MetaChat - Is this common in marathons and half marathons?

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03 November 2012

Is this common in marathons and half marathons? I ran a half marathon today, only my second one. I noticed two guys who had already finished were going back down the last 1/4 mile of the course... →[More:]and sort of escorting certain runners to the finish line. Maybe they were looking for people who looked like they were dragging a little? Anyway, just wondering if this is common. It didn't look like any official thing, they both had finisher's medals on. It seemed like a nice thing to do, but my GF (who also ran it) said it would have irritated her mightily and she would have shooed them away.

So -- ever seen this before? Is this common?

post by: jayder at: 17:32 | 5 comments

Huh, I've never seen that in NYC. I imagine at a race the size of the NYC one, it wouldn't even be allowed.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 03 November | 18:10

NYC didn't have a run this time. So where was it?

posted by Splunge 03 November | 22:37

When I ran the San Diego Marathon with Team in Training, to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma folks, our coaches did this. It's hard to explain why it is not at all offensive -- basically they run in with team members (as well as rooting for them on the sidelines during the race) to add to the joy of the finish line. It's pretty special given the reason we ran that race as a team.

posted by bearwife 04 November | 19:45

This was a small town event in the southern US, just a few hundred participants.

I thought it was a cool thing for these guys to do. They didn't seem to know the people they helped. I could imagine their enthusiasm helped tired runners to rally at the end of the race.

posted by jayder 04 November | 21:53

I ran a super small (~160 runners) and friendly half marathon at the end of September, and people were doing this, yes. I didn't mind.

posted by gaspode 05 November | 11:43

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