10 reasons sedentary people dislike runners

Normally runners are a pretty congenial group of people.  We try to be healthy, look for ways to improve, and hang out with other runners. We have a wonderfully supportive group of friends and family that make our hobby possible.  But it has come to my attention that there is a group of dissenters who would love to see runners become couch potatoes like themselves, and will go out of their way to be obnoxious towards runners. You might recognize them when they yell at you, swerve too close, honk from inches away, or make fun of you in public.  Though they will never read this or change, at least we runners can understand why they feel the way they do. Here are the reasons why some people dislike runners.

1. It's the legs.  Everybody wants sleek, lean legs that are evenly tanned (at least between socks and short) and rippling with muscles.  Runners have them and the backside to go with it. Be jealous.  

2. Everyone wants a medal. It is cool and rare to do something worthy of a medal in adulthood.  It takes several hours of sustained effort plus months of training to earn the medal that is awarded to finishers of half-or full marathons.  You deserve a medal for all that hard work and that makes people who don't run envy you.  

3. We have a built in excuse to be anti-social and go to bed early. Everyone needs an escape some time.  Runners have a natural excuse to get away from the noise and stress of life by saying they need to train. And to train, we need to sleep. So we can get away from anything at anytime with a good reason. 

4. We can eat guilt free. Calories are our friends and our fuel.  While Couch Potato Man shows evidence of his bag of chips through his spare tire, we eat donuts without showing anything through our spandex.  Steak and potatoes become recovery foods instead of just a heavy high-carb meal.  Now I'm salivating.

5. The glory days of our sport don't end in high school.  Most runners peak in their twenties or thirties, and even after that you can keep chasing age group and masters PRs.  Besides, the endurance and toughness grows with age, so you never really slow down. It is one of the few things you can keep doing for life. Not like any other sport, where you end your playing days with your high school team and then become an armchair quarterback reflecting on what could have been.   

6.  We don't obey traffic laws. This makes people angry when they have to stop at lights with no other cars present or they are stuck in traffic and you go cruising by.  Although we do have to be cautious for our own safety, traffic laws are for VEHICULAR traffic, not pedestrians.  

7.  We go places and see things most people don't.  We get outside on roads, trails, and paths at all times of the year, at all times of the day, and in all kinds of conditions.  We are moving slow enough to notice things and experience the world in a way that Couch Potato Man never will, which makes him feel excluded and sad.

8.  It's too simple.  It makes people suspicious.  Too many haters associate running with punishment in PE as children, and so cannot understand why any sane person would do it.  They don't want to hear the simple explanation that was as true in PE as it is now: running feels good.  Movement is joyful.  Therefore, we do it. It really is that easy.  

9.  Lack of endorphins.  Runners feel good because they are healthy and exercise stimulates production of endorphins, which make us happy.  Couch Potato Man is grouchy because he doesn't have endorphins and therefore hates everyone who does. 

10.  It's hard.  Running is fun, but it is hard.  The longer it has been since a running experience, the harder it will be to begin. Not everyone can cut it, so they resent those who can.   When Couch Potato Man figures out that he can do something hard too, he will be more friendly toward runners everywhere. 

So I guess it comes down to jealousy, exclusion, and inferiority.  Couch potato man doesn't like that you are better than him in a sport he doesn't understand and doesn't feel a part of, with really cool perks he doesn't get.  Sorry man.