songs of experience

Did anyone see that piece on 60 Minutes last week on ultra-distance runners? It was about a man and a woman both training for Bad Water (an extreme insane race of 135 miles through the Mojave desert). At one point, the grizzled-looking woman told the interviewer that running 5 times a day helped her be a better mother. What a load of crap! This woman is an addict, plain and simple. How PRESENT can you be in a child’s life if you are running out the door (literally running away) five times a day?! At least the male runner didn’t insult the audience by claiming his 100-mile runs on the week-end made him a better father. He was so self-obsessed that he didn’t even mention his kids; his pizzas and hamburgers and milkshakes, called in from his cell phone that he carries on his all-day runs, get more attention. Talk about an eating disorder!

Geez. I hate to see my beloved running so “notoriously abused.” This morning I came across a quote about alcoholics by Alice Munro. I think it applies to these two ultra-addicts:

“It wasn’t the drinking that was responsible. The same thing was waiting, no matter what, and all the time. Drinking, needing to drink - that was just some sort of distraction, like everything else.”

Running, needing to run, 5 times a day … was just some sort of distraction.