Variety is the spice of life

We love a beautifully diverse running world, don't we? We love to include everyone in this wonderful sport, right? Well we've got it. Now what?

Last week on Running Sucks

It’s rare that I write about something truly newsworthy, but I got to do that last week. I interviewed the man who designed the Zara Long-Distance Running Shoe, and didn’t it just get the full range of responses.

The loudest commenters were naysayers, of course, and while the loudest voices are always heard most, none were incorrect. What struck me, though, was the number of people who replied directly to the email (you can do that, by the way) with quieter but equally valid opinions on the Zara Athleticz gear. Zara had hit a nerve.

If you’ve been reading along, you’ll know I’ve been exploring this running boom that we’ve been in for the past year, and I'm always keen to see how our enormous niche hits the mainstream, and if Zara selling carbon-plated shoes isn’t that, I don’t know what is.

Shoes, after all, are really the only piece of functional apparel that we runners need, so seeing the ethically-dubious fast fashion brand investing in running signifies another shift towards a non-running-specific market.

Questions arose as to Zara’s worthiness of joining the running world, however, so allow me to indulge in a little story.

This one time, when I dared to walk into my local heavy metal bar while wearing a suit, I was grilled to name three Slayer songs. The implication was that I was an outsider — that I didn’t belong. As a music journalist in the rock world, I never actually cosplayed by owning a leather motorcycle jacket, so 1) I was sadly quite used to that kind of behavior and 2) it was a fun moment for me as I schooled that bouncer pretty swiftly.

There are similar gatekeepers in every corner of the running world who just don’t really want non-runners (or different runners) polluting the sacred space they’ve built. However, we’re experiencing an interesting moment in running that is happening, regardless of those feelings.

Funnily enough, I saw Slayer as a somewhat tired old band, but I understood their place in history, and duly saw their set at every festival because I knew the scene needed hackneyed stadium rock spectacles from heavy metal royalty as much as it needed the damp, violent basement shows from the essential new breed of musicians.

In the same way, I want everyone to run. That includes people who run solo, people in run clubs, marathoners, sprinters, people who wear neon shirts, people who get their thigh tattooed because it’s visible while running, trail runners, treadmill runners, people who only run in old fun run t-shirts, people who spend $150 on a shirt, people who buy their gear from Zara.

All of those people contribute to the fabric of our running culture. Just like the world isn’t shaped by one type of person, or one type of music, the running world isn’t shaped by one type of runner. You can call it variety, the spice of life, or diversity, but it’s pretty cool whichever way you spin it.

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Also last week on Running sucks

I interviewed Rou Reynolds of British rockers, Enter Shikari about how running is an essential part of his mental health journey — but just one part. Give it a read. I love to hear from you on all of these topics.

Is running in your mental health toolkit?

Apologies for a double interview week, but I’m somewhat backlogged after that disastrous January. I have a couple of interviews I did in DECEMBER that are next on the chopping block. I’m looking forward to having my head back above water by the end of March.

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Last year on Running Sucks

I interviewed Nils Arend, the brains behind the coolest trail race in the world, The Speed Project. Nils’ insights on how running culture got to where it is today (long-distance runners’ desire to document their/our lives) are as accurate as you’d expect.

The maverick mind behind The Speed Project

I’m hopeful to have a few cool bits around this year’s TSP. Fingers crossed.

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- Raz