{"id":15887,"date":"2017-01-29T21:30:03","date_gmt":"2017-01-29T13:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/?p=15887"},"modified":"2017-02-13T21:42:42","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T13:42:42","slug":"8-reasons-why-i-will-never-ever-take-part-in-a-running-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/community\/8-reasons-why-i-will-never-ever-take-part-in-a-running-event\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Reasons Why I Will Never, Ever Take Part in a Running Event!"},"content":{"rendered":"

My father used to lecture all of us kids on the use of the word \u201cnever.\u201d If I had a dollar for every time he cautioned, \u201cNever say never!\u201d I would be a very wealthy person at this point and I would also have to issue many apologies \u2014 one for every time I doubted my father\u2019s wisdom. <\/p>\n

But this time, I mean it when I say you’ll never see me competing, no matter how much friends beg, plead, threaten and offer bribes to retract my words. <\/p>\n

Since I have perfectly logical reasons for feeling this way, I\u2019ll list them all here so you know I mean business when I say I won’t ever take part in a running event!<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t ever take part in a running event because…<\/h2>\n

Doing so would kill my clothing budget.<\/h3>\n

I have a reputation to uphold: whether I go to work, a party or a family affair, I like to look current, trendy and fashionable, which translates as: my clothes cost more than they would if I shopped at Souk\u2019s Flea and Easy on Jiak Kim Street! I know what you\u2019re thinking: I\u2019m a snob. <\/p>\n

You\u2019ll get no disagreement from me. Putting on shorts and a t-shirt simply conflicts with my sense of style and I doubt I\u2019d make it more than a few steps from the start line wearing the platform heels that fill my shoe wardrobe.<\/p>\n

\"8<\/p>\n

I hate to lose.<\/h3>\n

Even as a kid, I cried more than my schoolmates when somebody else took a prize. When I was very little, I even tried to steal trophies from winners to my mum\u2019s chagrin. Of course, I\u2019ve grown up a lot since then. If I had remained that petulant, I wouldn\u2019t be able to count on having so many great friends \u2014 many of whom have been nagging at me to run for a terribly long time. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry. I just don\u2019t want to embarrass myself by having a meltdown at a finish line when everyone else has already gone home. I can\u2019t promise I won\u2019t steal the winner\u2019s medal at the finish line, either.<\/p>\n

It kills me to get my hair messed up and my makeup ruined.<\/h3>\n

Call me shallow (and you probably have at least once since you started reading this), but I\u2019m insecure enough to think that I look cuter when I\u2019m all put together and looking fine. What if some hunky dude happens to see me without my makeup and I miss and opportunity to hook up with the man of my dreams? <\/p>\n

Just the thought of that image sends chills down my spine, so don\u2019t register me for a marathon ever, thank you very much. Note to my boyfriend: I’m just kidding about this one!<\/p>\n

\"8<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll have to change my diet and I\u2019ve worked too hard to get my girlish figure into perfect shape to risk that.<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve heard that runners are required to follow stringent diets \u2014 even consume more calories! – to prepare for running events and frankly, I\u2019ve looked at lists of acceptable pre-race and post-race foods and menus and I\u2019m not having any part of that! <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me started on how easy it is for me to blow up like a Hello Kitty parade balloon if I am to consume all of the water I would have to drink to stay hydrated.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t spare the time to train or compete!<\/h3>\n

I have things to do, places to go and people to see. If I miss a single episode of \u201cKalyanam\u201d I couldn\u2019t carry on a decent conversation with people I hang out with, because to do so, I must know every smoldering detail of the affair between Ajali and Arjun or I won\u2019t sleep at night either. <\/p>\n

If I don\u2019t sleep, I can\u2019t function and if this impacts my work, I\u2019m pretty sure my boss will fire me and you know what that means: the dreaded job search and all that goes with it. You wouldn\u2019t want to see me lose my job just because I agreed to run, right?<\/p>\n

\"8<\/p>\n

My boyfriend wants me to be available whenever he calls.<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s been like this since we started seeing each other and he even complains to my mum if I make plans that don\u2019t include him (side note: he doesn’t see why people like to run either). <\/p>\n

My dad admonishes me if I ignore my boyfriend, because he worries that I\u2019m never going to get married and move away from home. When my parents want to prove their point, they say that no guy wants a woman with athletic legs, and since I’m sure they like my boyfriend more than me, I don\u2019t want to take any chances.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already got so many friends, I could use a second smartphone to get all of them on my speed dial system.<\/h3>\n

And what would my friends say if I suddenly have less time to see them because I\u2019ve made new friends at the track, gym or running events with social activities attached? <\/p>\n

They might get so mad, they call me disloyal and spread lots of untrue gossip about me on social media. So far, I haven\u2019t been the subject of trash talk, but if I decide to take part in running events, it\u2019s only a matter of time before my reputation is toast. Just the thought of this brings tears to my eyes.<\/p>\n

\"8<\/p>\n

I can’t bear to torture myself.<\/h3>\n

I can\u2019t come up with a single logical reason to torture myself by pushing, sweating, straining and risking injury – reason enough to avoid marathons, ultras and even fun runs because I could bump into other people and wind up in hospital.<\/p>\n

And this type of torture costs money. I would have to spend hard-earned cash on clothing, gear, equipment and entry fees which means I would wind up in my parent\u2019s extra bedroom even longer if my boyfriend doesn\u2019t come up with a ring. I know they love me, but I can tell they want me to get married and move out, reason enough to make sure I never, ever take part in running events. Ever.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best, most creative excuse you\u2019ve ever gotten from someone you tried to convince to join you at running events?<\/p>\n

Jennifer Leow hates to join any mass participation running event but that does not mean she hates running. She still hopes one day someone can finally convince her to join her first event.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The article is contributed by members of the community. All stories are based on real life personal experiences or actual events encountered by the authors and related parties. Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.<\/em><\/p>\n

Editing by RunSociety<\/em><\/p>\n[su_divider top=”no” style=”dashed” divider_color=”#e9e9e9″ size=”2″ margin=”30″]\n

Firsthand is RunSociety’s home for inspirational, provocative narrative articles. Do you have a story to share? Read our submission guidelines<\/a>, and pitch us at hello@runsociety.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My father used to lecture all of us kids on the use of the word \u201cnever.\u201d If I had a dollar for every time he cautioned, \u201cNever say never!\u201d I would be a very wealthy person at this point and I would also have to issue many apologies \u2014 one for every time I doubted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":19197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[887],"tags":[881,803],"class_list":{"0":"post-15887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"tag-firsthand","9":"tag-running-events"},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Never-join-a-running-event-thumb.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2Hix-48f","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}