Stupid things people have said

I have had a couple of things said to me recently by non-runners that have wind me up.
Coming out of work last week in shorts and running shoes I had the following exchange with a colleague as we walked out together.
Him: - On a bit of a fitness fad are we?:angry:
Me:- No not really more a life style thing.
Him: - Don’t bother mate even fit footballers like that one on telly can have a heart attack.
Me:- Well all the exercise in the world is not going to fix a heart problem.
Him lighting up a fag: - a lot of smokers live to a right old age you know, any way I don’t want to live to such a age that I get dementia.
Me:- Well exercise is proven to keep you from getting dementia.
Him:- No it is doing Sudoku that stops you getting dementia,I will do some of them.

27 stone obese Mothering law with a list of medical problems that you would expect with such a condition.
:- Tahr you have to stop doing all this exercise because it causes people have heart attacks when they are running etc.:angry:
Me:- Oh well will just have to take my chances.
Did I have to bite my tongue on that one for the sake of marital relations.

What stupid or irritating things have been said to you by non-runners?

ATB

Tahr

I'm spoilt for choice when it comes to remarks uttered by cretinous morons nowadays.
They range from 'run forrest run'- through to the equally antithetical attempt at wittiness that is 'what's fell running then, where you fall over a lot'.
Half these people I subliminally earmark for a good twatting if I ever get into power of a police state.
The worst of the lot undoubtably though has to be this one;
'Its not far to the finish now mate'
There I am staggering, delirious, needing a piss and in the knowledge that I'm either gonna spew up or shit myself and some fat bastard with no idea tells me 'not far'. The ultimate bollocks line of all...in Ireland last year I crossed the dam wall and some paddy said that to me, I was still 2 hours from the finish. I spent the rest of my cramp infested dribble fest expecting the finish to appear imminently and it never did.

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Originally Posted by TurboTom

I'm spoilt for choice ....

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you've perhaps quite a collection of your own Tom :p

Sister in law can't get her head round the idea that the ultra I'm going to be doing will be done all at once, no there aren't any stops other than feed stations, no I won't be going home halfway round and coming back later, no I won't stop to sleep, I will keep going from the start until I've reached the finish.

Also, when mentioning my training mileage she commented "oh, so you're doing the event now, just in bits?" :confused:

Oh and do I need mention spectators at races shouting "keep them knees up"?

Thing is...

A lot of people I've known over the years outside of running can't understand that I couldn't care less about the medical benefits (or otherwise). I run because I want to run. Any other percieved benefits are secondary. When I can't run through injury I don't obsess over 'keeping fit'. I couldn't care less.

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Originally Posted by vics

Sister in law can't get her head round the idea that the ultra I'm going to be doing will be done all at once, no there aren't any stops other than feed stations, no I won't be going home halfway round and coming back later, no I won't stop to sleep, I will keep going from the start until I've reached the finish.

Also, when mentioning my training mileage she commented "oh, so you're doing the event now, just in bits?" :confused:

Oh and do I need mention spectators at races shouting "keep them knees up"?

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Good grief, I'm cringing just thinking about those conversations

Unfortunately the bulk of the stupidest things I've heard have come from my own cake hole:o

I was in with a nurse for an ear infection and I was asked about exercise (can't remember why). I informed her that I am a regular cyclist. She commented that she is not allowed to cycle because she is blood donor (implying her body is too valuable to risk it on the roads).

I sort of smiled to myself as she must have been the best part of 20 stone.

I'm always getting daft comments thrown at me when running. The best one was quite funny and when I was limping along with a badly sprained ankle and a local man said 'bye lass, if tha was a horse tha'd shoot thee' (am not very good at the Yorkshire accent).

Latest was from a guy who'd positioned himself on the junction of a footpath and was sat on a shooting stick passing comment on walkers. I ran past and he asked if I was late for something and when I forced a laugh (I was on my 28th mile) and said no, he said 'if you'd set off earlier, you wouldn't have to run'...ooh how I split my sides:rolleyes:

More worrying and really daft imo came from an overweight friend with high blood pressure. A group of us were discussing an article which said that regular exercise could lower your blood pressure by up to 15% and she said '15% is nothing, it wouldn't be worth it to me' and yet she takes daily pills for it and has countless health problems. I just don't get it but then she doesn't get me running up hills for fun.:)

I was once chatting to the checkout lady at Asda when she asked me what I was doing at the weekend, I said I was doing a 9 mile fell race called Noon Stone. She asked if I was doing it for charity to which I replied 'no'. I explained that fell races are something I do on a fairly regular basis and I couldn't possibly collect money every time to which she replied that if she ever ran 9 mile it would have to be for charity!!

I was telling my elderly neighbour about my BG attempt last year and explained that it had to be done within 24 hours otherwise it wouldn't count. She asked if I would be going home to sleep through the night section!! Great idea but that's not really how it works!!

I think the majority of comments I hear when I am out running are well meant and are people either offering encouragement or just being friendly and passing the day. Nonrunners you meet in your work environment will never "get" you and can only really talk about running at their level of understanding or misunderstanding.
I suspect that women suffer more stupid, condescending, offensive things said to them than men do though. This is apparent through things I have read on this forum and personally witnessed when taking part in club runs or races with women runners and this is an issue and must be very intimidating for them :thunbdown:

Pah! Women runners should just man up Alf! :)

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Originally Posted by Mrs Stagger

I was once chatting to the checkout lady at Asda when she asked me what I was doing at the weekend, I said I was doing a 9 mile fell race called Noon Stone. She asked if I was doing it for charity to which I replied 'no'. I explained that fell races are something I do on a fairly regular basis and I couldn't possibly collect money every time to which she replied that if she ever ran 9 mile it would have to be for charity!!

I was telling my elderly neighbour about my BG attempt last year and explained that it had to be done within 24 hours otherwise it wouldn't count. She asked if I would be going home to sleep through the night section!! Great idea but that's not really how it works!!

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Linda I think this is the single most annoying thing; people always assuming that you're only running as training for a charity event:angry:. As for the Bob Graham, well, to be fair, I don't think that anyone not into hill running would ever comprehend that

What got me most when I still ran were the comments about running for charity. As if the only reason for running is to raise money for charity???? I run because I love it, I run because I can...

The other one is: you are as thin as a rake, why on earth are you running? As if one would only run to loose weight? I have never been bothered with my weight, it is always the same, if I run or not!

The what is fell running, did you fall running etc etc gets at me too...

Now that I predominantly cycle, I get the same thing, but bike and cycling related :rolleyes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-17580252

News item about someone who died after completing the Reading half-marathon at the weekend - a shocking tragedy and sadly more fuel for those daft comments.

Just this morning I was talking to a chap at work who's actually a fairly keen runner, but only on road thus far, about my next race - the Teenager with Altitude. I said how the checkpoints in fell races tend to be the tops of fells, to which he then asked how they get all the bottles of water up there - do they use a helicopter?

I proceeded to explain that no they don't use helicopters, and that although you may sometimes get a kindly soul lugging a few litres to the top of Grasmoor for general consumption, on the whole you have to look after yourself. He also asked if you got medals for finishing fell races; I was going to say something about not being bothered about that since my age is in double figures, but I thought better of it!

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Originally Posted by Hanneke

What got me most when I still ran were the comments about running for charity. As if the only reason for running is to raise money for charity???? I run because I love it, I run because I can...

The other one is: you are as thin as a rake, why on earth are you running? As if one would only run to loose weight? I have never been bothered with my weight, it is always the same, if I run or not!

The what is fell running, did you fall running etc etc gets at me too...

Now that I predominantly cycle, I get the same thing, but bike and cycling related :rolleyes:

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I once went for a spray tan and the lady said I couldn't run for a couple of days as the sweat makes you go green......apparently. Then proceeded to say that I didn't need to run anyway as I was thin enough!!

Last year I went to the doctors with a sore knee, he booked me in for an x-ray but said if they couldn't sort it out, I would have to forget about running and take up something like swimming instead!!! Don't they understand? Swimming is nothing like running. Luckily the condition sorted itself out and I didn't have any more problems.

My friends road running husband doesn't think that fell running is proper running cos people walk!! Don't know about you but I don't know many people who can run up Causey Pike!

Suprisingly, even colleagues who supposedly do "run" only ever take part in large road events, and see running as some sort of cross to bare in order to raise money for charity rather than anything enjoyable. I'm not knocking them but to them, fell or xc running is some kind unfathomable, masochistic torture.
I have long since given up trying to explain any form of running (let alone fell) to any of the uninitiated.These days I largely prescribe to "If I have to explain, then you probably won't understand" school or thought........that way I don't get too many stupid comments back!

My favourite line, that never fails to amuse my simple little mind, is telling the kindly gent / lady / marshall who is holding a gate open during a race that they can close it now. Always gets a laugh which is why I keep on using it.

I'm new to this running thing, spent years marshalling and the like but only got off my backside last June. I am looking for sponsorship but over the year where I've set myself a 1000 mile challenge - have a look at my blog for more background.
In chatting to many colleagues, mostly those based in London to be fair, they immediately ask if I'm training for the London marathon. When I say no but I am thinking ofdoing the Yorkshireman as I don't really like road running a few have said
"Well the London is really the hardest marathon so not surprised you dont want to."

Ahhh, yeah, sore knee...

The stupidiest comment I have ever had was from an orthopaedic consultant whom I visited on the NHS due to torn anterior talofibular ligaments... Torn clean off during OMM 2008... ok, you can walk, you can drive a car, you can do your job and you can sleep because you have no pain, so we don't see the need to operate and stitch it back together, as you can function FULLY... errrr.... NO, I can't function fully, I can't run! I can't go fell running any more, or race... However, in my books, saying I function FULLY while clearly I can't run is the biggest running related b*ll*cks I have ever heard, from a doctor no less :w00t:

[QUOTE=Hes;476530]I'm always getting daft comments thrown at me when running. The best one was quite funny and when I was limping along with a badly sprained ankle and a local man said 'bye lass, if tha was a horse tha'd shoot thee' (am not very good at the Yorkshire accent).

Latest was from a guy who'd positioned himself on the junction of a footpath and was sat on a shooting stick passing comment on walkers. I ran past and he asked if I was late for something and when I forced a laugh (I was on my 28th mile) and said no, he said 'if you'd set off earlier, you wouldn't have to run'...ooh how I split my sides:rolleyes:

yeah well... you will go out running with Stolly

Oh don't start me on numpty comments made re running and the London Marathon! I have run 3 road mara's before I saw the light and became a fellrunner, or is that dark ;), but they obviously don't count as they were all shorter and much less hard than the London one. Besides, I didn't run for charity so how hard can it be?

When out for a run, whatever run, I invariably got asked: are you training for 'the' marathon? As if London is the only one and if that can be the only reason for running... No, I am just out enjoying myself in the sunshine on the Thames Towpath grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

OK, you guys have caught me in rant mode LOL

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Originally Posted by Livi

I'm new to this running thing, spent years marshalling and the like but only got off my backside last June. I am looking for sponsorship but over the year where I've set myself a 1000 mile challenge - have a look at my blog for more background.
In chatting to many colleagues, mostly those based in London to be fair, they immediately ask if I'm training for the London marathon. When I say no but I am thinking ofdoing the Yorkshireman as I don't really like road running a few have said
"Well the London is really the hardest marathon so not surprised you dont want to."

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Top up yer petrol tanks. (Tory leader cameron 28 march 2012)

Any blokes who answer "Yes" whan asked by the missus "does my bum look big in this?":D

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Originally Posted by Stagger

Top up yer petrol tanks. (Tory leader cameron 28 march 2012)

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Gordon Brown - "No return to boom and bust" on countless occasions between 1997 and 2008.

"Peace in our time", Chamberlain 30-9-1938

ha ha:thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Old Whippet

yeah well... you will go out running with Stolly

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I always get told when I'm sick, that I do too much and should slow down..the thought that I could have caught something off someone else doesnt seem to cross some peoples minds..
someone also once told me that cycling doesnt raise your heart rate ? maybe he should try cycling over Rivington..

I went to my doctor a few years ago with a hamstring problem, he told me to go home stop running and be a mother and a housewife, the comment didn't sink in until I had left the surgery, needless to say I try and avoid him now

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Originally Posted by okmum33

I always get told when I'm sick, that I do too much and should slow down..the thought that I could have caught something off someone else doesnt seem to cross some peoples minds..
someone also once told me that cycling doesnt raise your heart rate ? maybe he should try cycling over Rivington..

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That's one that really pees me off too (almost as much as the "have you done THE marathon then?"!). Last week I was ill with a virus, but recovered quickly and was back in work after two days. Half my work colleagues had been off with the same thing, and most of them for over a week, but I still got several "not good for you all that running" remarks! Grrrrr!

When I talk about my running stuff, my non running mates say "oh I can't run". I reply with, "well for a long time I didn't think I could but I put one foot in front of the other at a quicker pace than walk & hey presto....I was running & the more I did it, the easier it got" :thumbup:

A number of years ago when a group were chatting at work about "So what did you do last weekend", I mentioned I'd run a half marathon, one colleague said, "what, only half a marathon, couldn't you be bothered to finish?" This person actively avoids any exertion at all ever, bringing her car down into the disabled parking outside at work to load up a few work bags rather than walking a couple of hundred yards up the hill!

And they only seem to see the mark of a 'runner' is if you've run London Marathon.

This weekend running up Clougha, a walker decided it was his right to comment on my efforts [would I think of saying out loud what I thought of him? Not within earshot anyway...]

"Oh, too much effort, do it while you're young"

- I replied "It keeps you young!" thinking of all the V50 and V60s that comfortably finish well in front of me at races!

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Originally Posted by Usually at the back

I went to my doctor a few years ago with a hamstring problem, he told me to go home stop running and be a mother and a housewife, the comment didn't sink in until I had left the surgery, needless to say I try and avoid him now

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The last 'Doctor' I saw (I only went to get a referral for private treatment) told me that at 42 I should pack in running and do non-impact sports such as swimming.... Sometimes I think Christopher Leigh is right and we should be able to opt out of funding the NHS. I didn't get a referral and I paid to get private physio. (although he was useless and I wouldn't go there again!)

I F****liping hate swimmimg!

I've had the lot: training for London? What charity you raising for? All in one go? I tend to treat all daft comments with a bit of patience, and explain to them the error of their ways. Besides, most mean no harm, they're just a bit ignorant.

I often use the line about how if I run for a couple of hours a day, I'm obsessed; sitting on your arse watching TV & eating for the same period is seen as normal.

Seems to shut them up as well as genuinely offering them a different perspective.

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Originally Posted by Usually at the back

I went to my doctor a few years ago with a hamstring problem, he told me to go home stop running and be a mother and a housewife, the comment didn't sink in until I had left the surgery, needless to say I try and avoid him now

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Except for that. That should've earned a swift punch to the chops.

The only thing that really winds me up is if people at work ask if I'm going for my 'jog' when the see me disappearing in my running gear at lunchtime. Jog?! Cheeky mutthafu...!

bit like Mrs Stagger's "you're too thin to need to run"
best one I had was an (otherwise highly intelligent) work colleague:
"ooh, I'm too unfit for anything like that"
swear to god
ycmiu

to be fair i probably bore a lot of people with my enthuasism re running but i do get the odd thinly veiled (and irritating) negative remark like "Oooo I don't know how you find the time" or "you will end up with shot knees"...in reply to the latter i have started to point out that when I am an elderly lady the chances are I will be able to get knee replacements but a heart and lung transplant won't be so easy to arrange! if people are particularly persistent I remind them that my risk factors for dementia, diabetes, heart disease etc are all significantly diminished
....also with the regard to the time issue it isn't always easy for me to get out but it helps that I hardly watch any tv and if one clocked up how many hours some people devote to watching soaps if I did the equivalent in training time i dare say I'd be a lot faster than I am currently !

anyhoo I don't want to come across as a "Smug runner" no more than I want to hear comments from "smug coach potatoes!"...just grateful i enjoy my running and can still do it for now

Also had the charity one no end of times. Nowadays when people ask me which charity etc., I really quite enjoy saying something along the lines of "none actually, I'm doing it for myself" just to see how they react.

My boss is in his early 60's and is one of these people who no matter what you do or say you'll never be right, it'll never be healthy or it'll never be worth doing if he hasn't done it.
Anyway we once got onto the subject of fell running and he says, all concerned; "Yeah, I knew this fellrunner once and he'd completely wrecked both his knees before he was 50...it's not healthy y'know, blah,blah,blah"!!
This coming from a man who snapped a tendon in his left knee while skiing in a mogul field and had to walk with a brace for 6 months, then broke his right ankle on his next trip, two years later when someone skiied over the back of his skis!
I bit my lip.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by southernsoftie

I often use the line about how if I run for a couple of hours a day, I'm obsessed; sitting on your arse watching TV & eating for the same period is seen as normal.
Seems to shut them up as well as genuinely offering them a different perspective.

The only thing that really winds me up is if people at work ask if I'm going for my 'jog' when the see me disappearing in my running gear at lunchtime. Jog?! Cheeky mutthafu...!

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I'm loving this thread and specially the above. Laughing into my mug of tea, thanks Southernsoftie.

I remember lots of daft comments when running in the Preston area in my teens (mostly "knees up", shouted out of cars). But I'm genuinely struggling to think of any daft comments made by people I know in Cumbria. More often they say, "I wish I had the guts to do that". Interesting regional variations.

More please!

I agree with Eleanor ( I would, we are almost neighbours!) that it is a situational issue to some extent. I ran to work this morning and got in early to shower and change. Nobody commented beyond 'bit chilly this morning'. Why? because they all have to pass a 6 or 12 month fitness test like the one the Police are claiming they could'nt possibly manage. Here if you fail the test you don't get your annual bonus - simples. Oddly enough, even the chain smoking doughballs are out training without comment.

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Originally Posted by Eleanor

I'm loving this thread and specially the above. Laughing into my mug of tea, thanks Southernsoftie.

I remember lots of daft comments when running in the Preston area in my teens (mostly "knees up", shouted out of cars). But I'm genuinely struggling to think of any daft comments made by people I know in Cumbria. More often they say, "I wish I had the guts to do that". Interesting regional variations.

More please!

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Dont tend to get too many comments, as I dont tend to see many people when Im out running.
Should someone say "oooh, running in the hills, isnt that dangerous" I tend to say "Yes, its bloody dangerous, I might get lost, fall down a hole, break a leg, or some such thing, and no one would come to rescue me. Under no circumstances follow me or run up any hills- stay at home! Watch TV! Play with your ipads! Look both ways before crossing the street!"

seems to do a great job of keeping numpties off the hill. (which I believe is well within the spirit of the FRA(!))

When walkers/ramblers say Im irresponsible for going out into the fells with nothing more than a bumbag, its almost a challenge to take it off and compare kit with them. In the winter and I have a small rucksac, I'm invariably better equipped than them. Ah, smug self-satisfaction.

Also, the charity question. Next time I'm asked that I might say "yep, running for charity, fancy donating? I'll take cash off you now if you have it- easier than collecting it all at the end". Simple way to get Ice cream money.
Or maybe thats just taking it a bit too far...:wink: