I have lots of websites that I read every day. One of those is Jezebel. I think they’ve got some interesting stories and even if I don’t always agree with their opinion, the articles are different from what I read on other sites.
Yesterday on Jezebel, I saw an article about a post that someone had written on Facebook congratulating an overweight person for running. The entire article is here, but I’ll give you a quick summary. Basically, the person was saying that it must be so hard to run when you are carrying double the weight of the average person and how great it is that they aren’t giving up. That was weird to read.
But what got to me was the updated version of the article where someone had written a response. I don’t think the response was written by the actually person that the Facebook post was talking about, but they get the point.
The response is saying that they shouldn’t be congratulating the overweight person for trying. They are a runner, just like anyone else. And that nobody has any idea of the journey that the person has gone through so far and what part of the journey that they are currently on.
I totally get this. I’ve written about something similar that has happened to me at SoulCycle. And I still feel like people look at me there as someone who is new, not someone who has been there for over a year.
I’ve also had similar things happen to me at various 5Ks that I’ve done. I remember when I did the Hard Rock one, there was someone at the finish line who came up to me to say that they thought I was very brave for doing a 5K and being able to finish. When I told them that that was my 7th 5K for the year, they were in shock and didn’t really say anything to me afterwards.
Same thing happened at the Christmas Run. Someone who was walking back as I was trying to cross the finish line stopped to give me a high-five. Normally, that would be awesome. But then they said that I should be so proud that I’m going to be able to say that I’m finally a finisher.
I had said that I was a finisher in 8 other 5Ks in 2013 before that one. And about half a dozen other 5Ks that I’ve done other years.
It’s really annoying. I know that people mean well and think that they are encouraging me, but it’s really condescending. They are obviously judging me by my appearance and thinking that I’m a beginner.
If people just want to congratulate me on finishing or encourage me to keep going, that’s fine. But you don’t have to add something about me doing this for the first time.
Because my wall makes it very clear that I am a 5K racer. No matter what I look like. I am a finisher and there’s no denying that.
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