Premium
Racing against Time? Aspects of the Temporal Organization of the Runner's World
Author(s) -
Smith Greg
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.2002.25.3.343
Subject(s) - temporality , salient , context (archaeology) , constructive , extant taxon , sociology , character (mathematics) , resource (disambiguation) , scale (ratio) , epistemology , computer science , history , process (computing) , artificial intelligence , computer network , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , evolutionary biology , biology , operating system , physics , quantum mechanics
Drawing on documentary sources and participant observation, I seek to specify salient temporal characteristics of the social world of running. Extant analyses seem preoccupied with criticizing running temporality for reproducing, in a sporting context, those Taylorized, alienating beliefs and oppressive practices typical of capitalist sites of production. A different point of departure, runners' own understandings, shows that temporal considerations are a key constituent of the runner's self that is not experienced as alienated. Three aspects of running temporality are highlighted: the large‐scale temporal organization of the running world, with a focus on the cyclical racing pattern and the planned and scheduled character of training; temporal features of running careers; and the way in which “times” figure in the activity of running and its description. I conclude that these temporal organizations are important symbolic resources that help to build and reaffirm the runner's self. Rather than time alienating and exploiting runners, runners exploit it as a constructive resource that they can deploy in diverse ways.