How FUN is running right now?

Joy in the Circle Pit of Life

“No one is any one thing.” —Martin Short

The Internet is again awash in Running Culture™ scandal. I’m here for it. Literally, I’ve been here in this chair all day, consuming hot takes with gusto. Normally, I’d be in the ring participating. By “ring” I mean the comments section, and by “participating” I mean gatekeeping.

And okay, so I have restacked a few of the snappier adidas x SATISFY zingers. But mostly I’ve stayed on the sidelines because I find the whole thing—brand activation to Internet reaction—kind of fun.

It’s probably because I just watched the Martin Short documentary on Netflix and was reminded of a lighter time. As a pre-teen, I used to record SNL onto VHS and watch the tapes over and over. The skits were silly, and nobody cops to the over-the-top corn as fast as the actor himself.

If it’s possible to build a career on joy and optimism, Short is a blueprint. You can see the same unabashed, unapologetic cheese in SATISFY’s circle pit. If anything lacked, it was self-awareness, which, it could be argued, is overrated and under-rewarded in influencer crowds anyway.

I had already planned to write about some of the fun things I see in running. Often (always) I lean serious, and the Marty doc reminded me I contain multitudes (as well as platitudes). Getting joyful bits into the world is as valid as any exploration of running as salve for existential human dread.

We’ll get back to that regularly-scheduled program. But for now…

Here’s what has me hopped up like a free flight to a desert pump track:

• Rachel Entrekin’s Cocodona 250. A performance that is nothing short of a complete reset of what’s possible. All done with light feet and a smile that says, “Y’all taking this stuff too serious.”

• Ann Trason. Concurrent to Cocodona, this ultrarunning legend posted a series of “coke-and-donut” reels that, if they didn’t make you smile, well then check to make sure your heart’s not frozen.

• Breaking 2:00. I’m not the first to say, this is our generation’s Bannister moment. It will crack marathoning wide open, a fascinating comment on limiting beliefs. What will Sawe do in Berlin?

• Like the Wind and RUNHER Magazines. When I graduated from design school, print was the cool job to get. I landed in digital, which, awesome. But the ink-and-paper revival in running gives me tingles.

• The Trail House. This is the true story of four post-collegiate athletes, picked to live in a house and have their lives taped, to find out what happens when runners stop being polite...

• Un-sciency running books. I have read a ton of training theory, but also love stories of movement as a backdrop to life’s big questions. Yes, I think that’s fun. Here are a few:

  • The Running Ground | Nicholas Thompson

  • The Way Around: A Field Guide to Going Nowhere | Nicholas Triolo

  • The Examined Run | Sabrina Little

Gotta go. Apparently, this adidas x SATISFY thing still has legs.

Run lightly,
-mike

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