Google will tell you that the definition of sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment”. Let’s talk about this.
People have asked me many a time in the past, “oh so do you do any sports?”. I have always said, “no I just run”. Runners, what answer would you give? Or what have you found yourself saying to this question?
Breaking it down
There’s two things that came to my mind when I read this definition. First of all, the emphasis on competition. Don’t get me wrong, I know that competing is a big part of any sports team in a championship for example. But this definition misses out a crucial part of what competition means. In a world full of social media and pressure to look and be a certain way, my biggest competition isn’t the opposite team. It’s me.
Every time I run, I compete on levels that go deeper than merely beating my opponents on a score-to-score basis. Please don’t think I’m undermining team sports. They are a great way of keeping fit, healthy, happy and feeding your competitive streaks. However, the act of running as well as those who do run, I believe, should be given more credit and recognition as a sport, sportswomen and sportsmen.
New runners who are taking it mile by mile and those experienced marathon runners who are determined not to hang up their running trainers just yet, they’re the same too. When a person runs, stopwatch or not, headphones or not, latest flashy gear or not, they enter into a different world much more than increased heart rates.
For some it’s a stress-reliever. A way of fitting in their exercise into their daily lives. On top of that, it can be a miracle worker by the means of mood lifting and in turn, learning to love ourselves genuinely. Self love, and how running can change your whole attitude about yourself, is something I am extremely passionate about.
In this sense, amongst others, I would love for more people to see how influential running can be. But for now, running is a sport in that we compete with our previous run times, push ourselves to the very limit, battle with our tired minds and burning legs to crawl up that hill.
To entertain
Secondly, I love the way Google integrates the idea of sport involving entertainment. You can see how this works when you think of well-known sporting events, take the Olympics for example, or any football stadium or grounds. It brings likeminded people together, to indulge in a healthy way.
Then again, think about it. Who is sport healthy for? And who is being entertained by whom? The players, competitors, teammates, yes. What about the ritualised way of drinking alcohol in a football stadium? Consider a different sport, one that includes consumption of your five a day, strawberries? Thought-provoking as these questions are for another blog on another day, let me show you how running is a part of entertainment too.
My love for running and bettering myself through my exercise was passed on to me by my father, who still runs today. I remember him taking me on my very first jog. I also remember years later, crossing the finishing line of my first half marathon to find my Dad beaming at me in celebration of my running milestone. Aside from the thousands of applauding spectators and side stands of music, how different is being a part of your football team encouraging your teammates, really, compared to my experience, as a runner?
Slim, which is ironic when you think that the word is what people hope to be through ‘sport’.
