On Nov 9, 2010, at 4:15 PM, Scott Loveless wrote: > I've been thinking about crowds, or rather the reasons people want to > do things with other people. This stems from looking into events such > as marathons. (I actually have no interest in running a marathon, but > I'm going to use it as an example.) I'm curious as to what makes a > person want to do these things under the watchful eye of a sanctioning > body or event organizer.
I may as well throw in a couple of cents because this is an interesting question and I don't claim to have all of the answers. The reason I did my first couple of half marathons is because it was a challenge. Yes I'd done the distance in training several times over, but it was still a nice milestone to reach in an official capacity, and to come out with the official time and all that stuff. The next two were done for the medals... and to see if I could improve my time. I doubt I'll ever win anything - a 1:30 half marathon is a dream, nevermind 1:10 - so I go to push myself and enjoy doing it (strange but true). I'll always push harder in a race because I allow myself time to prepare and time to recover. Otherwise I'd just get annoyed that I have to rest and can't go out training. It's also nice to have supporters coming along to watch, that's something you don't get otherwise and it does give you a real lift. And you'd be surprised how fast you can sprint after all that distance when you get into the finishing chute. > Also, I've noticed that there are people who > will prepare for such events for the sole purpose of participating in > the event. In other words, if the organized event, such as a > marathon, didn't exist then there is a distinct possibility that the > participants wouldn't have bothered training to run such a distance. I believe you're correct here, and yes it does sound a bit circular. We only do it because it's there, but it's only there because we'll do it. Only a few people at any race are there to win, but the event is financially dependent on the rest of us paying our entry fees and turning up. At the moment I'm not training for any specific event but I'm still getting up at 5:30 on work days to get some regular exercise in. I do this because I enjoy the training, and that's one of the secrets of sticking to it. I don't have to do it, I want to do it. And when I do decide on something specific to aim for, I'll have some base fitness to work from. But that doesn't fit into what you said, and I accept that I have a different approach to most. At all levels events take a LOT of commitment just to make the start line, and in that way the competitors are all heroes of mine. I received an article through my news feed the other day about a lady who is doing triathlon despite a very busy lifestyle and having some fairly serious medical conditions, and she's loving it: <http://www.multisport.net.nz/multisport-news/multisport-news/1228-2010-11-05-kerris-browne-triathlon.html> Without the events and the publicity surrounding them, we wouldn't have stories like this to inspire us to join in and have a go. I think a major motivating factor for most people is the sense of achievement they get from setting a goal and reaching it, and once you start setting goals it tends to become a habit and influence the rest of your life. It can make big improvements to your self-confidence when you realise you CAN do it. As you go on the goals get bigger. Your first 10km race is a big milestone. Then you do it, and you eventually set a new goal to do a half marathon. Then comes the full marathon, and that can grow into even bigger events. But at each stage the training needs increase so you do need to be realistic about what you can fit into your lifestyle. And if you fail? You've found your limit. Your current limit, that is. Your future limit will be different because you're going to work on improving and have another go later. And it'll feel even better when you do it. The bitterness of failure makes the taste of success that much sweeter. I think I'm getting a bit carried away here but I'm quite enthusiastic about this. > These things seem obvious on the surface, but why wouldn't a person > who is driven to prepare and participate in such events just do it > anyway, even without the organization or other runners? I'd put it down to the sense of occasion and the goal surrounding it. Running a marathon alone has to be pretty boring. Also I think that what I wrote above is an indication that most people wouldn't have that level of drive otherwise. Bear in mind that it's logistically quite difficult to run a marathon by yourself, you certainly wouldn't want to carry your drinks with you. It's enough of a pain for a half marathon. So the event itself helps to make the run possible. > I don't like crowds at all. The thought of spending money and dealing > with the logistics of getting to and participating in a marathon, just > so I can have a certificate and my name in a record book somewhere is > completely foreign to me. Then do it "because it's there" ;) The feeling of having done it is more important than you might think, in addition to the health and psychological benefits. I won't mention training injuries as that's not much of a benefit... Anyway you can ask very similar questions about anything. I'm not being published so why do I take photos? Everything a chef creates is destroyed within minutes so why do they bother? That last one is a question I asked myself a few years ago when I had a project cancelled after about 2-1/2 years work, which is pretty hard for an engineer to take. Thinking about that has immensely improved my outlook on life as I now focus on enjoying the process as much as the result. > Another example - there's the "Covered > Bridge Metric Century" in Lancaster County, PA. It's a long, > organized bicycle ride through some very scenic rolling hills. As the > name implies, the ride passes by or crosses several covered bridges. > The cue sheet is published and anyone can download it. I can go ride > their metric century any time I want. Yet, every year hundreds of > cyclists will pay money, deal with traffic and parking, and wait in > lines just to ride this route with a bunch of other tourists. To me > it sounds like a colossal headache. But to quite a few other people > it is apparently enjoyable. I am guessing it's a very social occasion. There is a very large social aspect to most events. > I initially started looking for explanations with search terms like > "crowd psychology", but that's something different. So what I'm > asking for is the psychological terminology that applies to this > behavior. I'd like to read more about it, but I'm unsure where to > look. Thanks! I think you're way outside the scope of PDML here ;) There may be more information in sports psychology books? (I need to remember this crap I'm spouting, it could be useful in job interviews.) Cheers, Dave David Mann d...@multisport.net.nz http://www.multisport.net.nz/ skype: multisport.net.nz -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
