen for the Soviets. Thus you had food shortages, antiquated machinery, dysfunctional medical equipment, etc.

Note that "the average Joe" here does not necessarily fail in the area of talent. He might do quite well on talent. Where he fails is that he does not have the gumption to do his honest best when nobody cares if he does. Now we might be tempted to call that Joe a loser, give him motivational talks, tell him he needs to do better, etc, but the reality is that 95% of the people will not do their best "for intrinsic rewards" when we time and again communicate to them that we absolutely do not care if they do.  When we implement the Soviet system of rewards in 99% of our road races, is it a surprise that we get Soviet quality results 99% of the time?

Sasha, thanks for sharing your experiences.  I found your posting very powerful and insightful.  Most Americans have no clue that what you're talking about is very real.  We are too dumbed down by our distractive media to ponder such things while we get sold further and further down the river.

Why do I love running?  It's freedom.  It's rebellion.  It's addictive. It's a great way to "stick it to the man".  It keeps me healthy and out of trouble.  When I am on the road, I am the master of my destiny because I control how fast I go... where I go... and how I go!  Bikers only get a fraction of what runners get on the road 'cuz they don't get the real high, baby!  Hard training helps me erode all the crap from my life and have a clearer perspective on what is essential and what is not!