I get that but they are great at fund raising, bringing communities and causes together - and believe it or not, I've seen some extremely emotional moments at these events. Think of them as a conduit or symbol for something much bigger in cases like this one. Not all of them are like that, but many are.
You'd see some emotion if I was "fun running."
Does projectile vomiting count as emotion?
The last time I "fun ran" -- and admittedly I was in far worse physical shape than I am now -- I figured I could burn up a mile pretty easily. So I started out fast, chuckling at the slow-paced goobs in my rear-view. Then I cramped up about a quarter mile in. Quad cramps. That caused limping. The limping led to getting shin splints at the half mile point. I soldiered on, even as the field began to power-walk by me. With a quarter mile left my stomach decided it would be a great time to shit out all the water and powerade I'd inhaled that morning. Nowhere to do that, so pucker up butthole cup. I essentially duck-walked the last portion of the race hoping that the dam didn't burst. I got passed by an old lady in a walker, a diaper-wearing baby and a three-legged dog. I may have finished last or there might have been a blind guy in a wheel chair further back but if so, only because he'd strayed far off the route and had to be guided back.
After destroying a porta-potty with a geyser-gush of bubbling stomach contents I became light-headed. On the way to the car I saw a discarded box of Krispy Kreme donuts lying in the gutter. Desperate, I checked for ants/roaches. Found none. Ate two of the delicious energizing sugar bombs. Looked up to see several people including some pretty attractive soccer mom types staring at me agape.
I work out every day now, but I will never, ever "run" again.
On a side note, I'm going to start trying to flesh out the details of these stories and try to fold them into a cohesive book form at some point. They'll be my legacy. I have many.