London Marathon supporters
Yes, I ran the marathon recently, and it was quite and experience I can tell you.
Loads of bands, playing all kinds of music from skiffle through big band to death metal, jigging us along on our way, all very pleasent.
The atmosphere of sixty thousand people jogging along in unison is really quite unique, and there is a real air of benevolence, encouraging your fellow runners not to give up, to think about how much better they’ll be feeling once they’ve got to the end, and just to keep on going. These little things as you pad your way around the course are a great help.
The supporters are lovely as well… Well. Most of them. The ones who stand there shouting encouragement, are great- “Come on Tim”, “keep going Batman”, “dig deep Jude”! That kind of thing is great, and as you go past the families smiling, waving and shaking their heads disbelievingly as you wander past at a slightly-faster-than-walking pace.
Its the few, the random and the ignorant ones that annoy you. The ones that stand outside run down pubs in East London, looking like they really need to visit a weight loss clinic, or just run a marathon themselves (I lost more than a kilogram in less than 4 hours!) they stand there and shout- “cmon, its not that far”, “pick your legs up and run” and all kinds of oh-so-unhelpful phrases. If we werent so knackered, we’d take them to task and kick 7 kinds of hell out of them.
However, we are marathon runners, and as such, are nice people, so we run on past, staggering toward the end, drinking lucozade, throwing water over our heads and generally just trying to keep cool.
If youre going to shout at us. Be nice, Be encouraging, and dont belittle the distance. If you think its not that far, you try and run it.
