People who walk the Marathon

1246711

Comments

  • Well if that's true (and to some extent I think it is) then I think that that's a great shame.
  • I would like to run the London Marathon one day and have been rejected 3 times in a row in the ballot. I train fairly hard and do the best I can in races. I would never ever enter races if the organisers insist you must run the whole way, I do not believe any runner whatever their standard can guarantee this. So far this year I have run all my races but last year when I first started out I walked short periods in a couple of races.

    I would like to run the whole way in my next marathon but will be happy just to finish.
  • Perhaps I shouldn't really say anything, as I haven't yet done my first marathon. But, hey, it's irresistible!
    One of the great things about FLM is that ordinary people think they can have a go and OK they might be over-optimistic about their time, but the fact remains that it is still a massive achievement to get through those 26 miles.
    Don't want to be controversial or anything, but I suspect that what this comes down to is whether you are a team player or not.
  • HillyHilly ✭✭✭
    Ironwolf-no offence taken!

    I've done 3 Londons and 1 low key marathon. In 2 Londons I've wore the chip-last year and this year. Last year I had a bad run, no fault of anyone else and this year I did get a PB. However, I do agree that London is no longer ideal for going for a fast time, which is why I'm doing Cardiff in September.

    However, I do feel it's a shame that London is losing faster runners (not counting the elite) from the front of the mass field because of there being just too many on the course. Next year there is likey to be even less 'fast' runners with the move of the men's GFA time.

    Maybe London should just declare the marathon for the masses a charity event as it's definitely losing it's appeal to 'competitive runners' who as you say train very hard only to get a rubbish time.

    Luckily, I'm on the GFA start, but it's still way to crowded for at least 12-15 miles!

    So yes I see where you're coming from!
  • To re-state, as someone who hobbled the back end of FLM'03, and slowed others down in the process as they 'excused' themselves around me and others, I've got a lot of sympathy with Stressman, Hilly etc...

    I tried to 'keep left' - others did'nt though.

  • I agree with hilly. The London Marathon is the premier athletics event in the UK, but they seem to be taking it away from club runners who are the backbone of the sport by making it harder to get in on GFA times. Surely it can be a charity event, an elite race and the pinnacle for the club runners who turn up to run wet miserable 10ks in November with 300 other hardy souls.

    I've always admired people who complete the marathon for whatever reason, but I believe you should enter it aiming to get from a to b in the fastest possible time. This includes 16 weeks hard training.

    Also, FLM can be the place for a pb. I knocked just 78 secs off mine this year and that was due to the fantastic crowd support in the last 4 miles as my legs cramped up and I felt like nothing on earth. The shouts of `Come on Barnsley' from the crowd made me dig deep and keep going. That was the difference between a completely disappointing run and the pleasure of a pb.

    Run, walk, do whatever it takes to get round, but train to put yourself in the best position to run as much of it as you can because, as hilly says, it is a running race.
  • HillyHilly ✭✭✭
    oft-I was not slowed by anyone walking in front of me, only runners running too slow!:o)

    I honestly have no grievance with anyone doing what they can, it's just a shame that London has got so big that many are forced to walk even though they don't want to!

    Wends-it's nothing about being a team player. A marathon is a very individual event-each 'man' against the course and the distance. As you've noted some do it to get around others, once they've done one, do it to get faster times. If I wanted to be a team player in a marathon I'd join a relay:o)
  • I agree with BR (and by implication Hilly). It has IMO swung too far away from club runners and too much towards charity.

    Not that any marathon is easy.
  • One last post before I crawl off to bed. Our Hippo has been seriously upset by the tone of some of the criticisms against walkers. As she is a very hard-working conscientious health professional, working up to 36 hours on a shift to help seriously ill and dying kidney patients, it's a miracle she has the time and sheer bloodymindedness to complete marathons however she does it. So lay off the walkers, say I.
  • Yes and hippo also puts in as much work as she can to be a better runner. We know this from her training postings.

    I think the gripe here is with people who don't even try to train properly, set off @ a good marathon place then blow up anywhere from 3 miles onwards due to lack of preparation then get in the way of more focussed individuals.
  • dont make me cry here


    (its up to 72 hours btw)

    I think the etiquette of moving to the left for walkers is a good one

    believe it or not, ocasionally, ive been held up too

  • I really want to run it all though


  • Hip - one day you will, I know.
    Keep the faith.

    Nite.
  • Yep, BR has hit the nail on the head, or at least that's what bothers me.

    You certainly don't fall into that category Benz.

    You've done 18 mile runs haven't you - I'm sure I remember you doing that with Vrap?
  • We'll have to stop agreeing like this (cf. Gay Bishop thread) or else we'll be asked to come up with a peace formula for Northern Ireland and the Middle East!
  • No i havent, FR

    im crap, i still have to walk

    Im sorryfor getting in the way
  • Benz.
    Withdraw that apology immediately. for donkey's years FLM has been a wonderful day out to raise huge sums for charity and for the man/woman in the street to scale his/her personal Everests.
    On this occasion the serious runners should recognise it for what it is and let the man on the Clapham omnibus have his moment of personal glory.
    JJ
  • Well
    I ddidnt get in anyones way

    i might have overtaken peeps

    But you are so right JJ


    Rol on my next FLM
  • If they stick the Clapham omnibus on the route it'll definitely get in the way!!!

    I actually think that it's possible for the faster and the slower runners to all get their moment of personal glory - just because someone is faster doesn't mean they're not on the Clapham omnibus!
  • SM,

    Its horses for courses. If you are trained to perfection, focussed and want a good time of around 4 hours go run in a marathon with a small field.

    There will be masses of people doing around that time in the FLM and even if you weren't impeded by walkers you would be by runners at places around the course.

    My first attempt at the distance was the Rugby Marathon in 1935 or thereabouts. there were 200 runners and I wasn't held up at all. I started at an easy pace and chatted to runners as I came alongside them. I would then run on to catch the next group of runners to repeat the process. I had no idea whether I would be able to finish but concentrated on running well within myself for the first 15 miles. I seem to remember it started to hurt around 20 miles but the only stress involved in that race was the physical stress of running and the mental stress involved in not slowing down towards the end. I was very pleased to finish in under 3 hours especially as in those days the prescriptive training schedules for marathon training had not been laid down in minute detail by a thousand and one experts. I think I had run 35 miles a week on average for the previous year and my longest training run had been a one-off of 16 miles.

    My best time was acheived in the London marathon in 1982 but there were only 15,000 entries and I was relatively close to the front so apart from the humiliation of having the running waiter ahead of me for the first mile or so I again had a pretty clear run.

    If you enjoy stress then you should do exactly as you did in the FLM. Place yourself in the correct box for your expected time and then act surprised and angry when you find there are hundreds of other runners all being held up at the start when everyone is packed close together and noone can get into their proper stride until the field thins out. Get angry about it and push and shove the people in front of you as if it is their fault. Blame every one but yourself for your poor time. Write aggravating messages on the RW threads and upset other contributors who take your rants as a personal criticism. Wind yourself up further if any of the responses don't happen to be totally sympathetic to your self-important stance.

    The simple message is that if you are as talented as you claim and want to run a pb, choose a race with a small field, few corners, no hills and a wide start. If you want a slow time pick a mass participation race.

    To those who complain that moderate club runners are being squeezed out of the FLM I have this explanation to offer. The wider the spread of abilities, the sooner the field thins out and the more runners can be accommodated. If the organisers allowed 60,000 sub 4hr marathoners to enter the race then the congestion would last for the first ten miles and poor old SM would burst a blood vessel.

    BO

  • BO, the FLM organisers are making it even more congested around the 4 hour mark by taking out 1000 or so club runners who thought they had qualified for GFA by running between 3hrs and 3:15. These places will mostly go to slower runners, causing more bodies lower down the field.
  • BO well said i'm a very newbie runner and one day would like to do a marathon thank you for enabling me to think it is possible
  • Hi BB - why would you ever think you couldn't?
  • sb i can only r*n for 5 mins at momnt
  • ah - u would have to run v fast to cover it in that time... but u have time between now and next april to increase that to 4 or 5 hours.
  • It takes a slow but steady build up BB - that's how we all did it :)
  • thanks chaps i think i'll need more than till next april to do flm
    i'd like to Bathalf next year hubby has offered to walk run it with me
    hes already run it twice
  • i think that anyone (as long as they don't have a medical condition) can run a marathon. that is based on nothing but my own opinion and observation. but that's what i like so much about it - it really is something that anyone and everyone can do. you dont have to be young, rich, talented, thin, good looking (of course I am all these things) but my point is it just doesn't matter.

    what do others think?
Sign In or Register to comment.