Running: The Individualistic, Dying, Underpaid Sport.

The thickened headwind you must fight into.
The scorching heat in the middle of the afternoon on a summer day.
Cars pass you and throw mud onto your soaked shirt.
Your socks are wet, drenched in a mixture of sweat and rainwater.
Instead of enjoying a glass of lemonade with your girlfriend, you're exhausting your own liquids.
Tired legs, heavy heart, and aching muscles, you still find a way to keep going. Why put yourself through all that hell?

There's nothing fun about it. Nothing at all.

Running is a dying sport. There's no lure, no bait of popularity and fortune.
A girl running a 8 minute mile in an physical education class is considered "fast". A boy jumping 5'5" in the high jump could place you 1st in your district's meet. Yet these mediocre marks don't match to the level of performance ten years ago. Have we degraded somewhere along the lines? I would like to believe it is more of a "bump in the road". We don't expect more from people anymore. The United States has a growing epidemic of obesity and coronary heart disease. As, a country, we lead the world in those categories.

You can see why running is a dying pastime in America. We enjoy watching it, but not the actual physicality and strain of the sport. We have grown accustomed to things quick and efficient. Times have elapsed, and culture and tradition have changed. Throughout history, people survived through the means of running swiftly. Still, it doesn't have as much social and economical advantages of baseball, basketball and football. Owners and teams offer millions of dollars to play for their team, but in cross country and T/F, you are competing for yourself. Even if you are on the Olympic or National U.S. team, you find your own coach. You just get together to practice baton exchanges with fellow "teammates" a couple days before the race. There's no bonding in that; you're in a relay, a coherently team event, for yourself.

A bit selfish, no?