I love running races. I am not particularly fast, but that doesn’t matter to me. I love the sense of accomplishment that I feel when I cross the finish line, whether that is at the end of a 5k or marathon. I have run somewhere between 20-30 races in my 3.5 years of running including three half-marathons and one marathon. I would run more, but it is slightly disappointing when I go to do a run and finish with a good time for me and the winners in my age group finished more than twice as fast as me. I am a large runner and it is hard to “compete” against the stereotypical runner.
Besides the fact that most races are designed to raise charity or a profit for the organizers, it should also be to help motivate people to get out and get moving, to help with the obesity epidemic. Most races I have been a part of do that just fine, but I think if they started offering awards to the horribly named “Clydesdale” division then you could get more people motivated to not just finish, but compete too. I know I would enter more races if I actually had a chance to win some prizes while losing weight in the process and I think others would too.
If you are a race organizer and you would consider adding a non-age group division for larger runners I would love to know about it. Just don’t call us the Clydesdales please.
JC Mission 