Slow London Marathon Runners 3.5mph Abused.

[Milkfloat]

I have been trying unsuccessfully for years to get a place in the London Marathon it would be my first and only one. I should feel a bit of animosity to those who plan to walk the whole route. However, I don't, for many of these people just getting around the course is a huge achievement, just think of the likes of Michael Watson the boxer who took six days to get around. Abuse of entrants, no matter if they are in front of or behind the cut off time is frankly vile and should not be tolerated, especially so if it is from those employed by the organisers.

Having said that, I wish more runners could take part so that people like me (someone keen to run a marathon, but only in London) has a decent chance of getting in, perhaps closing the roads for longer with a more staggered start. I do get very envious when watching it on tv.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I was not suggesting we beat anyone - although if I were slow marathon competitors would not be on my list. I guess the audax time limits are partly for practicality so the organiser can clear up and go home. I have never been too bothered having turned up at the end of an audax and they are clearing away around me because I am slow. I certainly would not expect to suffer abuse as I made clear in my post and it is disgraceful behaviour.

They're usually about to lock-up when I arrive....

 

[screenman]

I have been trying unsuccessfully for years to get a place in the London Marathon it would be my first and only one. I should feel a bit of animosity to those who plan to walk the whole route. However, I don't, for many of these people just getting around the course is a huge achievement, just think of the likes of Michael Watson the boxer who took six days to get around. Abuse of entrants, no matter if they are in front of or behind the cut off time is frankly vile and should not be tolerated, especially so if it is from those employed by the organisers.

Having said that, I wish more runners could take part so that people like me (someone keen to run a marathon, but only in London) has a decent chance of getting in, perhaps closing the roads for longer with a more staggered start. I do get very envious when watching it on tv.

My kids managed to get in because they had done marathons in other places beforehand.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'd thought up some really creative abuse to shout at you at the end of @smutchin's 200km last year, I even had a box of rotten fruit, but I got bored waiting.

I was soooo knackered I didn't finish my food or my beer!!!

 

[Fab Foodie]

I was soooo knackered I didn't finish my food or my beer!!!

To be fair I blame @Salty seadog :-)

 

[Milkfloat]

My kids managed to get in because they had done marathons in other places beforehand.

I am not that committed, Milton Keynes does not not have quite the cachet.

 

[Dayvo]

In response to the OP: in that case, why should anybody be allowed to run unless they have a genuine chance of beating the world record?

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Good morning,

Did everyone read the BBC article? :-)

The key point of the article was that the participants were complaining that the race organisers and volunteers manning the water stations (disputed) were not prepared to wait for them.

runners on Tower Bridge had also had "dodge round sewage collection lorries" and run through chemical spray used to clean the streets.

as early as the three-mile mark, water stations had been packed away

It was this sense of entitlement that I thought worth talking about.

Bye

Ian

I have to wonder whether *you* read the article.

The key point was not that the marshals and water station staff weren't prepared to wait, the key point was that, despite Ms Ayres running at the pace stipulated by the event organisers, the cleaning up and the removal of water stations began ahead of schedule and the slower-paced runners were being verbally abused by marshals and contractors. As far as that latter point is concerned, I don't care whether the runners were over their allotted time or not, it is wholly unacceptable to mock and fat-shame people.

From the article:

But, she said, despite running at the requested speed, the clean-up operation had begun around her and other runners and they had been "told to hurry up".

She added that abuse had also been directed towards them by official marathon representatives, such as cleaning contractors and marshals.

This included comments such as: "If you weren't so fat, you could run," and: "This is a race, not a walk."

It's likely that within this slower group the will be many for whom this was not only a physical challenge but also mentally and emotionally. There will have been those who were overweight, perhaps struggling with problems of self-confidence, anxiety, low self-esteem, yet they have made an effort to overcome these obstacles in a very public way. For you to have ignored all of that, to instead misrepresent this as an issue of 'entitlement', tells me you're as heartless as the ignorant oafs who shouted at those runners.

 

[Salty seadog]

To be fair I blame @Salty seadog :-)

Well I did insist on a leisurely lunch at Pevensey.

It's not often you get to find and dine at a 4 star BP service station although thinking back that could have been the petrol not the food.

 

[Slick]

I honestly didn't think I'd come across that attitude on a cycling forum. Shame

 

[Hacienda71]

I have marshalled a number of half marathons and 10k's and I would not imagine abusing the slower runners. If anything we encourage them more than the elite runners who we still clap. The London marathon organisers want to take a look at who they are using to marshall. IMHO wholly unacceptable.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The roads are effectively closed to pedestrians 364 days of the year. Why not allow them to be closed to tin cans for a bit longer one day a year. They could even open up the early roads of the marathon as presumably they keep track of where the back markers are. Also it took some an hour or more to actually get across the start line. So opening times should not be based on projecting the slowest time allowed from the official start time. Besides they should allow for delays and no run the road opening times so damned close when you have 40,000+ plus participatents.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Well I did insist on a leisurely lunch at Pevensey.

It's not often you get to find and dine at a 4 star BP service station although thinking back that could have been the petrol not the food.

I certainly had one too many Unleadeds....

 

[Shortandcrisp]

Personal perspective. Suffered a spinal cord injury 3 years ago. Hasn’t really affected my cycling but, because of the residual spasticity, running is an entirely different matter.
I would however, like to run an event such as the London marathon partly for the sense of personal achievement it would represent, but mainly to raise money for spinal cord charities.
I’d be very slow. Following the seven and a half hour pace setter would be my upper limit, I reckon. The thought of being abused, heckled and told to hurry along in that situation would set my blood boiling. Most likely, I’d give plenty of abuse back in return and, and probably end up taking a swing for someone, and making a complete fool of myself; unless I actually connected, its more than likely I’d fall over.
As an organiser, if you’re aware of the time someone is likely to achieve and, knowing that, you take money from them to enter, then tell your staff to give them the respect they deserve.

 

[screenman]

We need to go no further than this forum to see name calling, such as weekend warriors, lycra clad, mamils, more sense than money, all insults.