What in the World is a “Professional Runner”?

So pure and innocent is running.  Running is as natural an act as the sun rising every morning.  As humans we were born to run, if for no other reason than to hunt and survive¹.  Running is freeing, is simple, is tranquil, and is tidy.  Running at its base, requires little more than room to run, simple space.  

So how did something so innate morph into a Profession? A Profession!  The same as a doctor, an attorney, a C.P.A., a teacher?  How does a professional runner even respond when asked their occupation?  The conversation must go something like…

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a runner”.

“Oh.  What does that mean?”

“Well, it means I run for a living.”

“Oh.  You mean like, you run documents around downtown from office to office.”

“No. I mean I run, and I am paid to race.”

“Oh.  So, you run from 9 to 5?”

“No.  I run in the morning for maybe an hour and then sometimes again in the evening.”

“Oh.  So, what do you do with the rest of your day?”

“Renaissance Man”

To help answer the last question above, allow me to share a human-interest piece NBC broadcast as part of their recent Olympic coverage.  In the NBC piece Team U.S.A. sprinter Noah Lyles was described as a “Renaissance Man”.  The video then showed Noah Lyles painting flowers on sneakers, playing Foosball with his brother, and playing with Lego blocks.  A Renaissance Man indeed! Maybe the definition of a Renaissance Man has changed, but I don’t see how painting flowers on sneakers compares to another renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, painting the Mona Lisa.

Back to Professional Runners

Before you go bananas on me, I understand the last paragraph above does not directly stick to the topic here, but it does help to answer what some professional runners do with their day when not running. I could not shake the image and I found it impossible to accept NBC calling Noah Lyles a renaissance man then showing video of him playing with blocks. Being a Professional Runner is good work if you can get it I suppose.

I have been running since 1962 when I was three years old.  When walking was no longer fast enough, I ran to where I wanted to be.  If I remember correctly, I was pretty fast (who knows, but it helps this story).  At the tender age of three did I consider developing my “gift of running” into a profession?  Probably not, because THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS A PROFESSIONAL RUNNER!

Please understand, I love running and racing I really do.  It is the one thing I have done consistently throughout my life.  I admit, I am more of a purest; just a pair of shoes and a pair of shorts and out the door I go.  But really, running as profession?  Even if one compares runners as professional athletes to other professional athletes just in general, it’s a tough pill to take.  

• Professional athlete’s work on their craft, i.e., film study and the actual practice of learning. 
• Runners run
• Professional football players read and learn a playbook or learn to run pass routes with their quarterback.
• Runners run
• Professional basketball players learn offensive and defensive plays and practice those plays over and over.
• Runners run

Of course, this is an over-simplification, and that’s my point.  Somewhere running has lost its way.  Do you remember a time when you absolutely could not be a professional and compete in the Olympics?  I do.  Do you remember Steve Prefontaine being on government aid to survive as a runner?  I do.  Now, I am not so naive to think money did not come to runners in other ways.  I am sure money flowed, but very secretively and heaven help you if got caught accepting money for races.  The punishment was worse than a doping violation.  

Now reflecting back on these past Olympic Games, one of my takeaways is listening to the enormous amount of chatter from athlete’s during interviews and hearing the same rhetoric from the NBC commentators regarding how much the athletes had to overcome to get to these games.  I was sick of hearing it.  Overcoming what??? The boredom of being a professional runner???   For goodness sake the entire global population has had to overcome death, sickness, loss of income, mental and physical chaos, and NBC thinks we as viewers want to hear how difficult the past 18 months has been for the Olympians? Please.

Then Out of Nowhere Comes Calm, Relief, Sanity, Perspective

My 2020 Tokyo Olympic hero is steeplechaser Valerie Constien.  I hope you were able to hear her emotional post-race interview after making the Olympic final.  In an article from womensrunning.com² , Valerie described working a 40 hour per week full-time job.  With the exception of some workout gear, Valerie pays all her expenses herself.  My f**king hero!  Just an old-school grinder.  Racing simply because she loves the personal satisfaction that comes from real effort and genuine passion.  

Valerie Constien’s emotional interview was so refreshing.  She was thrilled to make an Olympic  track and field final; you could feel the enormity of her accomplishment in her voice.    In hearing her tone, you could not help but share her satisfaction for having made the Olympic final without all the corporate support.  Valerie’s unrehearsed and unscripted joy jumped out of television, and I had to cry as I could not help but share in her joy. I think I could sense a little “screw you” to the sponsored athletes in her message as well.  Maybe that’s just me? 

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”

Pierre de Coubertin

Valerie Constien you certainly did take part and you absolutely fought well.  

Maybe it’s time to put Athletics in its proper place in our lives and recapture some of the innocence that brought us to our sport. 

References

1. onion, A. (n.d.). Research: Humans are born to run. ABC news. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=256348&page=1. 
2. Ator, J. (2021, July 25). 11 things to know about FIRST-TIME OLYMPIAN Val Constien. Women’s Running. https://www.womensrunning.com/culture/people/get-to-know-val-constien/.