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 petedaddy - www.peteruns.com |
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| Posted: 10/03/11 22:06:11 11 |
Ah hilarious, and I'll just tidy up the fragments of blundering misapprehension before I quit this thread for more meaningful and intelligent discourse. 1) I'm not a part of the centipede, which should have been blindingly obvious from what I've said thus far. 2) I'm not running on a gold bond place; I'm a ballot runner. Oh ho, how silly of you to assume otherwise. The thought that cheers me the most is that the motivated few who have been waxing most highly on this subject are a tiny proportion that are in no way representative of the spirit of the event. It would be a truly grim endeavour were that the case. Do try to save some of that energy for the actual event though eh?  |
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| petedaddy - www.peteruns.com |
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| Posted: 10/03/11 21:46:26 26 |
I am extremely impressed at the ability of the couple here who have managed to visit the URL in my nick, follow that to my fundraising page, and attempt to use the lighthearted nonsense I've written there as the basis of some kind of garbled argument against what I've said above. To then go from there to my charity's homepage and take a pop at them because their primary interest is raising money in order to save lives (SHUDDER GASP) is utterly beyond the pale. But, in order to be affected by the spurious mumblings of such people, I would first need to respect both them and the quality of their argument, which is sadly lacking in the extreme. The existance of the 'other' thread that demeans the value of running for charity is sufficient evidence to make my comments above stand, given it's the same people treating us to their considered opinion on the matter. As far as I'm concerned, 50 people running double file would merely be an interesting spectacle for both me and the spectators at the event. Should the London Marathon organisers, who incidentally are far more qualified than anyone here, decide that such a setup compromises safety, they won't be allowed to proceed. If you disagree, host your own marathon and run it how you like, otherwise do try to stop whining like spoilt children. I'm not inclined to waste any more time on this argument as it would require a greater amount of effort than I'm willing to dedicate to such petulent children, but suffice to say the follow-up comments to my post only reinforce what I've said. 'Fighting back against charities' indeed. You are right, good causes do get in the way of Serious Running. It must be terrible for those of you who evidently have so little else going on in life that even the notion of people running behind you in various forms of fancy dress is such a source of angst and anger. You must all be proud of such a righteous stance against corporate tyranny. Clap clap. | |
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| petedaddy - www.peteruns.com |
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| Posted: 10/03/11 16:50:19 19 |
| There was a point to this needless display of ignorant venom? | |
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| petedaddy - www.peteruns.com |
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| Posted: 10/03/11 16:08:45 45 |
parkrunfan: The opinions contained in my post above are entirely deserved of the people in this thread. Should you or any others consider yourself the object of my apparent 'insults', you may wish to consider why you identify yourselves so. And Jeepers, no, it's perfectly valid to run merely for your own sense of achievement if that is your wish, and good luck to you. It's only when people want to do that while slighting those who do it for charitable motivations it becomes a problem. | |
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| petedaddy - www.peteruns.com |
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| Posted: 10/03/11 15:36:15 15 |
Christ.
I can't believe I've bothered to even skim the last 10 pages of this crap. The majority of the posters in this thread at the most mean-spirited bunch of arseholes I've ever had the displeasure of encountering on the internet. Rarely have I had cause to instantly despise so many people at once.
The original poster sought participants for a stunt that helps make the London Marathon what it is; a hugely popular charity spectacle that energises the tens and hundreds of thousands of people who spend their day shouting support at people they don't know who are trying hard to complete a difficult event. The reasons why those people run are widely varied, but the majority run for good causes and for those the completion of the event is the emotional culmination of months of effort. They do it for the sense of personal achievement and for the good it'll do their charity. In my experience the people who sponsor me are those who recognise this as a relatively rare feat of endurance and respect the discipline that four months of training demands. Their money is given freely, without duress, and with simple kindness.
Of course, if you're a harsh, horrible, unlikeable individual that thinks castigating someone for their particular gimmick is a good way to spend your time, you may associate yourself with people equally as miserly in spirit, and from these I have no doubt you'd struggle to prise even a fiver from them in the staggering event you aren't doing something motivated entirely by self-interest.
If the London Marathon wasn't such a large charity event, it wouldn't get anything like the support it receives in terms of television coverage, corporate sponsorship and spectators thronging the streets. They aren't there for the grim-faced hardcore athletes that power past in 5 minute-mile blurs; they're there for the happy charity runners who jog past with a wave and a smile. The whole effect creates an enormous amount of goodwill that helps people get to the end. There are direct benefits for all concerned in the way it is set up, because if it wasn't that way it wouldn't be appreciably more subscribed (discounting athletic competitors) than any of the many other marathons held around the country, and so the impulse to run in this event over one more local to you wouldn't exist. Even you pea-brained misanthropes should be capable of seeing that.
The fact you've all gleefully piled on to this wafer-thin argument of alleged disruption and threat to your oh so precious PBs demonstrates that you are precisely the kind of people that should stay away from this event. You don't get it, and you're not worthy. Should you consider yourself a Proper Athelete that has no time for anyone but yourself, you will be far, far ahead of all these lovely silly people at the back, bobbing along in their own way, and so any practical objection to your personal ability to complete the run does not apply.
If you're more like me, running for charity at the premier charity running event of the year, you will accept that there are lots of other runners in the course of various abilities in different types of dress that you might have to weave around should you find yourself going faster than them. Again, if you think that's all too softcore for you, find another event.
Should I find myself passing the centipede at the London Marathon I'll cheer them on enthusiastically as I pass, and dear god should that brief effort cost me a few seconds on my overall time I think I'll be able to live with it. | |
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