Beware the sweeper...

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2 Flat Feet Apr 2014 1:47pm, 26 Apr 2014 3,910 posts	0 2 Flat Feet I was marshalling Parkrun today. The guys (of both genders) at the front were all appreciative but silent - a wave of the hand to say thanks was all they could manage. In the middle of the pack, there was often a cheery "thanks, marshal" or other chat. At the tailend, again it was an appreciative wave but no breath for anything more. My conclusion - those at the front and at the back try harder than the majority in the middle.
Meglet Apr 2014 2:32pm, 26 Apr 2014 14,397 posts	0 Meglet That's one thing I like about marshalling, you notice that it doesn't matter how fast someone is, they can still be reLly pushing themselves.
Squares Apr 2014 3:56pm, 26 Apr 2014 1,659 posts	0 Squares It reminded me of Charlie Spedding's book,
Squares Apr 2014 3:58pm, 26 Apr 2014 1,660 posts	0 Squares Where he blames mass participation events for the lack of GB success at middle and long distances, which young athlete would want to compete in the same road race as his friend's fat mother
fleecy Apr 2014 4:11pm, 26 Apr 2014 15,292 posts	0 fleecy Funnily enough, I was passed right near the end of parkrun today by ds1's 12 year old friend. He shouted 'ha, you won't beat me now!' as he zoomed off
Scott S Apr 2014 5:15pm, 26 Apr 2014 759 posts	0 Scott S I agree up to a point about mass participation events. I've been in some and found it impossible to get any sort of pace as you're hemmed in for most of the event (i.e. Manchester 10km next month?). Faster runners are possibly spread out more what with so many events so aren't pushed quite the same. I tend to be faster in smaller events where I've got space and others take advantage of it as well which means I'll be more likely to keep up or try and beat them. As for running with your "friend's fat mother", if I were an easily embarrassed teen, I would want to be getting as far from her as possible so would run faster!
Dvorak Apr 2014 5:26pm, 26 Apr 2014 8,663 posts	0 Dvorak Competing with "his friend's fat mother" has the implication that HFFM might beat him. In which case I don't think the mass-participation element is to blame for the lack of success.
Squares Apr 2014 5:31pm, 26 Apr 2014 1,662 posts	0 Squares Speddings argument was the loss of kudos... And that if friends fat mam could run there is no achievement, personally I think he's barking up the wrong tree! For big events the waves work well, perhaps some evidence of faster pace would be good... I could lie on my gnr entry and say I was aiming for 1:40, which would put me in the way of the speedy types!
RevBarbaraG Apr 2014 5:33pm, 26 Apr 2014 2,068 posts	0 RevBarbaraG As idle wilder said - everyone is there for a reason. Who's to say one person's reason is better than another person's? Or more valid? I was near the back of the London field, finishing in position 35,024 of 35,849 - and the people who finished behind me included people on crutches, wearing incredibly heavy rhino costumes, playing instruments (not all at the same time!). People who finished ahead of me included the guy carrying a fridge. When I was on The Highway at mile 22, a guy in a star costume, who I had seen near the start, was coming the other way (i.e. approaching half-way) - he will not have got to finish line before the 6pm cutoff. So he won't have got a medal - but he put in a huge effort, presumably raising money for something that was important to him and not just because he fancied a wander round London looking like a prannet. I respect each and every one of those people, because no matter how long they took, or even whether they finished, they all did (or tried to do) something really tough. And I also respect, admire, and aspire to be like those people who bust a gut to finish in 4, 3:30, or sub-3. Their achievement was greater than mine in the athletic sense. But my achievement was worth something too - whether other people recognise it or not.
RevBarbaraG Apr 2014 5:40pm, 26 Apr 2014 2,069 posts	0 RevBarbaraG The HFFM thing? There's an obvious answer.... have some events with qualifying/cut-off times. Then those who can't match those times won't enter. It's not a problem to me that I can't enter the Olympic marathon, that's for the true elites. It's also not a problem to me that I wouldn't qualify for Boston... that would be something to aspire to one day, maybe, but for now I'm happy for it to be left as an event that many will not be fast enough for. Just don't diss the events that ARE open to everyone. This afternoon I gave a talk about London as part of my fundraising, and some of the comments made were interesting: that the TV coverage was focussing mainly on the elite runners, and that wasn't what most people were interested in. And as a spectator, the elites f;ash by so fast, blink and you'll miss them. They wanted to see the people like me, who were out there doing their best to raise money for charity.....