Let’s get a bit philosophical about running for a sec and let me ask you a question: what is a race? Seriously. What is a race?
No, not literally.
What is a race? What’s the point of a race? Why do people run races?
And I’ll let you think about that while I give you a little more context: for example, a couple weeks ago a guy I run with in our local running crew posted a photo of himself with a medal. He was only partially joking, but he had made the medal himself for a race he had made up, named after himself, and run solo. He invented a race and ran it. It was a minute of fun and a semi-joke, but.. the group chat cheered him on and congratulated him on his accomplishment.
I’m not making fun. I’m genuinely curious: he made up his own race, “won” it, and our group of (very supportive) friends treated the post as if he had placed in the Boston Marathon.
Hmm. Cool, right?
Ok. Another example, and maybe a little more mainstream this time: Park Run.
I love Park Run. Do you know about Park Run? If not: It’s a weekly five klick race that takes place in communities all over the globe… or is it? I posted a pic with the start line of our local Park Run on social media a few months ago and had used the word “race” in the description and someone jumped at me, and vehemently blasted me saying “PARK RUN IS NOT A RACE” dammit.
But… I think of it as a race. I race it. I go out there acting like I’m racing, feeling like I’m racing. No medals, of course, but all my Park Run finishes are computed on a chart on their website just like ranked finishing times. Feels race-like to me.
Is Park Run a made up race, then?
What is a race after all?
Do you need more context? Here’s some: During the pandemic a bunch of the races we registered for were converted from in person events into virtual races because of travel or event restrictions. Log your run from home of a specific distance and post it and they would send you a medal. Oh sure, we called them “virtual” races but I still have a couple of those medals hanging on my wall. We got our race quota in for the season…
Hmm. Cool, right?
But were those actually races? Or just consolation runs because of a crazy situation?
What is a race, after all?
Not literally, but… something bigger than that? Does it need to be some huge organized event? Or is there something more to it? Does it only count if you pay your fee, wear a bib, and get a medal? Does it need a start line? Or is it just about reaching a finish?
Definitions
- bib
- Runners know this, but almost universally now when you run a street race you will be given a sheet of plastic-coated paper with a number printed on the front. Glued to the back side might be a little plastic tracking chip. In each corner there will be a small hole. You pin this paper to your shirt and it properly identifies you as a legit runner on the course, pings the electronic sensors that track your progress, and enable a bunch of photographers to tag you in a collection of terrible race photos that they will try to sell you later for hundreds of dollars.
- klick
- As a Canadian I run in metric. As a writer, I find the word kilometre clunky and clinical. I'll usually use the colloquial "klick" or "klicks" to substitute in for this.
- pandemic
- It seems silly to define a worldwide event that affected literally everyone on the planet, but years have passed since those months in 2020 and beyond when COVID-19 shut down society and forced us to change our habits and routines.
- park run
- Just go online and find one. Every Saturday all over the world people meet up with their barcodes in hand to run a free semi-competitive five klick run, each local event locked to a route and run by volunteers. It's huge in the UK, but we've got a growing list in Canada and I logged one in Japan in 2025. I am slowly working my way to a milestone.
- race
- You train and train and train some more, and then for no clear reason you pay a bunch of money to run as fast as you possibly can at a very specific time with a bunch of strangers along a course lined with more strangers (or along paths lined with trees if you are an ultra runner) at the end of which you are handed a medal and a banana and a sense of achievement unlike anything you will feel again (until you sign up for your next one.)
