Expanding understandings of the body, food and exercise relationship in distance runners: A narrative approach Rebecca Busanich a,1 , Kerry R. McGannon b, * , Robert J. Schinke b a Department of Health and Human Performance, Plymouth State University, 17 High Street MSC 22, Plymouth, NH 03264, USA b School of Human Kinetics, Ben Avery Building, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada article info Article history: Received 4 February 2012 Received in revised form 17 March 2012 Accepted 18 March 2012 Available online 30 March 2012 Keywords: Distance runners Men Women Disordered eating Social constructionism Narrative abstract Objectives: Additional forms of theorizing and methodologies are warranted to expand understandings of the body, food and exercise relationship in physically active individuals. Design: A narrative approach grounded in social constructionism was used to explore the meaning- making process around this relationship in male and female distance runners. Method: Narratives around the body, food and exercise were elicited from nine recreational male and female distance runners (n ¼ 5 males, 4 females). The sociocultural construction of meaning was explored through a thematic and dialogic/performance analysis of 17 in-depth interviews (2 interviews per person, with one exception) (see Riessman, 2008). Results: Findings indicated that male and female runners drew upon one of two running narratives e ‘just do it’ and ‘just do it better’ e in constructing meanings around the body, food and exercise. Meanings shifted based upon the gendered narratives and cultural discourses. The specific narratives and meanings within them had implications for the runners’ experiences and behaviors around their bodies, food and exercise in empowering/healthy and/or disempowering/unhealthy ways. Conclusions: This study highlights the complexity of the body, food and exercise relationship in male and female distance runners, demonstrating that athletes’ eating and exercising practices are socially and culturally formed in and through particular narratives and cultural discourse. These findings also add to the genre of cultural sport psychology research and a growing body of qualitative literature on disor- dered eating in the physical activity realm. Ó 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. The relationship between the body, food and exercise has been widely studied within sport and exercise psychology (see Greenleaf & McGreer, 2006; Papathomas & Lavallee, 2010; Petrie & Greenleaf, 2007). The majority of this research has been grounded in the concept of disordered eating (Malson & Swann, 1999; Papathomas & Lavallee, 2010), which refers to “a wide spectrum of maladaptive eating and weight control behaviors and attitudes” (Bonci et al., 2008, p. 80). The foregoing literature indicates that athletes’ body experiences are gendered, with females demonstrating a higher prevalence and/or risk of disordered eating than males, especially at higher levels of competition and in sports where success is deemed weight-dependent or determined by subjective judging and/or esthetic appearance (Sundgot-Borgen & Torstveit, 2004). Although these findings are insightful, limitations have been identified. In particular, the focus on prevalence rates and/or sport contexts posing the greatest risk for disordered eating develop- ment have been identified as limiting because such studies “give little insight into how disordered eating is phenomenologically experienced overtime” (Papathomas & Lavallee, 2010, p. 355). Furthermore, the relationship between gender and disordered eating is still poorly understood, as sport researchers have yet to explore gender beyond the level of a categorical variable, and also explore the complexity of ways gender permeates athletes’ rela- tionships with their bodies, food and exercise (Busanich & McGannon, 2010). Qualitative approaches have been called for to further reveal influences and meanings not yet considered as well as expand upon understandings of athletes’ experiences of disor- dered eating (Papathomas & Lavallee, 2006, 2010; Petrie & Greenleaf, 2007). Introduction: A cultural sport psychology and narrative approach In-line with the call for more qualitative research, Busanich and McGannon (2010) asked for additional forms of theorizing (i.e., * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 705 675 1151x1204. E-mail addresses: rlbusanich@plymouth.edu (R. Busanich), kmcgannon@ laurentian.ca (K.R. McGannon), rschinke@laurentian.ca (R.J. Schinke). 1 Tel.: þ1 (603) 535 2043; fax: þ1 (603) 535 2395. Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Psychology of Sport and Exercise journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 1469-0292/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.03.005 Psychology of Sport and Exercise 13 (2012) 582e590