Woody Allen Is Not a Runner

Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” He had a point, but his math was faulty.

The updated standings in the 2009 Buzz Oates Run Sac Race Series were released and my less-than-stellar half-marathon rocketed me from 64th place to 34th. How is that possible, you say? Well, if you don’t run the race, you get zero points. Though there are currently 136 runners in the men’s division, only 41 ran both races in the series thus far.

Just showing up and completing the race pushed me past dozens of runners. The bad news is that the series gives you 14 opportunities to complete 8 races – four of 5 miles or less, four of more than 5 miles. So as the year progresses, my advantage will mostly disappear.

The good news is that I’ve run one decent race and one crummy one, and will get better. The rankings use the scores from your eight best races if you run more than eight. I’m not in the same league as most of the other runners in the standings, but I know I can move up out of the cellar.

If Woody were a runner, he would recalculate success to 50% showing up, 30% grinding it out, 15% not doing something stupid, and 5% good fortune. That 15% is what trips me up.