Confessions of a Fat Runner

I too am a "chunky" runner who has finished two marathons, three half-marathons and clocks in about 43 miles a week. When I tell people I run long distance, there is always a double-take when they look at me. When I first ran in organized races, I felt extremely self-conscious about my appearance. But then an amazing, wonderful thing happened. At three and a half hours into my first marathon, I began to pass many of the "skinny" people who had looked down their noses at me at the starting line because they were running out of gas. When you do not fit society's ideal of what a "fit" person should look like, there is no better ego boost than hurdling over the collapsed body of Twiggy at mile 22.

Oh I can so understand this article. I just ran my first marathon this past November and whenever I tell people, they look me up and down like I'm lying... LOL I actually had people I knew that was aware I was running asking me if I was running for time and whenever I let them know what my goal was, they said "Wow, you think you can make that time!"

It is very disappointing to have people do this to you and from this article, it has probably happened to you many many times. I was a size 14, but have moved down to a 10; however, on my 5'1" frame, I am still far larger than most of the women that run my times.

I think your last paragraph sums up how I feel when I run because really after the first mile you are just running with your own thoughts and really just trying to do what you love to do.

Great article, thanks for sharing because I often feel as though I am alone....

Run your run, drink your beer, enjoy your life. I do the same out here in sunny San Diego, going to the gym and eating ice cream with equal enthusiasm. The balance of fitness and a rich life are an ideal that not enough people are enjoying. Thanks for your essay.

Woman, you are funny and a great writer. I hope you inspire more folks who think they can't hang with the jocks due to the size of their thighs to get out there and feel how beautiful they really are--and as you said, it feels really good. Hope to read more of your thoughts.

And a bit of advice: try not to run at midday, when the sun is high. Mercilessly, it goes before you and adds 20 pounds to your shadow.
Great line as I only though this phenomenon happened in photography!

Love this! Great essay. I entered a triathlon a few years ago -- managed to place about 4,000th out of a field of 4,400 women - sounds crazy, but it was the first time I even remotely considered myself an athlete (and at age 58). Running and all that other strenuous stuff is not just for the young and svelte. Thanks.

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Ms. Graham,

You sound like a Hasher. Hashing involves running and there's always beer at the end. Web search for Hash House Harriers for your city or state.

I think this essay is great. There isn't anything wrong with being a larger woman. The author of this article isn't even that big. As long as the person is healthy, i dont see anything wrong with being bigger. The media puts out an image that all girls need to look like it and that's not true. The women in the image don't even look like it. There is a lot of technology that makes women look like that. Being to skinny doesn't look all that good anyways. Women need to start putting some meat on there bones and staying healthy. God made us who we are for a reason and if it's ok with him for us to be somewhat bigger than others than we as an individual shouldn't feel anything wrong with our appearance. My advice is love yourself as who you are not what the media thinks we should look like

I also took offense to the idea that a size 14 woman is 'fat." The author certainly does not look fat; actually very similar to my build: tall, large- and long-boned, (naturally) large-bosomed, and maybe just a little tad overweight. I am truly tired of the media buying into the idea that ALL women using sizes more than about 8 or 9 are "fat." That's only true if they are short and small-boned, and their healthy BMI weight would have them in a size 4 or 5 or something.

However, there are many of us out here like myself who come from Scandinavian and/or other northern European gene-stock which just makes us larger than many others. Around age 11 or 12, I went straight from girls' size 14 to ladies' size 12, and have been in that neighborhood ever since (with occasional flirtations with junior sizes 11, 13, and 15). My current size varies from 12-14 depending on whether it's the holiday season or Lent.....or on the clothing cut . Even when in a more slender mode, I can't really use smaller than a size 12 (or a "large") or will encounter problems with the length of sleeves, width of shoulders, or room in the bust of the garment. Sizes 10 through 16 are "regular" normal women's sizes, not "plus-size" or "fat!"

This article feeds into the societal attitudes that had my daughter, in second grade and skinny as a stick, worrying whether her legs were too fat. Or more recently, having unintentinally lost weight because of a long-term illness, she wants to "celebrate" because she can now get back into her size 1 jeans! (normally size 5). Please Newsweek, do not support this ridiculous trend.

I really enjoyed this essay. I just started running May 2008 and I do not look like the typical runner at all, but I've already completed a half-marathon and a full marathon. I laughed out loud and thought back to some of the faces I saw when I told people I ran as I read this article. It's good to know that women can be and are legitimate runners without having to become "skinny people." I'm not fast, but I finish. That's better than many other people who wouldn't even dream of running a single mile, let alone 13.1 or 26.2.

I must say this is certainly one of the most disappointing articles I've read in Newsweek. I can't decide if it was written as a "Do these pants make my ass look big" bait or as a means to amplify the author's success by inserting a "crutch" into the formula. Either way, the notion that being a size 14 is debilitating seems a little adolescent and superficial for this forum. We've got bigger issues to tackle.

As an educator of young women for more than 20 years, I am offended by the term "fat" being used for a size 14 woman. When are we, as a society, going to accept a healthy weight as the norm? I work with many young, female athletes, who range from a size 4 to a size 18, and all are healthy. We are individuals, not numbers. I am saddened that Ms. Graham sees herself as a number. I am further saddened that Newsweek, a news magazine I have read and trusted for decades, would buy into society's current, unhealthy obsession with thinness.

What a great story! As a runner who shouts at the workers not to take down the time clocks at the end of the race because I haven't quite finished yet, I get it. Her story isn't so much about being "Fat" even though that's where she wrote from, it's about doing something and FINISHING it, completing something that we, as a society, consider only REAL 'runners' do or cyclists etc. She got out and did and still does! I laughed and laughed at her humor and appreciated that she understood me, the slow turtle who has run for 10 years now, many races and 3 marathons and does it in nearly 7 hours!!! Get over analyzing the story for the deep meaning you may want to place on it and enjoy her ability to write her story and do it with humor. She had fun writing the article, enjoy it for how she wrote it, I did!

What a great story! As a runner who shouts at the workers not to take down the time clocks at the end of the race because I haven't quite finished yet, I get it. Her story isn't so much about being "Fat" even though that's where she wrote from, it's about doing something and FINISHING it, completing something that we, as a society, consider only REAL 'runners' do or cyclists etc. She got out and did and still does! I laughed and laughed at her humor and appreciated that she understood me, the slow turtle who has run for 10 years now, many races and 3 marathons and does it in nearly 7 hours!!! Get over analyzing the story for the deep meaning you may want to place on it and enjoy her ability to write her story and do it with humor. She had fun writing the article, enjoy it for how she wrote it, I did!

Fat Runner, typically the editor(s) write the headline... It's doubtful she's ripping you off.

In response to the "Fat Runner:" I do see this is what is wrong with society when a size 14 is fat. Before I read the article, I thought it was a story of her success in overcoming obesity by running the pounds away. That photo of Jennifer Graham shows a beautiful woman. She exemplifies the goal for many obese women. How sad she accepts that label and how sad for all of us that we understand.

You look great.