This month’s ageing runner reading took me to Sabrina Little’s monthly column on irunfar.com. Sabrina is an Assistant Professor in Ethics and Moral psychology at Christopher Newport University as well as being an elite athlete. She looks at running through the lens of virtue ethics and says:
To take humanity seriously in running is to recognize and honor the dignity of persons in our sport
I could not agree more. Sabrina discusses the way we tend to see running performance using’ the parameters of youth’ and that this communicates the ‘superiority of youth over old age’. I think we fall into that without realising it because so many of us measure running success by our personal best times. 
I think am as much in danger of doing that to myself as to other people. Perhaps more so. Maybe I view my own current running performance using the parameters of my youth.
No-one owns running. It is a universal human activity. It doesn’t belong to elite athletes who are involved in that niche part of the running spectrum that may be regarded as sport. Running is much wider than that. Sabrina urges us to tell stories that are not just about peak performance. She says that she is ‘as much of a runner when I am pushing a stroller’. Again, I could not agree more.
For me, running is not about winning races, it is a way of life. I was as much of a runner when I hardly ran at all during five years plagued by injury. I was just a runner who couldn’t run. Recognising and honouring the dignity of all runners is why I find myself engaging with and applauding every runner who takes part in our local Parkrun on a Saturday morning. Every person taking part has a story and somehow running has become an integral part of it. Their efforts deserve recognition. Respect to them all.
I am glad to have found Sabrina’s column. Check it out for yourself.
References
