Good Ones

Scott Van Pelt of ESPN asked his audience, “Do you know anyone who has run a Marathon?” He then observed that if anyone you know has run a Marathon, you would know about it because they tell everyone. I would add a corollary to that truth: If you are not a runner, you find conversations about Marathon running very boring. Even when I am not talking about running a Marathon, I am still boring. It does not really matter what I am saying. Now I wonder if I was attracted to running races because they fuel narcissism. Gabby Barrett’s rendition of the The Good Ones inspired my chapter of Narcissists Anonymous. We changed the word “He’s” in her song’s tag line and adopted the slogan, “I’m one of the good ones.” At our next meeting, I am going to float my Marathon theory because I think several of us have run one. I do not remember because I rarely listen when others are speaking. One of our co-Presidents has posted a professional looking sign that says, “Watch out for Motorcyclist.” The sign is narrower than standard highway markers that remind drivers to be aware of motorcycles but it focuses on “motorcyclist” in the singular. Maybe the sign maker ran out of space. Or maybe he is just notifying marathon runners in the vicinity that he specifically is going to be riding without regard to rules and warning others to get out of his way. Perhaps he has been injured before by some oblivious runner or crazy driver like me. I can no longer even tell which people are the good ones and which are the bad ones.

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