We are Runners, We aren't Joggers!

We all have words we hate to hear and refuse to say. These words make us cringe. Do you have words that you don't like? One of those words for me is…Jog! I have others too but this one is big. From the day I decided to do my first marathon I was a runner not a jogger. So please do not ask me if I am going out for a jog. I mean have you ever heard someone say they are going to “jog a marathon or a 5K?”

Webster defines jog as: V- to go at a slow, leisurely, or monotonous pace or to move up and down or about with a short heavy motion (Source)

Really, does that sound like something people would enjoy? 

Webster defines run as: V- to go faster then a walk specifically: to go steadily by springing steps so that both feet leave the ground for an instant in each step or to enter a race (Source) 

Now doesn't that sound more enjoyable? We all want those springing steps instead of monotony.And you enter a race, right? 

And then you see jokes like this:

I don't trust joggers, they're always the ones that find the dead bodies. I'm no detective, just sayin'.

Or this:

Joggers are the ones bouncing around at stoplights while runners stand there looking pissed!

I mean we call then 5K runs, Run for _________ or whatever it is. We have run groups, running buddies and running stores. Why discount what we do? Like the definition says running is faster than a walk, so where does that leave jogging? There is a moment for each of us when we make that decision to run, it isn't always pretty but we start and that is the time we become a runner.

Think about it, have you ever heard a kid say "look I'm jogging" No, I'm sure not. Even my 3 year old talks says she is running. Who made the term jog? It wasn't kids and isn't something they know. So why do adults want to use it? To kids running is fun, let's keep it!

Pearl Izumi is with me on this, do you remember their ad campaign a few years back? Aimed at runners and the distiction from joggers, it seperated and annoyed many but I get it. What do you think of this? 

I have never thought of myself as a "jogger" or said I was going for a "jog" even on day 1 when I barely made it a block without walking. Even still when I completed my first marathon in over 5 hours, yes I did plenty of walking, but I also ran. And I was a runner. 

What makes you a runner?

I am a runner because: 

• I own running shoes, tech shirts, gadgets
• I have entered a race
• I run
• I love the way running makes me feel
• My runs have purpose: speed, hills, long, social (yes I include this)
• I enjoy running

I think John "The Penguin" Bingham said it very well in this article for Runner's World (see Runner's not Jogger's World). I had the chance to hear John speak at a conference a few years back and he said it pretty well...

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." - John Bingham 

 Please do yourself a favor and give yourself credit for what you do. Do not discount running if you don't live up to your's or other expectations. No matter how fast or how slow, how long or how short, how much you look like a runner...if you run, you are a runner! Remember this, we run, we don't jog!

Happy Friday! Are you running this weekend?