https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-48125731
You enter a marathon and some of the lovely people running it (er, operating it?) call you fat. And slow.
You'd think they might be trying to encourage.
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.
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.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.
don't disagree with that however I'll save my bashing of the marathon/PRL organisers for another thread 😂😂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.
