February '06 RTN "Trophy Time" Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor:
I always look forward to my editions of Runner Triathlete News and Inside Texas Running, particularly the latter as it includes HARRA's Footprints.
As a developing runner who got off the couch three years ago and immersed myself in promoting and bringing attention to a sport that I now thrive on and from, I read Greg Lautenslager's article, "Trophy Time: Does Hardware Hamper Runners' Development," in the February 2006 edition of Runner Triathlete News (RTN) with a cringe on my face.
During that time, I have frequented the magazine's message board to see that Lautenslager is often a lightning rod for some of his opinions of the current state of the running world. Plus from having a very well-read blog that is more than just a documentation of my training and racing experiences, I realize the challenge in providing different content on a regular basis that brings readers back for information that they may not see in RTN, ITR or the local newspaper.
Perhaps the editors should have applied a warning label to this particular piece from Greg: "This article may not be suited for runners of all abilities."
The author's ability, talent, knowledge and experience is respected, well known, particularly well documented and sometimes more than well communicated by himself.
Although the intent of the article is well noted, it misses the finishing tape with a good portion of the RTN readership.
Greg's article begins as he talks about the pride he had in winning a race - and a trophy - at the age of 15. We learn that Greg's 33-year-old memory of the event sharpens his opinion of the sport's love affair with trophies, age group awards and finisher's medals.
"Trophies and medals no longer are as sought over in recent years, because it seems all you have to do to win one is cross the finish line. Many marathons budget for finishers' medals by including it into your entry fee. Do you really deserve a medal just for finishing a race?"
Most runners smart enough to fill out an entry form can distinguish between winning an event or their age-group as opposed to the concept of a finishers' medal. Would I run a marathon if I didn't get a finishers' medal? Sure. However, they are a nice recognition of the accomplishment.
I have 25 medals at home. Five of them represent my marathon finishes. They - plus the first one that I ever received for finishing an event (the 24-Hour Fitness 4-Miler at the 2003 Houston Marathon) - are the only ones that go up in a special space because they remind me of how far along I've come. If I complete my plan and start doing more marathons, the medals will take on a different meaning and I suspect that only special ones will occupy the space that the five do currently.
Greg goes on, "Is it fair for an undedicated slouch who turns a marathon into a six-hour tramp to receive the same award as someone who trains three hours a day and suffers through a courageous marathon effort in half the time?"
There must not be any slow marathoners in New Zealand these days. I wouldn't dare call 64-year-old Margaret Montgomery, who had the slowest marathon finishing time (5:57:50) of the 97 runners who completed all five HARRA Fall Series individual races that covered 82.7 miles, undedicated. While, at the same time, I don't believe that every 3-hour marathoner trains 21 hours a week either. If that runner did no crosstraining or weight work and spent all of their time running, they'd log a marathon a day in training. Maybe in Kenya or Ethiopia or a true disciple of Arthur Lydiard's early training regimens, but not here in America.
Personally, I've had three 5:40 finishes. Was I an undedicated slouch? Hardly not. I put in the requisite miles, but I have never necessarily trained as hard as I could in warmer weather. My other two finishes were 4:55 and 5:13 and they were in cooler temps.
"Should you receive a trophy for being the only entrant in your age group -- even though you finished dead last?"
I wonder if Greg would tell 75-year-old Houstonian Bertie Jo Moore that to her face? I use Bertie Jo as an example not because she finishes last but, more importantly, rather that she is one of a few that is still extremely active at an advanced age and enjoys the physical and social benefits of the sport.
"At the Tasman Cross Country Championships in New Zealand last July the top runner in the 8K race didn't even receive a pat on the back. But a 10-year-old boy who walked 800 meters of the 1000 meter race received a medal for finishing third in his age group and another one for being a member of the second-place club."
It seems that Greg uses two different races (8,000 and 1,000 meters) with two different race directors to attempt to make his point.
And finally, "Race directors say they want to give the youngsters medals to encourage them to stay in the sport. But what they are really encouraging them to do is loaf. The boy must think, "Great, all I have to do is walk and jog the course and I get a medal." What challenge or sense of accompishment can he or she feel for winning such an award? Why should the young runner try any harder if he doesn't need to try hard to win? If you only give the medals to the top runners, maybe that will encourage the slackers to train and try harder to win one."
Greg's never met my 10-year-old daughter, Waverly, either. With all of the knowledge that she may not win an age-group award because of the higher number of 11-and-under female runners and that fact that she isn't built like a gazelle, she trained for four months to finish the Aramco Houston Half Marathon.
And just a month before, she refused to take the participation medal that Jingle Bell Run organizers tried to give her for youngsters 13-and-under who did the 1-mile run.
Why? Because she did the 5-mile run and knew that she wasn't fast enough to win an age-group award, but that she accomplished more on that day by doing the 5 mile race than just the 1 mile run.
I just think that Greg can't paint the entire community with the same broad brush. Many kids and their parents know the differences even though the only time we'll see a 4-minute mile ourselves is when we watch an event in person or on TV.
To me (and to hundreds, maybe even thousands, of other runners), our finishers' medals - for reasons only known to ourselves - mean as much as his "10 Masters medals in New Zealand national cross country and road championships."
I've won because I'm healthier, more fit and enjoy life more than I did three years ago and, by the way, my medals are hanging down from the crown molding close to the ceiling in my office so I always have to keep looking up for the prize!
Jon Walk
(Excerpts from the article are quoted with the express written permission of Runner Triathlete News and the context of the reference to Bertie Jo Moore, one of the most pleasant personalities you'd ever want to meet, was approved before its use.)
I always look forward to my editions of Runner Triathlete News and Inside Texas Running, particularly the latter as it includes HARRA's Footprints.
As a developing runner who got off the couch three years ago and immersed myself in promoting and bringing attention to a sport that I now thrive on and from, I read Greg Lautenslager's article, "Trophy Time: Does Hardware Hamper Runners' Development," in the February 2006 edition of Runner Triathlete News (RTN) with a cringe on my face.
During that time, I have frequented the magazine's message board to see that Lautenslager is often a lightning rod for some of his opinions of the current state of the running world. Plus from having a very well-read blog that is more than just a documentation of my training and racing experiences, I realize the challenge in providing different content on a regular basis that brings readers back for information that they may not see in RTN, ITR or the local newspaper.
Perhaps the editors should have applied a warning label to this particular piece from Greg: "This article may not be suited for runners of all abilities."
The author's ability, talent, knowledge and experience is respected, well known, particularly well documented and sometimes more than well communicated by himself.
Although the intent of the article is well noted, it misses the finishing tape with a good portion of the RTN readership.
Greg's article begins as he talks about the pride he had in winning a race - and a trophy - at the age of 15. We learn that Greg's 33-year-old memory of the event sharpens his opinion of the sport's love affair with trophies, age group awards and finisher's medals.
"Trophies and medals no longer are as sought over in recent years, because it seems all you have to do to win one is cross the finish line. Many marathons budget for finishers' medals by including it into your entry fee. Do you really deserve a medal just for finishing a race?"
Most runners smart enough to fill out an entry form can distinguish between winning an event or their age-group as opposed to the concept of a finishers' medal. Would I run a marathon if I didn't get a finishers' medal? Sure. However, they are a nice recognition of the accomplishment.
I have 25 medals at home. Five of them represent my marathon finishes. They - plus the first one that I ever received for finishing an event (the 24-Hour Fitness 4-Miler at the 2003 Houston Marathon) - are the only ones that go up in a special space because they remind me of how far along I've come. If I complete my plan and start doing more marathons, the medals will take on a different meaning and I suspect that only special ones will occupy the space that the five do currently.
Greg goes on, "Is it fair for an undedicated slouch who turns a marathon into a six-hour tramp to receive the same award as someone who trains three hours a day and suffers through a courageous marathon effort in half the time?"
There must not be any slow marathoners in New Zealand these days. I wouldn't dare call 64-year-old Margaret Montgomery, who had the slowest marathon finishing time (5:57:50) of the 97 runners who completed all five HARRA Fall Series individual races that covered 82.7 miles, undedicated. While, at the same time, I don't believe that every 3-hour marathoner trains 21 hours a week either. If that runner did no crosstraining or weight work and spent all of their time running, they'd log a marathon a day in training. Maybe in Kenya or Ethiopia or a true disciple of Arthur Lydiard's early training regimens, but not here in America.
Personally, I've had three 5:40 finishes. Was I an undedicated slouch? Hardly not. I put in the requisite miles, but I have never necessarily trained as hard as I could in warmer weather. My other two finishes were 4:55 and 5:13 and they were in cooler temps.
"Should you receive a trophy for being the only entrant in your age group -- even though you finished dead last?"
I wonder if Greg would tell 75-year-old Houstonian Bertie Jo Moore that to her face? I use Bertie Jo as an example not because she finishes last but, more importantly, rather that she is one of a few that is still extremely active at an advanced age and enjoys the physical and social benefits of the sport.
"At the Tasman Cross Country Championships in New Zealand last July the top runner in the 8K race didn't even receive a pat on the back. But a 10-year-old boy who walked 800 meters of the 1000 meter race received a medal for finishing third in his age group and another one for being a member of the second-place club."
It seems that Greg uses two different races (8,000 and 1,000 meters) with two different race directors to attempt to make his point.
And finally, "Race directors say they want to give the youngsters medals to encourage them to stay in the sport. But what they are really encouraging them to do is loaf. The boy must think, "Great, all I have to do is walk and jog the course and I get a medal." What challenge or sense of accompishment can he or she feel for winning such an award? Why should the young runner try any harder if he doesn't need to try hard to win? If you only give the medals to the top runners, maybe that will encourage the slackers to train and try harder to win one."
Greg's never met my 10-year-old daughter, Waverly, either. With all of the knowledge that she may not win an age-group award because of the higher number of 11-and-under female runners and that fact that she isn't built like a gazelle, she trained for four months to finish the Aramco Houston Half Marathon.
And just a month before, she refused to take the participation medal that Jingle Bell Run organizers tried to give her for youngsters 13-and-under who did the 1-mile run.
Why? Because she did the 5-mile run and knew that she wasn't fast enough to win an age-group award, but that she accomplished more on that day by doing the 5 mile race than just the 1 mile run.
I just think that Greg can't paint the entire community with the same broad brush. Many kids and their parents know the differences even though the only time we'll see a 4-minute mile ourselves is when we watch an event in person or on TV.
To me (and to hundreds, maybe even thousands, of other runners), our finishers' medals - for reasons only known to ourselves - mean as much as his "10 Masters medals in New Zealand national cross country and road championships."
I've won because I'm healthier, more fit and enjoy life more than I did three years ago and, by the way, my medals are hanging down from the crown molding close to the ceiling in my office so I always have to keep looking up for the prize!
Jon Walk
(Excerpts from the article are quoted with the express written permission of Runner Triathlete News and the context of the reference to Bertie Jo Moore, one of the most pleasant personalities you'd ever want to meet, was approved before its use.)
posted by WalkSports.com | 11:56 AM
7 Comments:
Well written, Jon.
This guy Greg must be chums with Mr. Tom up there and Dr. John that Keith contacted for an interview.
Actually, I totally agree with Jon on this one. The value of a medal is in the eye of the beholder and it certainly doesn't hurt to give them out at the end of a race. And to call someone who runs a 5 hour marathon a "slouch" is 180 degrees off-base. It's generally WAY tougher for the five hour marathoners than it is for the three hour marathoners, right?
It's sad that someone would think so high of themselves that they would take their time to try to diminish the accomplishments of those who have never and may never do what he has done in running.
Just because they won't do that doesn't mean they aren't worth recognizing. Great letter Jon, and I hope it gets published, and that Greg takes notice of the level of arrogance in his attitude towards a sport that he might be a nothing without.
How many reasons am I up to on why the sport of running in the US sucks and is a total cluster? I can't remember but add this one to it.
The only "trophy" that I've ever received was a situation that Greg actually points out regarding an "age group" situation.
This past October, I finished 2nd - out of 2 - at a 5K in Deer Park.
Did I run well? Comparatively speaking to my other races and how I had been running? Yes.
If 15 other runners in my age group had shown up there instead of another race in town that same day, do I realize that I wouldn't have received the trophy? Sure. Absolutely.
I know how it all fits in the scheme of things and that single trophy wasn't going to stop me from working hard or "hamper my development." Besides what should I do when they called my name, feign like I wasn't there or walk up and say, "I don't deserve this award."
I got it, had some fun with it and played it up here on this blog, but I know the reality of the situation too.
Unfortunately RDs can't custom-fit who needs what encouragement when so, yes, they do do a "take care of everybody" approach.
And what's sad is that there are people who would never come and run Run The Woodlands 5K because there wasn't anything to win -- other than pride!
I've come to the conclusion that people of all ages know the difference between a finishers metal and a winner's metal.
In my youth (early 70's) there were "everyone wins" events such as school sponsored field days where I was thrilled to get a blue participant ribbon. I knew I had not set any school records, but understood the concept.
Even in today's "medalmania" kids appreciate the participant trophies like I did back then- today, there are more and better organized athletic events, from little leagues to marathons where encouragement for all is part of the game. This is a good thing.
Giving metals does not encourage loafing. I would be surprised if there are any studies to support that conclusion. In remember placing high up in a high school JV CC race, setting a personal best, only to learn there were no JV awards. Big disappointment. Not a motivator. When I hit the track by myself before my HS classes, I wanted to make Varsity. The possibility of getting a metal were motivators, but there were may other factors like status, peer pressure and team friendships. Getting a metal can support one's self-esteem and provide encouragement, but it does not take away from it.
you can give me an award or not, I'm still running something - somewhere. Is this guy against T-shirts or is that not an award? I have run races in the past to get new T-Shirts because the ones hanging in the closet started to look really bad. Is that wrong?
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