Running Group’s Pledge to ‘Never Discuss Politics’ Tested Like Never Before
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A local running group with a longstanding policy about avoiding politics struggled mightily to adhere to that self-imposed rule during a five-miler early this morning, Dumb Runner has learned.
The group, three men and three women in their 30s and 40s, has been running together for about eight years, a source said, and the “no politics” rule was there from the beginning.
“For them, that was part of the appeal of getting together,” said the source, who requested anonymity because she, too, wanted to avoid politics. “Everything was so polarized and hostile, and they saw their time together as a sort of oasis away from that.”
Instead, the source said, the group talks about everything from their families or work to such anodyne topics as the weather or sports. This morning, however, as the six met for a 7:00 a.m. run, current events loomed behind every utterance.
“The tension was palpable,” said the source. “It was, like, the world’s biggest elephant in the room in the history of elephants in rooms.”
At last report, someone in the group had asked what everyone thought about “the big news,” prompting another member to respond, immediately and louder than necessary, “So sad! Bob Newhart was SO FUNNY!”
