Is running a religion? Is it an addiction? What do you think it is?
Argument for running as religion
We congregate on Saturdays and/or Sundays for long runs and/or races. During this time we join each other in the fellowship of running. We talk running, racing, & training. What sports gel to eat, what sports drink to...well, to drink?
Some of us get together on other days for shorter services...er, ah, workouts.
We talk incessantly about the trials and tribulations of running related aches, pains, injuries. The treatments, the cures, the comraderie of runners with similar ailments.
Then there are the training programs. Do such and such workout on this day and blah blah on another day. And if someone should dare to ask why, the answer is, because in the book of Daniels (aka Running Formula by Jack Daniels), it says to do blah, blah, blah. Or, in the book of Lydiard, it says...blah blah blah. You just have to have faith in these programs.
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Argument for running as addiction
We run all the time. We say that if we were hurt we'd stop but we don't. We sneak in early morning runs before the family knows we're gone. Some runners feel they need to run every day...I mean every day.
We enter race after race after race...for what? Many of us have no idea why. However, races give you a runner's high plus post race parties satisfy your munchies.
Some of us run for charities..."I'm running for those that can't," Would someone tell me what that's supposed to mean? Or how about, "I'm running to help raise money for, 'fill in the blank' disease." Are you kidding me? Just give the folks $20 and they won't have to buy t-shirts.
No, running for charity is just an excuse to run because we can't stop...because we're hooked.
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I know there are more arguments for either position...
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7 comments:
Hello Jay! I meant to ask you yesterday how Boston training was going. Must be good since you were smiling!
As we were running Saturday, we spent the first part of the run to talk about religion. Which runner from our club has a child that is getting married at what church, how to get kids to behave in church (there really is no such way...), why we run on Saturday because church starts early on Sunday....
I run for the M&M's. That's why - because I'm addicted to M&M's and there'a always the promise of M&M's at the rest stations if you pick the right race.
I'm also addicted to weather like we're having today. Running on days like today....no comparison.
Spyder makes a good point re: running is not a religion because there is nothing supernatural about it.
However, one definition of supernatural is, "...not existing in nature or subject to explanation according to natural laws; not physical or material."
So...as one trys to explain the, "runners high" to someone, it gets bogged down shortly after the the release of beta endorphins. Kinda like the explaination of gravity gets bogged down after you talk about what it does...
So I ponder...some folks seem addicted to religion and some folks turn to religion after being addicted. Questions, questions....
If running is not religion, then why do runners congregate to celebrate running? If it was an addiction, would they not congregate to try to quit? Are you saying that getting together for a long run at the park is similar to going to a crack house?
And what about the great runners and teachers of runners we admire? Steve Prefontaine, Bill Rogers, Frank Shorter, Arthur Lydiard, Jack Daniels, Jeff Galloway.... Are there other addictions where folks admire the addicted? Okay, except for Timothy Leary....
Then there's the practical matter of calling running a religion. Think of the tax breaks one gets if your running club is a church, your shoes are part of the rituals?
And what about the running literature? Are these not bibles?
btw, thanks for the Runners World ;)
Chip
Debating with one trained in debate is not easy...possibly futile but I shall persist!
A definition of religion from answers.com - A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.
Is not running an activity pursued with zeal?
Granted, Scrabble could be considered a religion using this definition but we're talking running here....
Why foul?
Answers.com had four (4) definitions of religion, including the definition you used earlier. I merely picked another one of the four ;)
In fact, the definition you used for addiction was, "devotion to something habitually or obsessively." Hmmmm, "devoted to something habitually" sounds akin to religion to me...like going to church/mosque/temple/whatever every "fill-in-the-blank" time period.
Further, the definition for religion that you used, included the worship of god or the supernatural. But you can't possibly believe this, can you? If so, how could you call the "Church of Free Thought" a religion?
Does religion = addiction? Is religion a form of addiction? Is addiction a form of religion?
This debate is making me so confused. I think I'll go for a soul-searching run ;)
Maybe, running is a journey with no well-defined destination?
That allows inner peace and M&Ms to co-exist.
Religion & addiction are journeys with no well-defined destinations too.
Maybe running~religion~addiction.
I still think it's neither. More of a compulsion.
My mother calls me "selectively compulsive". But then again, she's mean.
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