Innovation & Sports
This last week I had the privilege of attending a high school cross country meet to support one of the young runners. There is something so humbling about watching young girls enthusiastically purse their dreams in the purest form of sport. Before the gun went off to commence the 5K a group of girls huddled in a circle and chanted loudly. After finishing their huddle, they all laughed hugged and dispersed to prepare for the race. The gun went off and the ginormous pack of young athletes took off with the utmost zeal.
This week was huge bomb dropped in the world of running. (If you know you know). It is always disheartening when stories of abuse, disordered eating, and misconduct come to light. The running community though small has such a powerful way of banning together and supporting one another. I had no idea that such a great group of humans existed until I started following the sport a lot closer. A sweet girl in the running community posted her story this week and the circle of support that encompassed around her seemed to be bigger than the small community of runners itself. People have banned together in support of the purity of sport and wellbeing of professional athletes.
The world is funny and you never know who you are going to run into. I had a conversation this week with a man who is on the board at Nike. After a week of throughly researching I can say that I was confidently well versed in the story that had come to light. So when I ran into this professional pal of mine I was guns blazing and ready to talk some shop with him. Our conversation quickly shifted to the current news that had come to light. We shared the same perspective that the runner’s story that had come to light was tragically awful and that someone needed to take responsibility for the events that had occurred. Then our conversation shifted to innovation and purity of sports. The conversation that I had with him resonated with me and has weighed heavily on my mind this past week.
Sooooooo per usual I bring my scatterbrained thoughts to my sanctuary of chaos. My blog. So here is that conversation broken down into three parts.
First, what does it take to be a professional athlete? To be the best of the best you must be willing to go above and beyond the average. My little pal at Nike said “In order to be the best at the sport you must be willing to sacrifice the ordinary.” Its a pretty basic concept. That in order to be the best you leave the ordinary human behaviors and lifestyle behind. Think of a professional athlete who has a full time job other than the sport they are involved in. Name a single one who isn’t fully employed or contracted by a company to soley dedicate themselves to their sport. Because I can’t name anyone haha. Every professional athlete I can think of dedicates their time to excessive training, above and beyond nutritional practices, and gets paid to do so. That is what sets them apart! They have the time and resources to dedicate to improving their training and better themselves as athletes.
Second, was the idea that in order to improve the sport of running we need to constantly be evolving. This segwayed us into the discussion of Kipchoge breaking the 2 hour marathon time recently. This groundbreaking marathoner, though an amazing athlete, used innovate shoe technology to push the boundaries of what humans thought was possible. Companies are constantly creating new products, shoes, and resources for these amazing athletes to use as tools to help them push the boundaries. As my good ol’ pal said, “Our goal at Nike is to discover athletes that already have amazing talent, drive, and disciple, then give them the tools to go further than they ever thought possible.” Wow thats a neato thought huh? Well, when does it get to a point where it is too much?
That leads me to our third topic of discussion. The idea that innovation and pushing the boundaries can sometimes comes at the expense of the human condition. When a coach says to themselves, “Boy I am so lucky I have such talented athletes, maybe I could have them run even faster if I gave them pills.” (DOPING). Or a company says “Wow we have the fastest marathoner in the world, lets create some shoes that unbalance the playing field and have mini trampolines in them, just to see if he can get even faster.” (NIKE VAPORFLY). Where do we draw the line of so desperately seeking innovation and sacrificing the purity of the sport.
Keep in mind I literally have no answers and my opinion is just a grain of sand compared to the vast amounts of knowledge that exists in the running community. Anyone that knows me knows that I am utterly starstruck and obsessed with Shalane Flanagan. Recently retired from running she has taken up a coaching position for the Bowman team. She so beautiful stated this week in her Instagram post, “ We invest in one another. We strive to create a culture that is safe, caring and compassionate. The message I share is clear, It is great to be fast, but better to be a great person.” A-freaking-men. Dear Shalane I love you and all of your infinite wisdom. Please stop over for dinner anytime you are in North Portland. Thx.
It must have taken so much courage for the young runner to come forward and tell her story this past week. I was in awe of the beautiful community that came forward and supported her. Sports are that. They are a celebration of the human body and a community of people that support one another. It is a privilege to get work with, associate with, and cheer on such groundbreaking athletes. Innovation though amazing and necessary should have limits. Dear coach that is banned for 4 years who will not be named, you might have been a great coach but you dehumanized and belittled some of the greatest athletes alive. You were lucky enough to know and associate with the best of the best and you squandered it to pursue a selfish version of innovation.
To all of those that have shared their thoughts and stories, keep it up. Talking and conversation is what keep the sport honest and open. To all those too afraid to speak out, remember that change doesn’t happen unless you contribute to it. Can we all be lucky enough to feel the humility of watching a high school cross country meet? Can we take a step back and just marvel at the amazing human boundaries that have already been pushed? Then we can get off our butts, put in the work, and break the boundaries of running the way they were supposed to be broken.
