Cheering at the NAHA Marathon
12 /10/2005 11:49
“Hey, Mr. Sminkey!” yelled one of my
former students, as he came running up to the water table that my
wife and I had set up at the 36 kilometer point. “I thought
you were gonna do the NAHA marathon this year!”
“No,” I explained, as I handed him a paper cup full of water. “I’m training for the Okinawa Marathon this coming February.”
“Well, then, I’ll cheer for you then,” he said, as he ran off with a smile.
I had also prepared signs for two of my other students and for Lenny--a friendly guy that I had met through e-mail and who had come down from the Japanese mainland to run this race. Although I missed my students (due to the crowd), I did meet Lenny for a couple of few seconds to hand him a drink and exchange a frew words about how he was doing in the race. The next day at school, I showed my students the signs that I had prepared, and they seemed happy and asked if they could keep the signs. A few days later, I received a very nice e-mail from Lenny thanking me for the sports drink.
Positive and friendly reactions like these make the effort that goes into cheering for runners seem worthwhile. As a runner, it's easy to take the efforts of supporters for granted, but as a supporter, you want just one thing from runners: an expression--no matter how small--of thanks.
As one who enjoys running in races, I have been the frequent recipient of various items handed out by supporters. I was especially overwhelmed by the kindness of supporters at last year’s NAHA Marathon, the first marathon I have ever run. Not only was the entire 42.195 kilometers lined with supporters, but dozens of groups had set up small tables for distributing water, sports drinks, and various food items. Not official water stations paid for with participation fees, but tables that individuals or groups had set up and paid for out of their own pockets. As a Naha resident who had benefited from such kindness last year, I was determined to return the favor this year by distributing water myself. I picked the 36K mark because as every marathon runner knows, many people hit the dreaded “wall” at approximately that point.
Runners, who are usually keenly focused on their own struggle of completing such a long race, are often blithely unaware of the sacrifice that goes into distributing water or cheering. To begin with, volunteers are not paid, so they are working for free. People that set up their own tables are actually paying for the paper cups and drinks. Then they have to run around picking up trash, and put up with the occasional rude comment. It's very easy to think that it's not worth it.
Every runner should have the experience of cheering and supporting runners. Then they would know that a casual "thank you" goes a long way.
“No,” I explained, as I handed him a paper cup full of water. “I’m training for the Okinawa Marathon this coming February.”
“Well, then, I’ll cheer for you then,” he said, as he ran off with a smile.
I had also prepared signs for two of my other students and for Lenny--a friendly guy that I had met through e-mail and who had come down from the Japanese mainland to run this race. Although I missed my students (due to the crowd), I did meet Lenny for a couple of few seconds to hand him a drink and exchange a frew words about how he was doing in the race. The next day at school, I showed my students the signs that I had prepared, and they seemed happy and asked if they could keep the signs. A few days later, I received a very nice e-mail from Lenny thanking me for the sports drink.
Positive and friendly reactions like these make the effort that goes into cheering for runners seem worthwhile. As a runner, it's easy to take the efforts of supporters for granted, but as a supporter, you want just one thing from runners: an expression--no matter how small--of thanks.
As one who enjoys running in races, I have been the frequent recipient of various items handed out by supporters. I was especially overwhelmed by the kindness of supporters at last year’s NAHA Marathon, the first marathon I have ever run. Not only was the entire 42.195 kilometers lined with supporters, but dozens of groups had set up small tables for distributing water, sports drinks, and various food items. Not official water stations paid for with participation fees, but tables that individuals or groups had set up and paid for out of their own pockets. As a Naha resident who had benefited from such kindness last year, I was determined to return the favor this year by distributing water myself. I picked the 36K mark because as every marathon runner knows, many people hit the dreaded “wall” at approximately that point.
Runners, who are usually keenly focused on their own struggle of completing such a long race, are often blithely unaware of the sacrifice that goes into distributing water or cheering. To begin with, volunteers are not paid, so they are working for free. People that set up their own tables are actually paying for the paper cups and drinks. Then they have to run around picking up trash, and put up with the occasional rude comment. It's very easy to think that it's not worth it.
Every runner should have the experience of cheering and supporting runners. Then they would know that a casual "thank you" goes a long way.
|