Give us your hungry, your tired, your hot messes in spandex!

Automattic is ‘sponsoring’ a kind of ‘internet 5k’ called the World Wide WordPress 5k. I’m excited about this, so I’m already plotting how to get my staff photographer (wife) to come capture my ‘finish line’ shot.

When I started this blog, I hunted around for running blogs, wandering the dusty corridors of abandoned marathon journals, the brightly colored rooms of motivational bloggers, tried to pass by the kitchens of myriad foodie-runners in the search for a ‘real’, active, running blog. I gnashed my teeth that the tag ‘running’ didn’t just jump out at me every time I clicked on a blog. That people kept yammering on about their own interests, and not just filling my screen with day-to-day info that I could learn about running.

I was frustrated when I saw someone’s running blog filled with ‘off-topic’ posting about baked goods, or wedding invitations, or worse; their day-to-day life. Soon, I realized I was doing it wrong. I was approaching WordPress as another extension of my googling. I was trying to find resources, not people. I opened my mind, got a little free with the subscribe button, and started reading about cooking in North Carolina, wedding planning in Southern California, weightloss with no holds barred, photoblogging in Pittsburgh, cupcakes made with Bailey’s  pretty much everywhere.

Also, drinking, drinking and more drinking.  I didn’t have any idea that 20 and 30 something runners could be so passionate about good beer, tasty wine, fun cocktails and beer at the finish line.

And a funny thing has happened, since I started reading these blogs. I see the running info I wanted, and hadn’t seen before, and I care about it more. I  wonder what is going on in the lives of the bloggers I subscribe to. I read the running posts, and I feel motivated by them, but I also love the comedy, the tragedy and the funny pictures. I find myself looking forward to running more, and having the courage to post more, because I realize that “no one cares” is both the truth and the fallacy of blogs. If no one cared, this whole thing would have collapsed a long time ago. But no one will care if you don’t give them something to see. Something human. Something more than an repackaged about.com article or a Garmin Connect rss feed.

And to me, that’s what the WWWP5k is going to be about. Showing people, like months-ago-me that fitness blogs aren’t just fitness logs. That the best running blogs are sometimes crazy, fun, painful, off topic, photo filled, sarcastic, geeky, or even just apologetic.

So I hope a ton of people do the WWWP5k; it’s pretty easy, especially if you’re already logging a ton of miles. Run a 5k between April 4th and 10th, and blog about it, especially a photo of you at the finish line. Even if you never blog about running, or fitness.

So give us your hungry, your tired, your hot messes in spandex. Find a way to do WWWP5k, and we’ll all get a run in, together.