Running Is In The Genes?!?!

During one of our weekly breakfasts with papa, T,H,E K,I,D and I were discussing how badly we felt for Cooper Manning, the third son of the fabled NFL quarterback Archie Manning. Our sympathy lay in the fact that Cooper's brothers, Payton and Eli, have emerged as two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL while Cooper, who is afflicted with spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal, must watch from the sidelines as his brothers gain fame and accolades from millions of fans. Seeing that not only Cooper's father but his two brothers as well had emerged as star quarterbacks, we had both assumed that he would have as well had he been able to play. In between bites of lox and a bagel, our papa correctly pointed out that we were assuming that the ability to play football was genetic and could be passed down from generation to generation and noted that our assumption was not necessarily true. Deciding that our father may have had a point and smelling how delicious the food before us smelled, T,H,E K,I,D and I quickly forgot about Cooper Manning and delved into our breakfast.

As my day progressed, however, our breakfast conversation never veered too far from my thoughts and, as I got on a treadmill to do one of my daily runs, I couldn't help but think whether my adeptness for running could have been passed down to me by my father, who himself has run 5 marathons. With my interest piqued, I cut my run a tad short (only 5 miles), went back to my apartment and began searching the interweb for any helpful information about genetics and running. After little more than 6 minutin, I was getting quite confused with all the genetic jargon and mumbo jumbo and was no closer to finding any answers to my question. As I was about to shut off my computer, I came across an article in the Chicago Tribune that made me realize it was not that important to know whether running was in my genes and that I should just accept the fact that I am an amazing and handsome runner. As a sidenote, the article also made me laugh at all the people who pay exorbitant prices to get answers to unimportant and oftentimes silly questions.

The article, written by Julie Deardorff, tells of a consumer-friendly genetic test from some company named Sciona that supposedly, for a whopping $299, will "determine whether someone would excel at power sports (baseball, wrestling or judo), a mix of power and endurance (basketball soccer or rock climbing) or endurance (triathlon, running)..." by looking at a person's genetic composition. Deardorff goes on to detail the results of her test and to emphasize how important such a test is in determining one's fitness plan(s) for the future.

Dear readers, I gots to tell you that, while I have been known to waste many a-money on gimmicky running products which generally end up in the garbage by day's end, this genetic test is one of the dumbest things I have come across in some time. First of all, I think a quick look in the mirror, rather than ponying up $299, can provide enough evidence that I would not excel at any of the named power sports and probably most, if not all, of the endurance sports. While I am proud of my 5'6" frame and am comfortable with my ability to bench press around 100lbs, I also am aware of my body's limitations and can most assuredly admit that I was not built for playing basketball, soccer, wrestling judo and the like. Secondly, in terms of finding out whether I am genetically disposed to endurance activities, I have simply this to say: who cares! If I had started running and found that I did not enjoy it or wasn't particularly good at it, I would have simply stopped doing it no matter whether some test told me I was born to be a runner or not.

While I am sure there are many people who would vehemently disagree with this assessment, I do not and would say to these naysayers that maybe it is in their genetic composition to disagree with what is correct rather than my opinion being incorrect!

Have you or anyone you known taken one of these genetic tests? I would appreciate any feedback as it is my intention to have a running (pun intended) dialogue about one's genetic disposition for running in particular and sports in general.