Couple of things... First hats off to Dustin and Rachel (and all those that helped them this year) for yet another AWESOME Soaring Wings 1/2 Marathon, and thank you... thank you... thank you to all the volunteers that gave up their Saturday morning to help us crazy runners out!!
Now, number 2... This is not to ALL the runners out there, those of you who this pertains to, well you know who you are... QUIT THROWING YOUR TRASH on the roads and in peoples yards!!!! GEL PACKS especially those that have been used are NOT VERY HEAVY!!!!
I was running today, and ran several different portions of the race route, and there were WAY TOO MANY used gel packs just tossed to the side of the road, and yes in some cases peoples front yards.
I wish I would have had some sort of trash bag with me, of course I would have never been able to complete my run. It was ridiculous how many empty packs were on the course.
I knew I was getting near the end of my run, so as I entered Centennial, on Bay Hill Drive, I started picking up empty gel packs... from the street and FROM PEOPLES YARDS!!! By the time I got to the other end, a whole 1.27 miles... I could NOT CARRY any more.
I did 14 miles of trail sweep the day after the Arkansas Traveller 100, and in those 14 miles, I picked up about a 1/4 of the amount of empty gel packs as I did in 1.27 miles.
WE RUNNERS ARE BETTER THAN THAT!!!
I would hate for a GREAT RACE to have to change it's route up, because members of one of the two neighborhoods we actually run though, might end up not wanting us to run through there any more!!
Bottom line, what I saw today was simply UNACCEPTABLE!!!!
Couple of thoughts from Soaring Wings...
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sidewinder
- Herb Elliott
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2005 9:05 pm
- Location: russellville
- Contact:
I agree with you PT.....but heres some insight that I observed at the Chicago marathon that we don't always see....
I was at the Chicago Marathon...45,000 people ran it...i was cheering for my brother....so me and my son were running from point to point to see him...and of course giving him advice...lol Anyways...coming back thru the early part of the race as folks had cleared the amount of clothing and thrash was huge, especially near aid stations...so sanitation folks were sweeping and picking up everything......they must have had 40,000 cups filled at each aid station, and goodies at alot....and the homeless got involved they had their shopping carts filled with discarded clothing , gloves and everything...it was a windfall for them...shirts,gloves, sweat tops....u name it....thought about picking some of it up myself....looked like good stuff...
Anyway, as the race gets bigger the race organisers may have to have a crew follow and pick up everything just to be sure everything is the way it was before the race started....
Just an observation......see ya on the roads....
I was at the Chicago Marathon...45,000 people ran it...i was cheering for my brother....so me and my son were running from point to point to see him...and of course giving him advice...lol Anyways...coming back thru the early part of the race as folks had cleared the amount of clothing and thrash was huge, especially near aid stations...so sanitation folks were sweeping and picking up everything......they must have had 40,000 cups filled at each aid station, and goodies at alot....and the homeless got involved they had their shopping carts filled with discarded clothing , gloves and everything...it was a windfall for them...shirts,gloves, sweat tops....u name it....thought about picking some of it up myself....looked like good stuff...
Anyway, as the race gets bigger the race organisers may have to have a crew follow and pick up everything just to be sure everything is the way it was before the race started....
Just an observation......see ya on the roads....
Silly Billy was so Nilly....Couldn't run the Nebo Hilly....lol
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Clydesdale
- Paavo Nurmi
- Posts: 1730
- Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:36 am
- Location: CC's Pizza Buffet
Thanks Sidewinder...
I did find a couple of nice pairs women's gloves that I picked up and gave to my wife.
I can even see some sort of crew coming along afterward. I'm sure there is a fine line I'm straddling between is that the responsibility of the race, the runners, and/or both.
In ultras, I've helped numerous times afterward doing trail sweep. Generally all I'm getting is flagging, but I always look for trash, and pick up any that I see.
I do know that it's hard to get enough volunteers to cover all needs races already have. I can see adding to that being an issue.
I did mention at our club meeting Monday night, that I thought as experienced runners, that we pass along information to new runners. And some of that should be that you don't just throw your trash down... you carry it with you to eat, you keep it with you till you find the proper place to put it.
Hope to see you and Clydesdale soon... Spa 10K???
I did find a couple of nice pairs women's gloves that I picked up and gave to my wife.
I can even see some sort of crew coming along afterward. I'm sure there is a fine line I'm straddling between is that the responsibility of the race, the runners, and/or both.
In ultras, I've helped numerous times afterward doing trail sweep. Generally all I'm getting is flagging, but I always look for trash, and pick up any that I see.
I do know that it's hard to get enough volunteers to cover all needs races already have. I can see adding to that being an issue.
I did mention at our club meeting Monday night, that I thought as experienced runners, that we pass along information to new runners. And some of that should be that you don't just throw your trash down... you carry it with you to eat, you keep it with you till you find the proper place to put it.
Hope to see you and Clydesdale soon... Spa 10K???