Runs Like A Girl Daze

Posted by: on Feb 2, 2015 | 2 Comments

During the Super Bowl, there was an ad for Always Feminine Products entitled “Run Like A Girl.” If you didn’t see it,  here’s a link to the 60 second version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJou3cPN-NA

Runs like a girl. Once my daughter Allie became an athlete, I learned to really dislike that expression. As a young child, Allie was not all that athletically gifted. She couldn’t do a cartwheel like some girls, she basically walked out of a ski school class one day because she kept falling, soccer games were spent chatting with friends at midfield. Unfortunately, when it came to athletics, Allie got her mother’s genes. As I like to say about my wife, in elementary school when they were choosing sides for kickball, it came down to Linda and one other girl. Linda usually was the 2nd to last one picked because at least she was cute (and I’d be totally un PC if I described the other girl).

But if you know Allie, once she sets her mind to do something, look out. At about 10 years old, she decided becoming a better athlete was going to be a priority. She made the decision to switch from a nice Jewish sleep-away camp in the Poconos, where athletics were not the highest priority, and made the move to Camp Lenox in the Berkshires. It’s not only Syracuse where my children followed in their parents footsteps, as I also spent many happy summers on that Berkshire mountainside.  And guess what? Their logo is an Orange torch!

At Lenox, where the emphasis is on athletics and instruction, Allie became an athlete. By freshman year in high school, she had honed her skills playing club lacrosse (which she started playing in elementary school) and made the freshman field hockey team, winning defensive player of the year. It was at a field hockey game where my dislike for the expression “runs like a girl” became a reality.

Watching a game one day, one of Allie’s teammate’s father said, “Look at them. They run like girls.” My very quick and terse response was, “Your daughter may run like a girl but my daughter runs like an athlete.” I’m sure the expression on my face matched the tone of my response, so Linda tugged at my sleeve and backed me up a few steps. I quickly calmed down but, to this day, I still think I should have decked that guy. Or better yet, I think Allie should have decked that guy.

Today, my California girl surfs, is a cross fit junkie, and has even been known to play on her company’s co-ed softball and football teams. If you ever get the chance to catch her working out on an elliptical trainer, it is a face of raw determination. Yes, Allie runs like a girl. A girl who is an athlete…and that’s the way she runs.

2 Comments

  1. Skip
    February 3, 2015

    We can make an argument about you being the “coolest Dad” (Your The Best 1/30) but no one can debate you being the Proudest Dad!

  2. Daryl Wolke
    February 5, 2015

    Awesome post Ira. I’m not sure if you remember me, I met you very briefly a Orange Crntral weekend w/Laurie at Faegans. It was my favorite commercial of the evening for many of the same reasons. I was never picked for kick ball, my tennis coach used to throw balls at me to get me to move faster and sweating wasn’t exactly a state I relished. This year, I decided to become a runner. Since June, I’ve been working 3 days s week with a trainer, running 4-5 days a week on my own and taking power yoga. My first 5K last June I ran 44:03 my most recent PR was 32:00. My goal is to run the Disney Princess (no jokes) Half Marathon in 2016. I am proud to run like a girl…a strong and determined girl!