I'll Have Some Freedom Fries With My Run

Who would have ever thought that the country which invented the 'french kiss' would find running such an undignified and disagreeable activity? In the country of romance where public displays of affection are just as common as hefty people are in a bakery, who would have thought that exposing one's knees would foster such enmity? But that is exactly what is happening in France in response to president Nicolas Sarkozy's fondness of running.

With such an attractive wife, Sarkozy has become an avid runner and knows that he must always look his best. Though not entirely common, it is not uncommon for French citizens to see Sarkozy running on the streets of Paris replete with his favorite New York Police Department t-shirt. While the fact that the president of France enjoys running is not particularly newsworthy in-and-of itself, it's the reaction it has caused that is quite alarming indeed. In typical French fashion (not the high fashion France prides itself on but rather its prowess for misinterpretation), Sarkozy's running has been lambasted by some in the media as being a right-wing conspiracy, an undignified pastime, a sad imitation of the habits of American presidents and a capitulation to 'le défi Américain' (a phrase that was the title of a book published in France and translated to mean 'The American Challenge'). Adding a little philosophical foundation to their repugnance, opponents like Alain Finkielkraut, a leading French intellectual, noted that, "exposing the boss's naked knees is something that never would have occurred in the time of Mitterrand, much less Louis XIV...strolling is the proper activity of the thinking person, from Socrates to the poet Arthur Rimbaud".

Despite his critics, Sarkozy has continued his daily running routines and has rebutted Finkielkraut and his progeny by stating that, "I am not deterred . . . by the accusation that jogging is right-wing. Of course it is right-wing, in the sense that the facts of life are generally right-wing. The very act of forcing yourself to go for a run, every morning, is a highly conservative business. There is the mental effort needed to overcome your laziness".

Aaaaaah, the French! They'll smoke cigarettes like chimneys yet view running as undignified. They'll argue that exposing one's knees is not appropriate yet they'll celebrate all night when the French soccer team wins the World Cup. They'll claim that their country's capital is the most beautiful place on earth yet it is a place inhabited by people with unbeautiful attitudes towards others.

I guess it shouldn't come as a shock that many in France have taken this view towards running. But, as a runner and as someone who tries to encourage others to live a healthy and fit lifestyle, I am still surprised at how ignorant and obtuse some people can still be in today's world. I, for one, applaud President Sarkozy both for ignoring his detractors and for landing that hot-ass wife of his. And to those French citizens who continue to criticize Sarkozy, I only have one thing to say to you: Au Revoir!!