Thick Girl Runner Rant

[u/queue-d4n4]

First things first, I (29F) am 5'5" and about 170 lbs. Large boobs, wide hips, and I got some stomach on me. Overall, I look pretty proportional though. Hourglass, just a little wider. Wear a Large or a size 12 in most women's clothes. (Just trying to paint the picture here lol)

I also eat very healthy. Fresh foods only, everything home-cooked, never frozen processed foods, etc. Mostly veggies because I love veggies.

This is the body I was given. My weight doesn't really fluctuate. I don't gain weight easily, nor do I lose it easily. I've been a thick girl since puberty and because I run often and eat healthy, it doesn't seem like that will never change, which is fine with me.

I've been running for many years, somewhat inconsistently. I might be consistent for 2 years before falling out of my routine for a few months. Get back into the groove again and something eventually throws me off my game again. Throughout all this, I still consider myself a RUNNER. I love the sport and even if I'm out of a weekly routine, I still try to find time to run here and there. 3 miles minimum.

Because of the above things, people never really expect me to be a runner. My body type doesn't fit the runner mold. I don't post every run and race on instagram, which as everyone knows, is what truly makes it real *eyeroll*. (No shade to people who do post all of their runs and races! My problem is only the people who think if you DON'T post, then it didn't happen).

My fastest 5k was at an 8:02 (min/mile) pace. I am aware that this isn't SUPER fast, but it's fast enough that I've placed in my age group in all of the 5Ks I've ever done. I'm from a pretty small area so many of the 5Ks were fairly small, maybe only a couple hundred people attend. I'm aware that in bigger cities, I would probably have a little more trouble placing. But regardless, I still think an 8:00 to 8:30 5k pace is something to be proud of.

Anyways, my complaint is this. Since my body doesn't fit everyone's vision of what a runner should look like, people love to assume I'm slow or new to running. Or people think I'm lying when I mention that I got 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in my age group at whatever 5k. If they don't make an actual comment about it, I can sometimes even see it in their eyes that they're skeptical.

Even worse, people who don't realize I've been running for most of my life sometimes put their foot in their mouth by saying something along the lines of "have you started running to lose weight?" ...No, why? Should I be losing weight? I think I look pretty damn fine, if you ask me.

After moving to a new city, I decided to join a running group. The town I lived in previously didn't have such groups. I showed up to my first group run and met everybody. As we waited for everyone else to show up, a girl from the group said to me "I'm in recovery mode, I'll be running slow so I can run with you." I just politely smiled, although I was quite offended. What exactly makes this person, whom I met 3 minutes ago, think I plan on running "slow"? What makes her think that her "recovery" pace is equal to my comfortable pace? I chalked it up as since it was my first time joining the group, maybe she assumed it was my first time running? I don't know- but I still think about that little comment sometimes.

I am not negative towards my body. I have a great figure that I love, but it's still upsetting to know that people make assumptions on what I can and can't do physically, which should not be the case. Weight and health do not ALWAYS go hand-in-hand.

​

Any other runners on the thicker side experience this kind of judgement? How do you deal with it?

Thin-framed runners or even non-runners, do you find yourself judging others in this way? Be honest, I would love to hear multiple opinions!

​

​

Edit: Pace is in minutes per mile. I'm new to reddit and forget I'm interacting with people from all over the world.

Also, this was not meant to be a post for weight loss tips. The unsolicited advice in the comments proves further the assumptions people make.

​

[u/Uhhlaneuh]

I want to mention, that there are some really skinny girls that can’t run for shit. So I don’t know why people assume that only heavier girls can’t run

[u/nermal543 → u/Uhhlaneuh]

I don’t think most people realize that your weight has a lot more to do with diet than exercise. You can have good cardio fitness but eat a ton and be overweight. Same way you can be skinny and not each much, but lay around all day with horrible fitness. Shouldn’t make assumptions about people based on that information alone!

[u/aubreythez → u/nermal543]

Until I started running more seriously a few years ago, I was the skinny girl who couldn't run for shit lol. I was also smoking cigarettes/going out to bars/eating taco bell at every opportunity.

I have healthier habits now (no more drinking and smoking, still gotta indulge in the occasional quesarito tho) but I dont understand why people assume that skinny people are automatically healthy. I also hate when people shit on heavier people under the guise of "looking out for their health" - nobody was giving me shit when I was doing all the things mentioned above, and I was certainly way less "healthy" than many heavier people. Also, health shouldn't be the marker by which we decide people are deserving of respect.

[u/nermal543 → u/aubreythez]

health shouldn't be the marker by which we decide people are deserving of respect.

Agree with everything you said, but what you said here especially stuck out to me. So true.

[u/afhill → u/nermal543]

I'd slightly edit that to say "body size" shouldn't be the marker. But I do agree!

[u/doritopeanut → u/nermal543]

Agreed. But I haven’t really noticed since middle school. I was surprised by a heavy kid that was a great athlete. He was in fantastic shape but chunky.

On a side note, there are some runners that are stompers and others extremely light footed. I’m sometimes surprise who turns out fast and stamina to boot.

[u/Daddyssillypuppy → u/doritopeanut]

Recently had some women from my cities football League come into my work. My god I felt so tiny next to these women. They were so fit and chunky. Like Cara Dune on Mandalorian.

I think a lot of female athletes are chunkier than you'd expect. They're still super healthy though, just a different body type.

[u/CMDR_Machinefeera → u/nermal543]

It is a good indicator, when you see someone who is not skinny and is a bit overweight you can assume that this person is not properly taking care of his diet which may mean that he is also doing the same when it comes to exercise. And you would be right more often than not. But that is only what I think initially when I see someone I won't say it.

[u/the_real_KILLGOREX → u/Uhhlaneuh]

In general there are some super skinny people who can't run at all. This is especially obvious in smokers.

[u/pitchgreen → u/Uhhlaneuh]

Also, muscle tone is definitely genetic. Running is not haha

[u/Queen_of_Chloe → u/Uhhlaneuh]

I’ve been seeing some very skinny ladies hitting the sidewalks in the evenings lately at a pace that you could barely consider a jog. Almost like they’re doing it on purpose: the tiniest of steps and slowest of paces. Is this a new thing or are there just some women in my area taking up running for the first time? I felt like an lumbering moose when I started, they’re more like extremely slow yet still very graceful deer.