Running Big: Clydesdale Runners and Technologies of the Body

Abstract

This article explores the cultural construction of Clydesdale runners and large or fat running bodies. I draw from Michel Foucault’s theoretical work and in-depth, semistructured interviews, primary source materials, and my experiences as a Clydesdale runner to examine the ways in which certain runners and their bodies are constructed as fat, unacceptable, and undisciplined. I begin with an overview of the development of distance running and associated weight divisions in the U.S. This is followed by an exploration of the ways in which large or fat runners and their bodies are constructed. I conclude with a discussion of the ways in which the “large” or “fat” running body is both a site of control and a site of resistance.