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? 

Comments

  1. I love this! I often have a hard time classifying myself as a runner at this stage, but I know I shouldn't be discounting myself (I do the same thing with ballet). I feel like we all need to be reminded that no matter what level we're at, we're all runners.

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    1. Yes, no matter what we do we need to take credit and give ourselves credit for it :)

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  2. Love this! So true. Proud to be a runner!

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  3. Love this!!! I'm a proud runner!

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  4. Sadly, no running for me this weekend but I couldn't agree more with this post! When people ask me if I jog I always correct them - no I RUN!!!

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  5. A semi-elite runner that I was acquaintances with put a rant on Facebook about the "hobby joggers" that were taking up all the space in races etc. So wrong... I of course unfriended him immediately and haven't talked to him since.

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  6. I hate that word! I am running today (maybe in a sports bra). Not sure about this weekend. It might be a family bike ride type of weekend since it is supposed to be 80!!

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  7. I love this, and love that you were honest in your opinion on this subject. My thinking is exactly like yours! I hate the "J" word too! I think people who run fast are amazing, but if I hear them make comments about slower runners, all I have for them is dislike. This is my philosophy, REAL RUNNERS KNOW RUNNERS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES AND ALL SPEEDS AND DISTANCES! Great post today!!!

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  8. great post! I'm a runner because I lace up!
    emma @ amomrunsthistown.com

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  9. Love this! For the longest time I had a hard time calling myself a runner, instead of a jogger because I was really slow. I have come out of that. I actually wrote a post last week about this and how thanks to my father I have always been a runner... not a jogger :)

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  10. I LOVE THIS!!! I am PROUD to be a runner, even if I'm "slow" I had someone tell me that I was not a runner because I run for fun and run recreational recipes, while he is a runner because he plays soccer and has to run for sport. I was pretty offended by this, because I put a lot of work into where I am with my running and I STILL enjoy it! No one is FORCING me to go out and do it..unlike in a sport!

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  11. I agree we are all runners, anyone who puts on running shoes is in my opinion.
    But jogging is a type of running - it means a slow run. I jog my intervals when doing speedwork, my recovery run pace is pratically a jog, I usually jog uphill too!
    I don't think there is anything wrong with jogging, but there is something wrong when people use the word in a condescending way, like the semi-elite Kayla mentioned.

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  12. Haha! Love this! I think the term 'jogger' comes from way before our generation. All of my elderly patients ask me if I'm going jogging this weekend. Sure...just a leisurely jog of 20 miles. ;)

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  13. Love this Jen! I'm running the Flying Pig Half this weekend! Can't wait!

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  14. Haha, yep! Definitely- we're all runners. I don't like anything about the word jog, either. :)

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  15. OMGosh, me too! When someone asks if I jog or if I like jogging, I cringe a little on the inside. To me, jog is more haphazard. :P

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  16. I see jogging as a dated term from the 1970s. I don't really hear people use it all that much. What gets me is when you get introduced to someone as a "runner" and then they say, yeah, but so and so here is a triathlete (said with heavy emphasis). Or here in Austin, where everyone seems to have done an Ironman or run a 100 miler, it's not uncommon to hear someone say "well, I just do marathons", as if that's nothing. I agree we should not downplay our accomplishments!

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  17. I am so with you....I cringe when people ask if I 'went jogging today' ..... I run!!

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  18. I love this post! I am a proud runner... maybe not fast but still a runner!

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  19. I love this post! I am a proud runner... maybe not fast but still a runner!

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  20. I can totally relate! I hate the word JOG. I don't JOG. I run slowly! Thanks for this post; it made me realize that I am not alone.

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  21. I read an interview on another blog recently and the interviewee was using jog and run interchangeably. And she was running marathons! I thought it was do weird that I didn't read the rest of the interview.

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  22. Agree'd the word jogging just seems not enough for us runners.

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  23. I guess I'm the odd one. The term jogger doesn't bother me. They can call it what they like - I'm still going farther than they are. ;o)

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  24. I'm with you MCM Mama-- it doesn't bother me in the slightest. You could call me a runner, a jogger, a plodder, an out-of-shape hack. At times I feel like any one of those. In fact, I'm going to be jogging a half marathon next weekend. I plan on running some of it, jogging some, and heck, I may even walk through the water stops.

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