There’s a social media trend that I can’t stand: influencers posting about running marathons with “no training” or “minimal training.” If you search for it online, you’ll find videos with millions of views and some cite macho athletes like David Goggins as inspiration for running an ultramarathon on no formal training. I find it unhelpful, annoying, and fundamentally lame.

Running 42.2 kilometres with no training can lead to all sorts of injury problems…

For one thing, it’s a bad way to approach the marathon. Running 42.2 kilometres with no training can lead to all sorts of injury problems, and it’s obviously not optimal for performance. Many of these influencers know it. And some even train more than they let on. When you look up what their version of “not training” looks like, it’s just nonspecific training: They’re in the gym every week, or consistently walking, or running throughout the week. There could be some interesting insight into how this nonspecific training could prepare an athlete, but that would involve some honesty.

For those who do go in cold, there’s the obvious problem of survivorship bias, which can inflate how many people successfully get away with it. And it’s not hard to see how “you don’t need to train for a marathon” mutates into “running is bad for you,” especially when people get inevitable overtraining symptoms, stress fractures, and other issues. Deception breeds bad ideas (especially on the internet), which can eventually lead to misinformation that undermines the sport.

Not only do I find this cheap attempt for clicks to be a problem, but I also feel like it reeks of detachment. To be clear, I actually enjoy it when runners challenge conventional training philosophies or are straight up silly about it. Nearly every year, someone runs fast in a banana suit at the Boston Marathon and reminds us that running is supposed to be fun. If you want to embrace the irrationality of running, go for it. But at least give it your best shot.

When influencers flatten the marathon experience to the simple completion of one and how little effort they put into it, it tells me that they likely don’t feel confident enough to give it a real shot, so they gave themselves an out. It’s the athletic equivalent of not studying for an exam and getting a C-. It’s not a creative twist on running; it’s a debasement of it.

I’m sure I sound like a curmudgeon right now. But as long as influencers are making money off deception or survivorship bias, I’m going to remain a hater of this trend. So influencers: embrace the vulnerability of training for something and give it your best shot. Then you might have some interesting insights to share.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

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