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Apr 2014
10:01am, 26 Apr 2014
832 posts
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Lemon10
I am a slow runner and have completed four marathons and am very proud of that. Girlie I think was worrying about Kent Roadrunner. Don't worry! I haven't done that one but spectated last year and it is a very supportive and inclusive event, there were slower runners there doing run / walk and they were supported the whole way round, the race team were fab and I am sure you will have a wonderful day there. I also check cut off times before considering entering, and so far Edinburgh, Loch Ness and Berlin have been fantastic experiences for the slower folks. Loch Ness is a real favourite, the atmosphere there as you come into Inverness is brilliant. We all know someone faster than us, I have a very good friend in the States who wins ultra races and he encourages me to keep going. Be slow and proud and if it annoys these snooty runners then that is just an added bonus!
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Apr 2014
10:05am, 26 Apr 2014
757 posts
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Scott S
I've had a load of races where I've been fully fit beforehand and been sailing through training yet on the day, had an awful time where nothing went right.
Other times, not really feeling up for it, no training runs above 10 miles, nothing to eat before the marathon and gone out an PB'd it.
I'm pretty much happy to finish. Yes, I do have targets in mind that result in disappointment if I don't meet them but finishing is the most important thing at the end of the day.
Can't see why people are moaning about slower runners / walk-runners as with the above comment, the faster people will be finished and home with their feet up well before the slower people finish and it won't affect them in the slightest.
I would though like to see different medals awarded like at Comrades as this way there will be some physical distinction between someone finishing 6 hrs after someone else. Does provide an incentive to some to strive for a better time in future events.
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Apr 2014
10:06am, 26 Apr 2014
32 posts
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idle_wilder
Surely the most important thing is that everyone is there for a reason - to push themselves to do the best they can. I have far more respect for the 'slowest' runners, who may well be out on a course for double the time of the frontrunners - far more toughness required for that! I'm certainly not a fast runner, and often find myself on the last few pages of results, and I also run with a few 'slower' runners who are nearer the back of the pack - and you're right; if we didn't decide to bite the bullet and enter, how many of these races would actually be able to go ahead?
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Apr 2014
10:22am, 26 Apr 2014
14,396 posts
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Meglet
They also need to look again at Steve Way. When he started running nobody would ever have predicted how good he could be, thank goodness he wasn't discouraged!
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Apr 2014
10:39am, 26 Apr 2014
1,373 posts
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Tarahumara
When I compete on the road I am about mid way in the results, when I compete on the fells I am an "also ran" however I still turn myself inside out to be in the last 30 of a fell race. Running means different things to different people and yes, the marathon has been "watered down" by so many people achieving the distance. That said the elite are still just that The Elite and everyone respects that don't they? Not like we get "fun runners" on the start line with the Elite.
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Apr 2014
10:42am, 26 Apr 2014
1,495 posts
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Mave
Why is a distinction needed? A marathon is 26.2 miles, no matter how fast you complete it. I came in just under 5 hours for my first one and a 3 hour marathoner said that he had huge amounts of respect - that he couldn't keep running for that amount of time, that I'd run the time of an ultra for him. But you know, having other peoples respect and approval isn't the reason why any of us do it,is it?
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Apr 2014
11:54am, 26 Apr 2014
758 posts
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Scott S
A distinction is possibly a way of balancing elite Vs. ordinary runners.
I ran the Potter's 'Arf a few years ago (and don't know if they still do this) but if you finished sub-1h40 you got a certain plate as a memento and another one if you finished sub-2hrs. After that, a t-shirt or was it a medal?
It encouraged me to try and run it a little faster to get the memento.
At the end of the day, you'll get a medal regardless for finishing and a sense of pride for doing so but it may help appease some of those who think if you're not doing a sub 2h20 marathon, don't bother as it gives a small physical semblance of differentiation when finishing.
It's probably not overly important to a lot of people but for myself, who is generally middle of the field, I want to finish in a decent time based upon past experience and training / what I feel I should be doing and when I'm finishing say 11,000th out of 35000 runners. a silver rather than bronze coloured medal may provide a little more incentive.
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Apr 2014
12:15pm, 26 Apr 2014
36 posts
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MarkyMarkMark
On all my shirts given out after a marathon (5 down, how many to go....?) it says "Finisher". I'm as proud of that as anything - as a slightly fat 50+, I'm never going to be fast), but by gum, am I persistent! (And I'm still faster than some of my younger colleagues as well, so actually, feel pretty darn good about it.)
Don't let anyone ever try and tell you running (or run-walking, or even walking briskly) 26.2 miles is easy, or insignificant. 90%+ of the people who have the opportunity will never even attempt it. But YOU, as a Marathoner, did. YOU got up and put the effort in, and YOU are the one with the t-shirt and medal.
If I had my time over, maybe it'd be fun to try and better my time by taking up running 20 years before I did, but I am content to be who I am - and that's a "finisher".
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Apr 2014
12:25pm, 26 Apr 2014
5,337 posts
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Pestomum
I don't think that anything is diluted by more people completing - quite the contrary. It means more runners know the effort involved and then (hopefully) support and celebrate than in others 
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Apr 2014
1:32pm, 26 Apr 2014
18,424 posts
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sheri3004
"A six-hour marathoner is simply participating in the event, not racing in it" - by that token, doesn't the same apply to everyone except the guys and gals at the sharp end who are actually competing for places?
Equally a six-hour marathoner can also perceive themselves as racing - against their own PB and/or against people of similar ability. Or may indeed be "simply participating" and what's wrong with that?
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