[Closed] Have we done fat and slow marathon runners yet?

I wonder how many of those making the comments had ever completed a marathon?

I wonder how many of those making the comments had ever completed a marathon?

It’s Snickers now.

Stay on Topic.

Yeah, running a marathon is no Picnic, there's bound to be some Drifters at the back.

It’s Snickers now.

Except in America where it’s Spanties.

Maybe they needed a bit of a Boost.

Reckon after a marathon i'd get the munchies and need a few treets....

If they didn't manage to complete the Marathon, they could get a Double Decker.

Or take some Time Out and try again next year.

Having worked at a number of them, in my opinion, it's far from ideal that the slowest "runners" have the course dismantled around them & traffic reintroduced to the roads forcing them onto the pavements. One year at Canary Wharf I actually gave my event map to a competitor who was lost as the route had been dismantled before them. Personally, I thought the condition / state / injuries of some of those, that far at the back, should instigate a cut off time.

Should keep their thoughts to themselves...or just Wispa it if they must.

There are some right Flakes out there.
That story is actually one of the funniest things I've seen this week.

Funny ?

7.5 hours to do 26 miles is fast walking pace

7.5 hours to do 26 miles is fast walking pace

Your point?

I wonder if anyone finished After Eight?

Funny ?

Funny

7.5 hours to do 26 miles is fast walking pace

And obviously they paid someone to run that pace. I suspect it was contractors knowing organisers haven't a clue what happens on course knocking off early.

A marathon is a running race. Anyone who takes 7.5 hours is neither running nor racing.

They don't belong there. And don't start all that sanctimonious cr@p about doing it for Charidee.

7.5 hours to do 26 miles is fast walking pace

Yup - and they have an official pacer at that time, so I think it's a bit rude not having all the infrastructure as the other runners.

Fair enough cleaning up before the guy in the diving suit...

James Miller, 35, had been running for a dementia charity.
"It was like you were forgotten about."

I wonder if he saw the irony in that.

Pretty disgraceful tbh. You may be a bit out of shape but competing a marathon, no matter how slowly, deserves respect.

Lady on tv said they were dismantling the course 20 min after she had started.

James Miller, 35, had been running for a dementia charity.

Yeah, but it was just a "charidee" so no call for "sanctimonious crap"

Anyone who takes 7.5 hours is neither running nor racing.

Anybody outside the elite start isn't really racing anybody but themselves (and even some of those guys are really).

Don't see the difference between a club runner and these guys - both types are doing it for personal challenge.

If they'd got in the Breakaway they could have stopped for a Picnic in that time.

I wonder if anyone finished After Eight?

The argument about pace and whether they should be there or not is moot as the marathon organisers had put pacers there so they must have known someone was going to go that slowly.

It's a bit crap IMO.

I'll bear this in mind when I'm pacing my group on the Fat Lad at the Back sportive next weekend!

Were they fat?

They were definitely slow.

Presumably fat and fast isn't a problem.

Does sarawak yell at fat joggers telling them to lose some weight?

I think that stinks to be honest, especially as they requested pacers for that timing.

At the end of the day, it is the fun runners and those running in the daft outfits that tend to me the ones that have also put the most effort in fundraising too, so you start alienating them and they won't be back, or will look for friendlier events

Virgin London marathon took their money knew their expected time there fore the fault lies squarely with them.

You cannot start the 8hour clock with the first wave and then hold the slow folk back 2hours to their wave and expect them to run within the 8hours.

How ever if time constraints are an issue then. Vlm should not have taken the money.

I must say even before this the London marathon sounds about as appealing as s**tting in my hands and clapping.

There should be a proper broom wagon or whatever the running equivalent is and if they reach you, you get on (if you're knackered/injured) or leave the race.

Poor form to allow 7.5 hour pace then have your cleanup crew working faster than that. Equally I think that's a silly slow time to allow given how difficult it is to get a place - plenty of things like the Moonwalk if you're not going to run it.

The slowest time they accept for the Boston Marathon is 5:20 and that's for women over 80.

A marathon is a running race. Anyone who takes 7.5 hours is neither running nor racing.

They don’t belong there. And don’t start all that sanctimonious cr@p about doing it for Charidee.

I think it's more a case of aligning the ethos of the event with the practice of the event.

If part of the ethos of the event is participation for all then the infrastructure should stay in place till all are done.

If it's a straight race or you want to be packed up by a certain time then it needs vetted entries or cutoffs.

The 7 hour pacer also "said that as early as the three-mile mark, water stations had been packed away and she had called the London Marathon team only to be told she was lying and that the water stations were still open".

The mind boggles.

Does sarawak yell at fat joggers telling them to lose some weight?

He just yells at the world in general, it's all too complicated for him.

Pretty disgraceful tbh. You may be a bit out of shape but competing a marathon, no matter how slowly, deserves respect.

Unless you have some kind of disability or are very old, if it takes you longer than 6 hours then you just haven't ****ing bothered. If it comes round to the time and you're not ready, defer your place then you have another YEAR to train.

Flame away 🔥😉

I'm inclined to agree with you zilog although I might have worded it differently. Unless there are mitigating circumstances strolling round a marathon in 8hrs isn't something I'd consider worthy of respect.

Its a different point though from them taking people's money knowing they'd take that time then packing up before they're done.

Its a different point though from them taking people’s money knowing they’d take that time then packing up before they’re done.

I disagree. How about showing some respect for the marathon itself, and the other runners who have trained their arses off to complete it in a reasonable time i.e. under 6 hours.

Unless you have some kind of disability or are very old, if it takes you longer than 6 hours then you just haven’t * bothered. If it comes round to the time and you’re not ready, defer your place then you have another YEAR to train.

Mostly I agree with this. I have a friend and keen runner who has just put his application for the ballot with a facebook post of '7th time lucky'. Plenty of folk that really want to run this event that it should be reserved for runners.

However, as the event puts on pace setters that slow they are clearly expecting people who have entered to be that slow. It does not seem unreasonable in that case to expect people to be that slow.

I went up to 'support' my wife's colleagues one year. The furthest they had 'run' in training was 7 miles. We waited for them at tower bridge - mile 12. The bride and groom in full white dress and tails who had just got married on the bridge mid run went past. Then the bloke on crutches with a broken leg. Then the street sweepers, then the bloke with plyers clipping the zip ties to remove the banners. Then they dawdled past on their phones having a nice stroll. Finished in just shy of 11 hours. Waste of day for me and a handful of places that could have been taken by people who actually gave a * by them.

Done plenty of marathons but can't say London has ever appealed. And the cost they charge charities for charity places makes me deeply uncomfortable with it as a fund raising exercise.

How much money did Mo Farah raise on his sponsorship form? How much did the other runners!

Trying hard to think of a quorn joke here. Anyone want to help?

It certainly Mars my view of this event.

How much money did Mo Farah raise on his sponsorship form? How much did the other runners!

How much more money would the charity have had to do useful things with if you had not put the tenner on your mate's justgiving page but had given it directly to the charity instead?

Trying hard to think of a quorn joke here. Anyone want to help?

Damn it. We've moved on have we? Give us a mo. Ah yeah, here we go, never mind sponsorship, they're always happy to have Farah along as he's such a fungi?

(Timing, secret of comedy. Timing...)

Running a marathon at whatever pace should help them be a bit more Aero...

I'm a bit uncomfortable with people getting upset about being told the truth, however it does seem a bit off dismantling things round the course at a pace you have pacers for. And to be fair, 8hrs is a gentle walk, but an 8hr London marathon is probably more like 6hr, which is a gentle jog.

The word marathon has two definitions:-

Long distance running race of specifically 26 miles and/or difficult long lasting task or activity.

So regardless of whether you were doing it competitively or for charity you're still entering a marathon and the organisers should allow sufficient time for people to complete it, they're happy to take the ridiculous amount of cash for the pleasure

Three definitions...

At least 4...

It's Topic that's really started a Ripple! So a few non runners gave it a Twirl, and Drifter round like they are walking their Yorkie - some Smarties think it's Nuts to give these Flakes a place, but when it comes to the Crunch anyone can have a Chomp at the marathon. I don't give a Daim as long as they don't give up Twix the start and finish. Just to get to the end is no Picnic. I'm told in the future when there is a Breakaway a Double Decker will pick up the stragglers by the Curly Wurlys, but I think this would just be a Fudge.

foomam wins the internetz today. I Cadbury believe the number of chocolate puns used there. Bravo sir.

If it has 3 or 4 definitions it definitely has 2 😜

Saw this article this morning, made me laugh- my marathon PB is 7h20...

I was on track for 3h30 until something in my knee went pop at the 10k mark and I hobbled 20 miles to the end. Had told my niece I would finish it for the heart charity that had helped her out, and I wasn't keen to let her down. Similarly my sister in law cracked on and finished the thing with a slipped disc, and my wife who suffers from clinical depression and for whom running felt like a panic attack also got to the end. In fact they caught me up despite having started over an hour later 😂

To those giving it the "ooh slow people shouldn't be allowed, it's a race" - jog on, anyone who finishes a marathon is at least out there doing something, and you've no idea what they've gone through to get themselves to that point or why they're doing it in the first place. Stay in your lane and let them get on with it.

I once walked 21 miles - it's a bloody long way.

The Stirling marathon was last weekend. No idea how long it to took the slowest competitor - but the Stirling bypass (at 22 miles) was kept closed because one "runner" was still out on the course. Respect.

To those giving it the “ooh slow people shouldn’t be allowed, it’s a race”

I think sarawak was the only person saying that.

Unless you have some kind of disability or are very old, if it takes you longer than 6 hours then you just haven’t **** bothered.

Exactly -  the contractors were putting the course infrastructure back for anyone old and disabled and taking it away again for anyone fat and slow

I have ran several marathons (and longer) plus did some distance walking when mrs.muz did the moonwalk
Walking 26.2 miles is far harder than running it in my mind! So much longer on your feet etc.

I am in 2 minds, 8 hours is ridiculous, its just over 3 mph, walking pace or the average speed of a bus in Glasgow (true fact) and most marathons have an agreed cut off time on the entry form where after about 6 hours you either get in the hurry up wagon or accept the roads will be open and all support gone.

This is different, i bet you they started 2 hours after the actual race did, so on the verge of getting round but at the same time its a running event, if you cannot run for at least most of the way do a shorter run or something like the moonwalk, kiltwalk etc.

The contractors are Bounty say they're just doing their job. Hardly Bournvillains are they?

I'll get my (Carra)Mac...

Although they could have been Kinder

Walking 26.2 miles is far harder than running it in my mind

Loads of my wifes workies walked the kiltwalk last weekend, there's no way any of them are capable of running a marathon in their current state of fitness.

Nice to see the confectionery puns being knocked down like Skittles.

The marathon is a business and it's oversubscribed, so there is no need to be polite to fatties. Think of it as like a popular night club (e.g. the Kit Kat club) which refuses entry to those that aren't "cool" enough. Obviously they couldn't say, "no trainers", that would be taking the analogy too far. If they awarded places based on potential performance they could get it over with earlier and reduce costs, while still having the same number of entries. Arguably they would lose a bit of publicity from the nutters in fancy dress, so they'd have to run the numbers. All those looking for a run to challenge themselves but who are too fat or ugly to make the cut could simply run 26 miles round their locale, and maybe post it on some sort of online "app". That way everybody's happy (or jolly).

Stirling and London are very different places. The disruption to London when organising an event like a marathon is going to be somewhat more significant to Stirling.

I've only run one 10k race but trained hard and did ok. The were people walking round over an hour after I finished. That's 10k!

The disruption to London when organising an event like a marathon is going to be somewhat more significant to Stirling.

Eh?

Keeping a bypass in Stirling open compared to keeping a major road open in London, it's a very different level of inconvenience. It's understandable that organisers would be more keen to reopen a road in London.

Referring to the above posts, Keeping a bypass in Stirling open compared to keeping a major road open in London, it's a very different level of inconvenience. It's understandable that organisers would be more keen to reopen a road in London.

Well they need to rethink their timings and pace setters. It is ludicrous on the one hand to set a 7 hour schedule and then begin to dismantle the course ahead of that schedule.

Obviously they couldn’t say, “no trainers”

Nice work.

The problem is that it's no longer a running event. It's been taken over by corporate charities touting entries to the highest bidder with no regard for their ability to actually run. It's a real shame that a festival of running has become all about corporate charity greed

I'm sure I can nestle one more joke in. The organisers shouldn't be accepting entrants who take that long unless there is an exceptional case, especially if they know full well there won't be facilities or water etc.

As some have eluded to, some people seem to be under the illusion that the London Marathon is a race. Its' not. The 'elite' race is just a sideshow - the real freaks are those that can run a marathon in under 3hrs. They don't inspire normal folk to get up off their asses and run. in reality first and foremost it's an event to elevate the standing and reputation of the city of London so it wants those plucky undertrained and overweight amateurs who hit the headlines. It's all about the underestimated underdog grinding along to eek out the full distance even though they could have walked it just as quickly - nobody wants to watch a finely honed athlete complete it in 2.5hrs. It's purely a premier event that hits the global headlines and reinforces the city of London as one of the top three cities in the world and has the unintended benefit of inspiring thousands of individuals to get off their asses and away form the telly and start running for the benefit of some charity---- the bloody cretins taking away the opportunity for some 'far too serous for their own good' weekend warrior with delusions of grandeur indulging themselves in some fantasy that they're some sort of sporting superstar when in reality they're far from it! And as for marshals being rude to slow and fat competitors, then that is just plain rude. I'm sure they're not the only people thinking it, but no need to actually say it out loud.

I'm sure that makes sense in your head. 🤣

Solution: use rabid dobermans as the rear pace setters.

It's a shame marathons aren't like mountain biking or you could get some e-shorts that would boost the performance of the fat and under trained so they could perhaps even win it???

It’s a shame marathons aren’t like mountain biking or you could get some e-shorts that would boost the performance of the fat and under trained so they could perhaps even win it???

Most off-road sportives could be completed by decent runners quicker than the average rider!