Tim Gorichanaz (Posts about Running)

"Did Not Finish": A Phenomenology of Failure

Tim Gorichanaz — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Gorichanaz, T. (2020). ‘Did Not Finish’: A Phenomenology of Failure. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.

Abstract. This paper explores what it means to fail in an ultramarathon---be marked DNF, or Did Not Finish---through hermeneutic phenomenology. In today's popular culture, failure holds a paradoxical position: Particularly in the "startup" ethos, failure is touted as a good, but only because it brings one closer to success. On a Heideggerian perspective, this is an inauthentic understanding of failure. This paper proposes that sport, and specifically ultrarunning, is a site for an authentic understanding of failure---and, consonantly, success. The notion of death is a major consideration: Though death is often described as a kind of failure, it is better understood phenomenologically as that which reveals and focuses one's authentic possibilities for success. Failure, on the other hand, is a cutting-off of possibility. Three types of DNF can be discerned, corresponding to a cutting-off in the past, present and future, respectively. In ultrarunning, an athlete exists as being-toward-death, and finishing belongs to the athlete as part of their self and world. When a DNF happens, an athlete is suddenly rendered incomplete, worldless. This is a jarring, painful experience, from which it takes time and effort, and a reconstruction of self, to recover.

There's No Shortcut: Building Understanding from Information in Ultrarunning

Tim Gorichanaz — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 04:00:00 GMT

Gorichanaz, T. (2017). There’s no shortcut: Building understanding from information in ultrarunning. Journal of Information Science, 43(5), 713–722.

Abstract. Now that information proliferates, information science should turn its attention toward higher-order epistemic aims, such as understanding. Before systems to support the building of understanding can be designed, the process of building understanding must be explored. This paper discusses findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis study on the information experience of participants in a 100-mile footrace which reveal how these participants have built understanding in their athletic pursuits. Three ways in which ultrarunners build understanding -- by taking time, by undergoing struggle, and by incorporating multiple perspectives -- are described. The ensuing discussion leads to three questions that can guide the future development of information systems that support understanding: First, how can information science slow people down? Second, how can information science encourage people to willingly struggle? And third, how can information science stimulate analogical thinking?

Auto-hermeneutics: A Phenomenological Approach to Information Experience

Tim Gorichanaz — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Gorichanaz, T. (2017). Auto-hermeneutics: A phenomenological approach to information experience. Library and Information Science Research, 39(1), 1–7.

Abstract. The need for methodologically rigorous approaches to the study of human experience in LIS has emerged in recent years. Auto-hermeneutics is a research methodology that offers a systematic way to study one's own experiences. In LIS, auto-hermeneutics offers a way to approach emerging questions regarding information experience and allows researchers to explore yet-undocumented contexts, setting precedents for further work in these areas and ultimately widening our understanding of information. Auto-hermeneutics draws principles from autoethnography (perhaps the most well-known of automethodologies), self-study and systematic self-observation; prior studies of these types in LIS and allied fields are presented. A discussion of generalizability, validity and reliability in auto-hermeneutic research follows. Finally, an example of an auto-hermeneutic study conducted by the author is outlined for illustration.

The Information of Story: The Genre and Information Activities of Ultrarunning Race Reports

Tim Gorichanaz — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Gorichanaz, T. (2017). The information of story: The genre and information activities of ultrarunning race reports. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 69(4), 460–474.

Abstract. Purpose: This study explores the "race report" as a document genre in the serious-leisure pursuit of ultrarunning. Despite the sport's largely non-documental nature, race reports stand as an anomaly in their importance. This exploration serves as a springboard to investigate the informativeness of story in human life generally. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative survey of the information behavior of ultrarunners was conducted. The 46 participants were runners in a 100-mile footrace in 2016. Responses were first analyzed through phenomenological theme analysis and then were subjected to a deductive audit using a framework of information activities validated for use in serious leisure pursuits. Findings: Race reports are bound up in information activities across the information--communication chain. Race reports help athletes choose races, prepare for races, pre-experience races, communicate their race experiences, gather new ideas, extend their training and, finally, find entertainment. Research limitations/implications: This discussion of genre is synchronic, largely limited to one moment in time, and its findings were limited in depth by the survey method. Further research should investigate race reports historically (diachronically) and infrastructurally. Originality/value: This work points to symbiosis between genre theory and information behavior theory. It also legitimizes narrative reasoning as a legitimate way of knowing, which has been largely unrecognized in information behavior. Some implications of this for information science and technology are discussed.

Understanding and Information Constellations in Ultrarunning

Tim Gorichanaz — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Gorichanaz, T. (2018). Understanding and information constellations in ultrarunning. Library Trends, 66(3), 329–350. This page presents a preprint of the article, which differs from the final version.

A typeset PDF of this article is available here. Copyright 2018 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. This article first appeared in Library Trends, Volume 66, Issue 3, Winter 2018, pages 329-50.

Abstract. There have been many conceptualizations of knowledge in information studies. Though presently disparate, they can be brought together under a common framework with the concept of understanding. As such, understanding can provide an account for how bodily experience, recorded information and other forms of information can contribute together epistemically. This paper provides a way for researchers to analyze understanding informationally: It defines information as form-and-activity and suggests that multiple pieces of information can be bundled together as information constellations with narrative as a cohering structure. The concept of information constellation is illustrated in a hermeneutic-phenomenological study of the information experience of ultrarunners. The resulting anecdotes and information constellation mappings show how multiple forms and activities of information are integrated as understanding even in the "simple" act of running. This discussion puts embodied, experiential, corporeal information on equal footing with the external, recorded forms of information that have been the traditional focus of information studies.

Beautiful and Sublime: The Aesthetics of Running in a Commodified World

Tim Gorichanaz — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Gorichanaz, T. (2016) Beautiful and sublime: The aesthetics of running in a commodified world. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 43(3), 365–379.

Abstract. In the United States, running as a leisure activity continues to grow in popularity. Healthism can explain some of this popularity, but it does not explain ultra-distance running. Motivations for running can be seen through the framework of the Kantian beautiful and the sublime. Beauty arises through extrinsic motivation (e.g., products, physique, competition) and relates to an economy of form, while the sublime arises through intrinsic motivation (e.g., life meaning) and relates to confronting the challenge of infinity. The commercial, casual and competitive aspects of distance running correspond to the beautiful, while its wilderness, serious, ultra-distance aspects correspond to the sublime. This framework is used to explain the resistance of ultrarunning to the would-be detrimental effects of commodification, as well as ultrarunning's "wild turn."

Information on the Run: Experiencing Information During an Ultramarathon

Tim Gorichanaz — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 05:00:00 GMT

Gorichanaz, T. (2015). Information on the run: Experiencing information during an ultramarathon. Information Research, 20(4), paper 697.

Abstract Introduction: Ultrarunning is an individual sport and serious leisure pursuit that requires ongoing information access and use during events, but has not yet been studied in information research. This study leverages a link between the theory of life in the round and the serious leisure perspective to explore the information experience of an ultrarunner during his first 100-mile race. Method: This autophenomenographic case study draws principles from interpretative phenomenological analysis, autoethnography and systematic self-observation. As this is the first application of autophenomenography in information research, the methodology is explicated. Analysis: Self-interviews and free-form narratives were open-coded and analysed for themes, consistent with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: The literature review and the data from this study support a conceptualisation of ultrarunning as a small information world with a vital community ethos despite the sport's individualistic orientation and the transient nature of its events. The ultrarunning world is based in orality and values perseverance, and during events the individual ultrarunner relies on corporeal information and a knowledge base built through training, collecting lore and planning. Conclusions: This study identifies ultra-endurance sports as a fruitful context for information research and invites further consideration of discrete serious leisure events rather than solely ongoing processes. Its findings may also apply to other high-stress, individualistic performance contexts. This study also establishes autophenomenography as a suitable methodology in information research.