Ice Fishing 5K?

Okay, so I know I will offend (probably a lot) of people during this post, but it's something that's been on my mind.

I am not the world's greatest athlete.  I go through spurts of thinking working out is awesome, but I'm never going to post quotes about running.  What do I mean by this?  Here's an example

I understand that this works for people.  I dare say I understand this works for a lot of people, but when did this start?  I think as a child I loved going to gym class in my Nike shoes and I didn't need to aspire to sweating out a tear to do so. 

Running isn't one of those things that I enjoy.....yet.  I can run, and I'll do it because I know of the positive impacts it has on my health overall.  When did running, or the art of the 5K become a thing though?  Literally everyone can run, and all of a sudden it seems like anyone who has an idea to squash into combination with a 5K run are shoving it down our throats "YES YOU CAN RUN".  

I remember first hearing about the Color Run.  It's deemed the Happiest 5K or something along those lines.  In the summer of 2013 both the Color Run and the Color Me Rad races made their debuts in Maine.  There was a part of me that really wanted to sign up.  Being blasted with colored chalk sure would be distracting to me during a run through beautiful Southern Maine, but would it make me a happier person?  The obscene entry fee (which goes to what? a t-shirt and sunglasses?) wasn't quite as motivational.  I ended up avoiding both and was exposed to experiences which made me not so disappointed in my decision "I can't get this dye out of my hair"  "My shoes are destroyed"  "Just trying to find parking in order to run for 30 minutes was not worth it" "I would have rather been the people throwing the paint at the runners"

People have enjoyed running for as long as we have figured out we could.  People haven't always enjoyed working out despite knowing that we should.  I understand that these alternative 5K races are trying to remedy that.  Still, the dancing 5K?  You can easily do that in your own home.  The foam 5K?  The electric 5K?  Sign up for a 5K but in the middle you're going to have to climb over a wall larger than your own home, catch a fish using your bare hands, ice skate 100 yards, then swim through electricity before you finish.  You'll never notice you're doing a 5K and think of the experience you'll have!  

The sarcasm is pretty heavy handed here, and it's meant to be.  I'm proud of all of my runner friends achieving goals I could never attain and wearing sports bras in sizes I could never dream of wearing.  I just don't necessarily think that these themed 5Ks coming at us from all angles are necessarily the answer.  The positive feeling that you get from running should be something that's realized by each person on their own level, without crawling beneath a barbed wire barricade (and paying for that barricade to be assembled).  

As a person who battles with their love of running, I think I am just going to keep Phoebe's perspective.  Run because it feels right to you, and run the best way you can.  I'm not saying that people should just veto these races altogether, but just take a step back and think about why you're doing what you're doing.  Are you running it for the run, or the challenge of wading through mud during a race, because it should be about your own accomplishments and not what your friends on Facebook see.   If you aren't the biggest fan of running, like myself, you can make up your own 5Ks every day without paying any fees to do so!  Intentionally forget things downstairs, dance to make your roommates laugh, make organizing the trash and recycling a race on the day it should go out.  Fitness can be found in the happiest of places, without the title or 5K being attached to the end of it.