Published: November 15, 2008 07:55 pm         

Rock and Roll Marathon set for today in San Antonio

Today is the Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon in San Antonio. With the promise of 15,000 runners and then having 30,000 runners in the full and half marathons was beyond the organizer’s wildest dreams.

There are a number of runners from San Marcos and nearby towns that are entered in either the full or half marathon.

There are 50 bands playing along the way to keep the runners upbeat and entertained. Those bands at the beginning will have the runners listening for a little longer, as with that big of a crowd, it takes a few miles to thin out.

The bands near the finish line will also have some more time as those last few miles are usually slower than at the beginning or in the middle miles. And a little lively music will help those tired legs and feet make it to the finish.

There was an article a few days ago in the San Antonio Express-News about how to watch a marathon. It sort of caught my eye as to why someone needed tips on how to watch a marathon. I have run marathons, led races, directed races, cheered fellow runners on in 5K and 10K races and wondered if there was a difference between watching a marathon versus a 10K run.

One of the suggestions as a spectator was to not scream to the runner near the finish that, “You are almost there,” when in reality there are still several miles to go.

I could relate to this.

I remember someone yelling, “The finish line is just around the next turn.” I turned the next corner and I didn’t see any finish line. It was still a mile to go before I could stop.

The other comment I remember was, “It’s all flat and easy running from now until the finish.” I made a turn and there was on overpass over a highway. It was not necessarily that much of a hill but when it is mile 25 or so that little bump in the road was not flat and easy running.

Several choice comments were made under my breath about those spectators that did not know what they were talking about.

The recommendation to yell at the runners was more in the line of, “You are looking great” and “Way to go. Keep up the good work.”

I did that one race and the lady called me a liar for saying it. She said as bad as she felt, she couldn’t be looking good but thanked me anyway for saying so.

Another recommendation is to stay on the sidelines or up on the sidewalk and not out in the road. Some spectators drift out into the middle of the road while they are looking for friends in the race. It interrupts the other runners and makes it difficult to concentrate on the pace and course if they have to run around people standing in the race path.

There is usually plenty of water and replenishment drinks on the course but some of the early stations will be crowded — you can imagine 30,000 runners trying to get close to aid stations for a drink.

If you have it worked out for a friend, you can hand them something to drink or eat somewhere along the course and make sure they stay energized to continue.

At the end of the race, runners really appreciate someone around to help them put on warm ups, get some food into them, lots of fluid and some encouraging words about how well they have done.

Do not worry about commenting on how fast they ran, but mention the fact that they finished a marathon distance and it’s worthy accomplishment by itself.

If I remember correctly, the number of runners that run a marathon is only around 15 percent of all runners. That puts a marathon runner in an elite group of runners no matter what their time was.

Next up for runners in San Marcos and the nearby towns is the Thankful Turkey 5K run next week out at the River Ridge course on Saturday morning. This is only a 5K and will be a good race to enter.



Dr. Maurice Johnson is an instructor at Texas State University in the Department of Sports and Exercise Science. His column appears every Sunday in The Daily Record.

     

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