I used to volunteer at a half-marathon, at about mile 9. The cleanup really isn’t that hard, to be honest. You take huge brooms and you sweep the street. It’s more fun than dusting (although that’s not a high bar).
However. One year, someone got the bright idea to hand out PowerGel or some other such garbage about 100 yards before our water stand. People took it, ripped it open and tried it, discovered that it was disgusting, and threw it down. Usually, at this point, they were right in front of us. The resulting mess was truly awful.
That was the only time I ever minded cleaning up cups.
I might add that Hilarity’s assessment of waves is correct in my experience. But I think the people in the fourth wave just wanted to feel more like “real” athletes, so they threw the cup down. It never bothered me much. To each his own illusions.
I’ve done some volunteering at races, and there was a woman’s event not long ago where many of the participants were doing their first race. I remember several of the women stopping to drink, and they’d say “thank-you”, and then hand the cup back or walk over to the trash can. I actually thought that was pretty funny.
Then there was the time when I was not handing out water, but helping to give people directions. Someone ran by and grabbed the cup of water I was drinking. I thought that was even funnier!
The one thing I really did have trouble with was throwing the water. Some of the runners actually wanted us to just go ahead and throw the water at their face/neck/chest area. They’d wave toward themselves and look expectant as they trotted past. I know they wanted to be splashed, but it just always seemed inexcusably rude to throw water at someone. I compromised by doing it and then saying, “Sorry!” I’m sure they thought I was a complete nutcase.
Yes. If you are running anything longer than 10 miles, a couple strips of white adhesive tape from the first aid kit will save you from bloody nipples later on down the road.
I guess there are other options, but I haven’t tried them.
I can tell you that, from personal experience, both women and men put their hands in their shorts when handed that much-looked-for vaseline lollipop. I used to lube up before running for any amount of time, but sometimes there are areas you don’t think to lube before doing a full marathon. Between your ass cheeks can be one of them. By the time you start seeing the vaseline lollipops, you know if you need one. And re-applying, depending on what you used to start with, can sometimes be helpful. Especially for those of us ladies who, no matter how long and how hard we run, will always have thighs that rub together.
Back to the OP, I don’t care if people throw their cups on the ground during a race. What pisses me off is when they throw their Gu (energy gel) packets on the ground while training, especially when they’re running along with a fanny pack for their Gu and water - most of those packs have pockets.
You ought to see the inside of some of the port-a-pots along the road during a marathon. Some are completely unusable. Some runners carb-load to a ridiculous degree the night before the run and wake up with a case of the shits, which they then inflict on anyone else who’s unfortunate enough not to be able to finish ahead of them. That’s why you see so many people squatting next to or peeing on trees.
My dad has a customer who is one of those athletic extremists: climbs Everest, sky dives for world records, runs 100 mile races, etc. On the guy’s first 100 mile run, he was talking with some of the non-rookies and they said they surgically had toenails removed. I never asked why, but i assumed it was because they get severely damaged or cracked/sharp edges, or, something i don’t know. Any idea what removing toenails does for running fiend?
In the middle and back of the race (which is where I always am), you still have to manuever yourself to side of the lane get to the water (which is often handed to you) and then you get out of the way so others can get their water. You do try to run while drinking, and then you may try to worm your way back to the edge to throw the water away.
I try to aim for the trash can, but it doesn’t always work. If I miss and it hits the ground, it doesn’t actually hit the ground, it hits a pile of other cups that other runners have thrown. I could stop, and turn around (making myself an obstacle for the other runners) or be content knowing that volunteers are going to pick up after me this one day, and that I will probably end up volunteering some other race to pick up after other runners.
If these piles of garbage are being left and the race directors have no plans to do anything about it - that’s pittable.
I got a blister under my big toenail after a 3-day charity walk recently. I’m not sure how I’m going to prevent it next year but that sucker was nasty and definitely resulted in some home-grown toenail removal. I considered taking pictures (it’s growing back in right now and just not very exciting) but I’m glad to see someone else took up the slack.
Are runners ever arrested for that, convicted of lewd behavior, and required to register as sex offenders? And if not, why the Hell not?
Littering, shitting or pissing in a public space don’t become acceptable because one has chosen to participate in a stupid race. I’d like to see every one of the litterbugs stopped by a cop – that’s right, brought to a complete halt, and either ticketed ($500 fine) or required to go pick up his cup and put it in the trash can. Let them use a track if they think their precious race takes priority over everything else.
When I used to run distance, I had some nipple chafing problems, some dong-chafing problems, but worst of all, I’d tie my taint hair in knots.
I’d basically create a dreadlock that spanned from the bottom of one buttcheek to the other. At some point after a run, I’d either sit down, or maybe have to go poop. Well, take my word for it that the dreadlock had stronger cohesion than the hair/skin had adhesion. What that means is that when things spread out a little, I’d rip a clump of hair out of one side of my taint.
Ouch.
I learned to spend the time in the shower trying to untangle it manually.
And, bike race litterbugs are worse. They’ll friggin’ throw empty water bottles right onto some dude’s land. Completely inappropriate.
I’ve done a few short (sprint) triathlons… slowly. There isn’t always a trash can right there when I’m done drinking. It’s that simple. If there’s one up ahead I might hold onto the cup for a short while but in the end they, expect you to drop the cup when you’re done.
In the races I’ve done, there are rules against littering during the bike portion. Some bikers seem to like throwing water bottles when they are finished with them. Judges can and will add penalty time if they see this or any other littering.
Part of the race admission fee covers cleanup. Within hours of a race, there is no evidence that anything ever took place. The cities that run these races make money from the events (even after cleaning up). It’s a win for everyone.
By the way, from the rules from the New York marathon:
“When discarding a cup, toss it gently toward the side of the road or straight down toward your feet. Make sure you do not hit other participants with your cup or its contents.”
In other words, you’re supposed to discard cups on the ground.
Uh, if they go through all the proper channels, why shouldn’t it? Should pitchers be arrested for throwing a hard, round ball at someone at a hundred miles an hour? Should every boxing match end in ten seconds with both boxers in handcuffs?
