A true anything?

[kate_spencer]

I feel like a fraud when I sign up for runs.

I'll train and be excited for whatever 5k or in this case half marathon I've decided to do and then race day I'll show up and look around at the 'real' runners and feel like I shouldn't be there.

I haven't trained enough, I'm not thin enough, they can tell this isn't my thing.

But I keep doing it. Kept,

Comments

[penpusher]

If there is a criteria for "true runner" then probably only the Kenyans and Ethiopians would qualify! So, I would say it's time to change the vocabulary. You ARE a true runner, and there's no doubt about that. If you enter a race, and you compete, that's the only definition you need... and if you complete it, then nobody can doubt it.

It's amazing that you are out there doing this, and really, this isn't for anyone who is looking, or who might be judging. It's for you! And most of the time the stuff you think people are thinking is a lot worse than what it actually is. So consider this one more round of applause for making it across the finish line! And consider it one more remembrance for all the souls lost in that horrible bombing.

[eternal_ot]

Cheers to your spirit! Kudos!

[halfshellvenus]

There are true professional/advanced-amateur atheletes, but the rest of us... showing up and doing the work also makes us runners. You trained, you were there, you finished!

All that aside, this vignette into the sad history of the Oklahoma City bombing, and the people honored and remembered, was really nice. The final lines here were golden.

[beeker121]

Neon running shoes are the mark of a true runner, they look too silly on everyone else.

Congratulations on your finish, especially with things like the weather working against you and all of that emotion.

[jem0000000]

*hugs*