By: Brentney Hamilton <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I share a quote with students on the first day of each\nsemester. They are navigating the choppy waters of their first year at college,\nand most have been educated in a system that prizes getting an \u201cA\u201d grade or an\nelite test score over anything else. In such a mindset, seeking efficiency\nthrough \u201ccutting corners\u201d is both rational and overwhelmingly tempting,\nespecially given how easily accessible and undetectable new methods of\n\u201chomework help\u201d have become. Get the top score. Be the best. Your<\/em> future\ndepends on it<\/em>, we tell them. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Channeling Albert Einstein, I say, \u201cWhoever is\ncareless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted in important\naffairs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s one translation, at least, of a standout line\nin a speech the humanitarian\/physicist reportedly left undelivered at the time\nof his death in 1955. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m no Einstein. I cannot as elegantly as the late\ngenius articulate the reasons to avoid falling into temptation on matters as\nsmall as a single homework assignment, so I tell them my own view on the matter\nis informed by my identity as an athlete. There are few things I have found\nmore satisfying in life than the experience of intentionally, if incrementally,\ndeveloping puny inborn talent to unimaginable limits. It requires discipline\nand patience, but the bounteous rewards of resilience and confidence are twentyfold\nmore valuable than an easily-won — or ill-begotten<\/em> \u2013 top result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Runners take such things quite seriously. Yet, an\nentire website \u2013 MarathonInvestigation.com \u2013 catches hundreds of cheaters each\nyear. Many \u201ccut corners\u201d or get \u201chelp\u201d from others to qualify for Boston or\nsnatch an unearned spot on a podium. Most get caught and publicly shamed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Making a U-turn 200 feet too soon is clearly wrong,\nright? But, what about runners who feel occasionally tempted to cut corners in\nsmaller ways? Say an injured friend offers a coveted bib to a sold-out race.\nIt\u2019s technically against the rules but, come on<\/em>. Nobody\u2019s checking IDs\nat the finish line. Or, what about \u201cbanditing\u201d — jumping into a race without a\nbib. Did you see the exorbitant registration fees<\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both common practices are cheating. Here\u2019s why: <\/p>\n\n\n\n I learned that last one the hard way. When I first\nstarted running, the idea of placing in a race felt like the furthest thing\nfrom reality. It was not on my mind when I sometimes took or purchased (at a\n\u201cfriend\u2019s discount) a buddy\u2019s bib when they couldn\u2019t make it to a particular\nevent. Likewise, I once offered my bib to a friend when I was called into work\nunexpectedly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A few weeks later, I received an unexpected package.\nThe race had mailed to me the first-place medal my male friend had \u201cwon\u201d in the\nwomen\u2019s 25-29 age group. As I held it in my hand \u2013 not around my neck — I felt\nabsolutely sick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though running is a recreational hobby for most\nof us, winning an age group award would have meant the world to me. It would have\nrepresented remarkable discipline and personal development. Those were qualities\nI wanted to have. They were the reasons I had started running in the first\nplace. Though I hadn\u2019t done it on purpose, I had taken another woman\u2019s earned\nfeeling of remarkable accomplishment. It was a small matter, but it felt newly\nimportant for reasons I\u2019d yet to consider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For most of us, honor and integrity are rewards in and\nof themselves. But sometimes it helps to know the logic behind rules that may\nseem arbitrary or overbearing. It can be helpful to know that our actions may affect\nothers ways we don\u2019t understand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if a race asks that those running with a leashed\ndog or stroller line up at the back of the field \u2013 please <\/em>comply, even\nif your dog is \u201creally fast.\u201d (It\u2019s. Still. Tripping. Fast. Runners.) If a race\nasks you to purchase a bib, please do so and ensure that no one runs with it\nother than yourself or the person to whom it was officially transferred by race\ndirectors. If a race a medal or t-shirt, please don\u2019t take two or ten. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The truth matters. In matters great and small. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Brentney Hamilton I share a quote with students on the first day of each semester. They are navigating the choppy waters of their first year at college, and most have been educated in a system that prizes getting an \u201cA\u201d grade or an elite test score over anything else. In such a mindset, seeking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[557,548],"yoast_head":"\n