Here we go again. President Nicolas Sarkozy has a funny turn, while running in the hottest part of a French July day, et voila! Out come the “Jogging: is it bad for you after all?” headlines that are dusted down every time somebody is taken ill or injured in the general vicinity of a pair of trainers. This has been going on since the mid-1980s, when American running “guru” Jim Fixx died of a heart attack at 52 while out doing what he loved best. That he had a hereditary heart condition and had already outlived his father by ten years is almost always glossed over when he’s presented as an example to us all.
Nobody does this with golf, say. I’ll bet there are as many medical emergencies between tee-off and the 19th hole in the average year as there are involving runners, but does the media – or anyone else – ever suggest golf is bad for you? If they do, please rush me over those links.
The tedious premise with running – getting a good old rehash again just now from the UK print and broadcast media – is that although we’re always being told exercise is good for us, Sarkozy is the evidence that perhaps it isn’t. On Radio 4’s Today programme, the editor of Runner’s World, Andy Dixon, did his best in the face of some really inane questioning. (First, though, their reporter Jack Izzard “caught up” – complete with heavy breathing sound effects – with some “lunchtime joggers”. Memo to Jack and journalists everywhere: we runners hate the word “jogger”. We are not jogging, we are running. One of the “joggers” quizzed had just completed seven miles in 56 minutes, and had also run to work.) Dixon managed to bat away the more absurd questions from presenter Sarah Montague about whether running was safe, whether it was cool, whether politicians should do it, whether it would damage our knees or – ho, ho – our Achilles heels. For reasons which remain obscure, comedian Arthur Smith was also on hand to play bad cop, adding little to a pretty pointless debate other than that he used to run once but didn’t run now and he didn’t find the sight of podgy men running very edifying.
My spin on this? The sight of podgy men scattering their takeaways after a night binge drinking is significantly less edifying, as is the sight of anyone rendered unable to sprint for a bus simply through sloth. The evidence is now irrefutable: for the vast, vast majority of us, running does not trash our knees, or wear out any of our other joints, or give us heart attacks. For the vast, vast majority of us, running does improve overall long-term joint strength, does nothing but good for our cardiovascular systems, takes off and keeps off the avoirdupois (allowing on-demand access to chocolate en passant), morphs flab into muscle, adds enormously to our sense of self-worth and well-being, does wonders for self-discipline, and busts stress better than just about anything. Running can also help us live – and stay usefully active – for longer, and stave off dementia. And before anyone brings on their Uncle Fred or Cousin Carol in a bid to disprove any or all of this, let me repeat: these benefits apply to the vast, vast majority of us – there will always be exceptions to any rule.
PS What a stunning finale to the Tour de France! Awesome riding by Team Columbia to bring Mark Cavendish home in such emphatic style, and it was great to hear the self-effacing Bradley Wiggins explaining on the Champs-Elysees why he was more than content with fourth place.
Bring on TDF 2010! Here's a final reminder of TDF 2009...
Nobody does this with golf, say. I’ll bet there are as many medical emergencies between tee-off and the 19th hole in the average year as there are involving runners, but does the media – or anyone else – ever suggest golf is bad for you? If they do, please rush me over those links.
The tedious premise with running – getting a good old rehash again just now from the UK print and broadcast media – is that although we’re always being told exercise is good for us, Sarkozy is the evidence that perhaps it isn’t. On Radio 4’s Today programme, the editor of Runner’s World, Andy Dixon, did his best in the face of some really inane questioning. (First, though, their reporter Jack Izzard “caught up” – complete with heavy breathing sound effects – with some “lunchtime joggers”. Memo to Jack and journalists everywhere: we runners hate the word “jogger”. We are not jogging, we are running. One of the “joggers” quizzed had just completed seven miles in 56 minutes, and had also run to work.) Dixon managed to bat away the more absurd questions from presenter Sarah Montague about whether running was safe, whether it was cool, whether politicians should do it, whether it would damage our knees or – ho, ho – our Achilles heels. For reasons which remain obscure, comedian Arthur Smith was also on hand to play bad cop, adding little to a pretty pointless debate other than that he used to run once but didn’t run now and he didn’t find the sight of podgy men running very edifying.
My spin on this? The sight of podgy men scattering their takeaways after a night binge drinking is significantly less edifying, as is the sight of anyone rendered unable to sprint for a bus simply through sloth. The evidence is now irrefutable: for the vast, vast majority of us, running does not trash our knees, or wear out any of our other joints, or give us heart attacks. For the vast, vast majority of us, running does improve overall long-term joint strength, does nothing but good for our cardiovascular systems, takes off and keeps off the avoirdupois (allowing on-demand access to chocolate en passant), morphs flab into muscle, adds enormously to our sense of self-worth and well-being, does wonders for self-discipline, and busts stress better than just about anything. Running can also help us live – and stay usefully active – for longer, and stave off dementia. And before anyone brings on their Uncle Fred or Cousin Carol in a bid to disprove any or all of this, let me repeat: these benefits apply to the vast, vast majority of us – there will always be exceptions to any rule.
I’d so like to see this media ritual consigned to history. Hopeless, I know, and now it drags on even longer with each round as every armchair expert can join the online debate to tell us all why they think running is dangerous, why all runners are tossers, and why the whole thing should be banned.
Aaargh!
Think I’ll just go pull on my trainers and shift some of this stress...
PS What a stunning finale to the Tour de France! Awesome riding by Team Columbia to bring Mark Cavendish home in such emphatic style, and it was great to hear the self-effacing Bradley Wiggins explaining on the Champs-Elysees why he was more than content with fourth place.
Bring on TDF 2010! Here's a final reminder of TDF 2009...
pic: Tour de France
