The running of the Danes:

Danes are skinny people. Not across the board, of course, but in general. They're a pretty fit society, something that I attributed to the fact that they 1) are not American, 2) probably eat healthier, and 3) walk or ride bikes nearly everywhere. I think this is most likely pretty accurate, but I may have failed to incorporate actual, purposeful exercise into this equation.

My knowledge of Danish exercise at this point consists of my experience playing soccer for my Danish club (website here), one fact-finding mission to a Danish sports club, and my casual observation of sweaty Danes jogging down the street. The Danes seem to have a different attitude towards exercise and sport (and life in general) than Americans.

For example, this past weekend I had my first soccer game for my club here, OKF. I was the only American on the team, and when I showed up at 12:00 to meet before the game, nearly all the Danes were already there, talking casually in a circle, smoking. I found the whole idea of smoking before a soccer game patently ridiculous, but as I would later have confirmed for me in my Healthcare in Scandinavia class, Denmark has one of the highest rates of smoking in the world (around 25%). Clearly, lighting up before a match was not unheard of. As far as the game itself went, the quality of play reflected the quality of preparation. We played solidly and with good pace in the first half, the score at halftime being 2-2. But by the second half my Danish teammates were all dead, and some were literally walking around the field. The speed of play dropped correspondingly. 45 minutes and several goals later, the whistle blew, and we walked off the field, 5-2 losers. My teammates recovered from their efforts with a therapeutic postgame cigarette.

In terms of pure exercise, I've noticed that Danish joggers are also particularly hilarious. For some reason, no one in Copenhagen knows how to run. Being a serious runner myself, I tend to notice these things more. For whatever reason, every jogger that I've seen here (several) has been completely incapable of running with proper form. Most shuffle along at a sluggish pace, their arms swinging limply by their sides. Some run leaning too far forward, and the others lean too far back. Most have the gait one would expect from someone recovering from several knee surgeries, not a fit Dane in his or her prime. There are hordes of these people, ambling awkwardly down the sidewalks, outfitted in flourescent running gear and lacking any real understanding of why they're running in the first place.

I think that's the biggest problem: the Danes just don't seem to get running. Most are moving too slowly to be called runners, and none of them are ever breathing very hard, what with the required stopping at every crosswalk and everything. I'd be breathing easy, too, if my "run" consisted of a couple 100 yard jogs, followed by a recovery period while I wait for the light to turn green. I imagine the Danes' attitudes towards running to be similar to that of Ron Burgundy, he of Anchorman fame. From my perspective next to them on the sidewalks or passing them in buses, I think that most Danes view running as an odd but charming sort of pastime -- why anyone would run long or hard, let alone fast, seems beyond them. Instead, jogging is just an excuse to put on some flashy running gear, get outside, and commune with your pedestrian countrymen -- even if you are going the same speed. Perhaps this is not the worst thing in the world.

I guess at this juncture, I'll drop my contempt for the joggeurs I see each day. At worst, they are a form of mild amusement. And besides, they're still doing better than most Americans:

Walking back to the bus today, I spotted a man who could be nothing except for American: tall, wide, and sweating profusely. Clearly he'd been out on a run and got lost in the city, something I gathered from his labored breathing, the aforementioned perspiration, and the enormous map he held in front of him. His running attire was different, though no less eye-catching than that of the Danes -- Titlelist baseball cap, tight running shorts, and a skin-tight, baby blue FC Dallas soccer jersey, soaked through with sweat. Oh, Texas.


PS: I feel that this post would be vastly improved with some photographic evidence. I'll break out the zoom lens and hopefully return tomorrow or the next day with some pictures of real, live, ridiculous Danes.