WOGOR Blogger: Marathons – The Worst Spectator Sport!

Marathon running is surely the world’s worst spectator sport!

You’d think on race day it’s a case of sitting back in a fold-out chair and cheering your faster-half on, gin and tonic in hand. It’s actually a gruelling exercise, made even grimmer if said faster-half doesn’t run as quickly as they’d hoped. As the WOGOR (Wife or Girlfriend of a Runner) cheering on means walking/jogging almost as far as the marathon itself, yet still with the expectation to take photographs good enough to be posted on any number of sponsors’ blogs afterwards.

If you’re lucky, with a long, clear, straight stretch you can hope to see an elite marathon runner for around 30 seconds. For most of that time they will be very far away, or with their back to you. Things get frustrating when spectators lean out in front of you and obscure your view, when the runners are bunched in a pack, or the rain is so heavy that watching is like peering through a shower curtain.

At best, you can see that marathon runner three times on the one course. I say at best because I’ve aimed for the golden ‘four times’ twice, and failed. This has been on foot on both occasions, and perhaps there’ll be an opportunity to use a bicycle or a horse in the future. Taxis aren’t too useful with all the road closures associated with a big race, unfortunately. At least in London the Tube can provide some links, however for the Oita to Beppu marathon, for example, I walked 37 kilometres in total, from the hotel to the start, and then to a point I’d be able to see Ben twice at, then to the finish to try and find him (a fail), before walking back to the hotel. In retrospect I should have kept walking another 5.2 kilometres so that I wouldn’t have to run a marathon this year to say I’ve done one!

I’d like to suggest that marathon organisers incorporate a few more loops into a course, or even have it run around an accessible hill. Designated meeting points are also absolutely necessary for around the finish line. A few more coffee carts en route would be most appreciated. If I designed a course I’d have the marathon run past one point three times, perhaps in a figure like a clover, with lots of good, undercover areas – seating and cafes included – in that centralised point….but the likelihood of a course like that being possible is pretty remote.

Television coverage could also be vastly improved. I’d suggest that if you are commentating a race you should 1. Get the names right (that includes pronunciation), and 2. have some facts about the elite runners (at least on hand), definitely including their PBs. If I can do a better job at commentating a marathon, then you aren’t doing your job as a sports commentator. The worst sports commentating I’ve ever heard has been associated with distance running, which is kind of disrespectful to the hours of training put in to do a marathon in the first place.

Rant over. Watching on the sidelines, watching your timer, watching for the runners to appear, is heart stopping. Occasionally, it’s also the stuff of dreams. It’s just that unlike following a football team there’s no chance for redemption or a repeat next week!