I Came Here To Chew Bubble Gum and Run
...and I'm all out of bubble gum.
“The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent. They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices. Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness. We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others. We are focused only on our own gain.”
No, that quote was not said today, although it clearly could have been, rather it was said by the whistleblowing “Bearded Man on TV” from the 1988 John Carpenter movie, They Live.
This past weekend, I hosted a run that showcased the filming locations from They Live and in preparation for the run, I rewatched it with my wife, Kelly, and boy, did it hold up a bit too well, hence my sharing the above quote. The idea that we are being lulled, brainwashed and even manipulated into actively contributing to conforming, consuming and obeying by accepting and pursuing desires and external needs like money to be a part of a ruling class (of aliens) is as prevalent now as it was in 1988, or 1958, or…You get the point. The location run was consciously timed out because the last couple of months have felt like this movie was truly playing out in real time. In other words, 2025, specifically now, seemed the perfect time to host this run.
We hit all but 3 locations of the film, including the magazine stand where Nada sees his first ghoul, city hall, and of course, the infamous alley, which is the location of the record holder for the longest movie fight ever. We omitted the shanty town, the hideout at the end and the house of Holly Thompson, all of which were a bit too far to add to the route I made. Needless to say, the run seemed to have been a success, in that both those who had and those who hadn’t seen the film enjoyed themselves. For fun, I bought some cheap-o matching black sunglasses for everyone and unbeknownst to me, one of our regular runners came prepared by bringing bubble gum, so we wouldn’t run out…
I often think about the purpose of this run club and when I try to look ahead into the future I often wonder what is the point and where do I take this? I have spoken about this run club before on this Substack and was even interviewed about it by Running Sucks about 2 years ago, when the club started. I had just re-read the interview to see what I had even said to Raz.
“Run clubs can be serious, they can be cliquey, too casual - they run the gamut - but this one I just wanted nerdy, effortless fun.”
As simplistic as that sounds, having a mission statement, or purpose gave me and
who co-runs, a template to work with and a compass to consider when thinking about what comes next and why. The idea is to operate from a personal, thoughtful and current level. This allows the flexibility and timeliness that, ideally, can make each run special and it’s why doing They Live run at this point made sense. Bringing what’s going on, either in my head, or socially, in the moment to dictate what happens next, gives each meetup a purpose because we don’t want to phone it in or do it just to do it.I’ve been reading Priya Parker's "The Art of Gathering" this week and it fortuitously fit where I am this week after having done this run on Sunday. The book's elevator pitch is “A human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play.” Reading it I was reminded of yes, the run club, but also musicians who book their own gigs, or artists who put together their own galleries, or even event planners, which are all in the same orbit more or less. The main takeaway for me thus far, is that she says that categories are always the first thing people consider in putting an event or gathering together, but it’s purpose that should dictate the event.
“When we gather, we often make the mistake of conflating category with purpose. We outsource our decisions and our assumptions about our gatherings to people, formats, and contexts that are not our own. We get lulled into the false belief that knowing the category of the gathering—the board meeting, workshop, birthday party, town hall—will be instructive to designing it. But we often choose the template—and the activities and structure that go along with it—before we’re clear on our purpose.” - Priya Parker
Yes, I am talking about a run club that runs, but as I have witnessed in most other run clubs, I can see that this purpose Parker speaks of is actually more important than the running itself. Purpose, as I have seen, starts with building community and a safe space for people to be themselves and not be afraid of judgement, whether it’s running pace, clothing choices, or movie opinions. It’s one amazing thing about running culture that most people don’t see who aren’t in it and we hopefully have added a new color to the canvas.
With this particular instance, the fact that someone brought bubblegum to stay on theme for They Live, or that people show up dressed like movie characters, seems to me that the “nerdy, effortless fun” is thankfully not just for me. Perhaps that nerdiness is a major part of the purpose, and it’s a place where people can be silly and geek out about some random building, or a stinky and nondescript downtown alleyway, for an hour and forget the world. I hope that purpose can last as long as possible.
“Having a purpose simply means knowing why you’re gathering and doing your participants the honor of being convened for a reason. And once you have that purpose in mind, you will suddenly find it easier to make all the decisions that a gathering requires.”- Priya Parker
Making all the decisions that a gathering requires is part of the fun for me. The last run we hosted in February was a last minute pivot, as we wanted to showcase the love Angelenos had for David Lynch, who had just died a couple weeks prior. Other runs were timed with an anniversary or theatrical release or some sort of tribute. Keeping it fresh is fun for me and allows for a certain creativity that may not always come with what would simply be just a run club outing. We try not to repeat too often to keep it fresh and we try to eventize it, which doesn't necessarily mean getting a corporate sponsor or making it bigger than it has to be, it just means to offer up something that's off kilter enough from a regular run and allows everyone involved to be in the moment, at least for that hour or so, and have a shared and memorable experience.
Parker’s book came at the right time, because I truly was wondering what the purpose was with the club and where to go, if anywhere with it. Turns out, the last two years of doing it have actually started to coalesce into something that I thought it was and I’m seeing it happen in real time.
It’s neat.
Thanks for reading. Hope everyone is doing their best. It’s all we can do!
that was for you. :)
(pic by Ezra Weisz)
If you’re interested in the club, sign up for our email newsletter as I try to walk out of the Meta-Verse, but if you’re so inclined, we’re @lacinephilerunclub
ETC:
The Pretty Flowers are playing the 50501 protest and rally in Los Angeles this Saturday. Check out the info here and sign up to get involved!
Awesome! That is so cool. Carpenter really was operating on a whole other level.