Running Practices in the Light of Virtue Ethics (review of S. Little's book "Control Running: Why Good People Become Better Runners")

The article presents an overview of the monograph of the American philosopher and record holder in stayer running S. Little "The examined run: why good people make better runners" (2024), which has not been translated into Russian and has not been introduced into the field of domestic research of the philosophy of sports. Sports running practices are considered by the author of the book as a laboratory of virtue, in which the formation of a morally mature personality, focused on maximizing its potential in the spirit of the ideals of Olympism for the public good, should take place (first with the help of a coach, and then in the process of self-development). The practical significance of S. Little's book is based on the personal coaching experience of its author and consists in clarifying the educational potential of running and identifying the most effective ways to virtuously develop the character of athletes. The methodological basis of the work is the hermeneutic method, the historical method, the categorization method, the descriptive method, and the method of analysis. S. Little refers to the means of developing a virtuous character during athletic training of steyers: the formation of an "ethical dictionary"; discussion of moral conflicts from the field of sports; setting dual (physical and ethical) goals in training; research of examples of moral behavior – both great runners and members of the school team; development of individual character development plans; moral S. Little identifies a class of vicious character traits of a runner that can contribute to improving his performance, including pride, intransigence, malicious ("black") envy and selfishness. She considers generosity, perseverance, admiration and charity (love) to be the ways to overcome them, respectively. The humanistic message of S. Little's book is that its author considers sport as one of the means to achieve comprehensive human prosperity (eudaimonia), which excludes calls for victory at any cost, fanatical attitude to sports activities, differentiation of ethics for ordinary and elite athletes, as well as the idea of infinity from the sphere of positive significance. They can push the physical boundaries of their abilities, but going beyond the limits of morality, even for the sake of very high achievements, deprives them of the most important and valuable thing ‒ human dignity.