Bandit World Run Day!

Spam has arrived on Twitter, the microblogging site. On some days I get as many as three announcements that I am being followed by someone with a handle like "felecia1985" whose sole post is to inform the world that she has just posted some "NSFW" photos on an internet dating site (the URL follows). I suppose that I will get used to it. I did get used to the e-mail spam from the Nigerian refugees who needed my help transferring a widow's US$40,000,000 into a western bank. I also got used to the myspace.com "friend" requests from libidinous swimsuit models. I've even gotten used to the listings for World Run Day on active.com.

Most runners have a better resource for finding out about local races, but active.com is not a bad resource to fall back on. It's especially useful if you're going to be on the road, looking for an out-of-town race. Granted, not all running events are listed on active.com, but you have to wonder about the competence of a race director who won't avail himself of a free listing on active.com.

But in November, you might be fooled into thinking you've found a race when you see a listing for "World Run Day." Whether you are looking for a race in Bowling Green, Rapid City, or Atlanta, World Run Day will pop up. However, it's not a race. Instead, it's a kind of self-service running event. Go out and run wherever you want for the distance of your choosing, and then make a donation to whatever charity that you want to fund. Oh, but go ahead and register and pay the entry fee, and the "organizers" will send you your "World Run Day" T-shirt.

It's annoying enough to think that you've found a November race only to discover that it's really only "World Run Day," but now it's creeping into the rest of the calendar. Last week, I stumbled onto listings for a "Mother's Day Run" which was actually just another self-service event that offered a "World Run Day" T-shirt. And now there are "Father's Day Run" listings--same deal. There are also World Run Day Prep Runs, just in case you need a tune-up run to get ready to buy another T-shirt. I doubt that active.com is going to put a stop to this, not while they can harp on the slogan "change the world, one step at time" while continuing to pocket their percentage of each registration fee.

So I propose this. 9 November 2009 is the next World Run Day. On that date, go out and run if you feel like it, but as a bandit. Oh, go ahead and donate to the charity of your choice, if you feel so inclined. You can even buy yourself a nice shirt or something at a local running store. But if you hate spam as much as I do, please don't register for this "event."