Yesterday I published “An Open Letter To The Philly 5 Mile”. The letter was met with mixed reviews, both for and against. Overall I felt it created solid conversation around the subject. However a discussion did ensue with those that disagreed with the letter that referred to it as negative. As a result I felt the need to respond. Let me make one thing clear: at no point did I attack the race or their organizers. I was told the letter was passive aggressive as if my compliments to the organizers were backhanded. If this were true I wouldn’t be a 2 time Philly 10K runner (on my way to #3 this year) and a frequent Philadelphia Runner shopper. If I was truly passive aggressive towards Philadelphia Runner why spend my money within their community? However it does confuse me to be labeled negative because I openly admitted that one thing they tried didn’t work out. Have we gotten to the point where we can no longer professionally call a spade a spade?

This post is not to defend every negative comment thrown my way. I am open to the critics and welcome the feedback. If you look at any of my posts I fully support professional disagreement. Having varying viewpoints is what makes the world we live in so awesome. Keep the comments both for and against the letter coming. Just know, if you are going to come at me with over the top negativity, be expected to be met with nothing but love in return.

The tagline of this blog is and always will be: “Written By Runners, For Runners”. The letter to the Philly 5 Mile was not a journalistic investigative piece to try and uncover what went wrong. Instead it was written by a runner who was disappointed with his experience. Someone who bought into the excitement and hype only to feel let down when the race was announced because he felt it was unjustifiable to register. An opinion that is relatively popular considering the race is now canceled. And that is all this blog ever will be. How one runner in the Philadelphia community reacts to the world around him.

If the post offended the race organizers, Philadelphia Runner, then for that I truly do apologize. I whole heartedly believe in what you do. I think you are propelling the running community in Philadelphia forward and will continue to support you in your other endeavors. I will always promote your events, your stores and your local group runs. While we may not see eye to eye on The Philly 5 Mile, that doesn’t change the support I have for 95% of the rest of what you do.

I will not sit idly as the post is chastised because I decided to express the opinion of hundreds (if not thousands) of other runners. I want to make sure the feelings of those runners is heard in a respectful way. I will continue to be just another voice within the Philadelphia running community. While it may be a louder voice than others, it will only ever come from the opinions of the masses. If that opinion does not resonate with 100% of my audience, that is OK. However it will not stop me from lending a voice to runners within a community that I love.

PS. To this day I will struggle with granite vs granted. For as much as I enjoy writing, that one will forever escape me  🙂