This heartfelt Facebook post has been brought to my attention and it is everything events are not about and I am shocked by the callous way the London Marathon treated the back of the pack runners.
I would of been one of them if I was there this year and I would of felt terrible if I had been treated that way. I have put in for the ballot next year but am seriously thinking twice about it if I get a place.
Here is the report, again sorry for a downer post but judging by the replies on social media it is not a one off. If they want to do this in my opinion they should have a shorted cut off time and don’t get a 7.5 hour pacer.
The Facebook link did work for me RFC, I didn't realise that there were pacers beyond around 7 hours for a marathon, I agree with you that those runners were treated callously by the officials. It's the sheer length of time they are running for, according to Strava Pace Calculator, a 7.01.57 marathon time is equal to 50 minutes 5K.
Apparently they had 7 hour and 7.5 hour pacers and both were treated as badly. One woman got to the end at just over 7 hours and there was only Xs shirts left when she needed a LG, she got told she should of either run faster or lost more weight, disgusting behaviour. ☹️.
😢 i have seen a couple of posts like this too. It is a totally unacceptable way to treat people. Especially those who have worked so hard to raise money for good causes and trained hard to compete. I hope some good can come of this and VLM will take action on this awful behavior.
This makes pretty grim reading and is a pretty poor way of treating people. If you say the cut off is eight hours then the full course should be open for people who are on track to complete within eight hours of starting. Sounds like they started clearing up based on an eight hour cut off from when the first people started rather than the last people (who set off over an hour later). Otherwise set the cut off at seven hours and be honest with people.
Exactly. Bad management and misleading communication. There was actually a short interview with the 7.5 hour pacer on the Phil Williams show on radio 5 last night. Recording is on BBC sounds - show started at 22.30 and the interview was about an hour in. She spoke really well and very passionately about what happened.
Thanks, I will have look for that, I understand her protective nature regarding her runners and you can feel the hurt she felt in her letter to what happened to them.
That’s absolutely horrendous! I’m appalled at the treatment they received by VLM. I’ve no desire to do marathons but if I did I’d be one of those at the back of the pack n to be treated so shoddily is just disgraceful 😡
I’m disgusted to think that brave people would be treated like this. It’s not right. I’ve no ambition to do a half marathon never mind a full marathon. I just have no interest in putting myself through that amount of pain. But for those people who lived and dreamed about achieving their ambition and goal for themselves and their charities by completing the London Marathon to be treated like that is horrendous.
It’s making me worry now about the London Vitality 10k I am doing later in May. It explicitly states the roads will be opened after 90 minutes, which is fine if it’s 90 minutes after the last starter, but not if it’s off the gun time for the final wave. I will also carry my own water, I think!
I have done quite a few vitality events and have always felt comfortable as a back of the pack runner. I am marshalling an event for them in July. Even though virgin and vitality are the same company as such I think they run their events different, I have not heard any negative things for vitality events. Once they ran out of water in 2016 but haven’t since. Last Year at my hackney half the last runner came in at 4 hours 20min, we were all called to come and help welcome them in and there were no street cleaners in sight just the tail runners supporting the last runner, which is exactly the way it should be. You will be fine I am sure. Rfc x
Thanks, that’s good to know. The only other large event I have done (Great South Run) was absolutely fine other than they only had large finishers T shirts left when I finished. Fortunately hubby who had finished earlier had been given a medium which was too small for him.
I read a load of reports of this on Beyonders and Lonely Goat...it was sickening... and the distress caused was unacceptable! Many folk who had looked forward to this day so much had the whole day spoiled. The last runners found their way blocked, the pacer was forced off route and folk tracking their friends, ready to support them, left worried and helpless!
I am really hoping all the exposure shames them out of this behaviour for the coming years. Like you, I spend my time building up and encouraging runners and to think of the damage one event could do with this sort of behaviour is awful. I thought about posting this then thought I’d rather have it out in the open so we can tell people it is not normal for events to be like that.
Very sad that people have been treated that way 😥. That should have been a fantastic experience for every single one of them. From first to last! What an achievement! ❤️
I think that is why it is important to get it all out in the open and make them accountable so hopefully no one will have to go through it again. I will be honest it has put me off but if I got a place in a few years and they said we have amended our procedures I would be happy to give it a go. 😀.
Well they talk about ‘a small number’ of people ‘in the group paced by Elizabeth’ so that suggests they are trying to play it down since at least two other pacers had the same experience and multiple messages have reported similar issues in previous years. And I haven’t seen a single person say ‘I was near the back and I had a great time’. Before they have even investigated, they are treating the matter as an unfortunate minor lapse when it seems clear it’s a systemic problem that’s been happening for years.
I agree, on Twitter people are saying it has always been a bit like that but no one had a leg to stand on, the big difference this year is they engaged pacers for that time, it will be interesting to see if they have 7 & 7.5 hour pacers next year.
Oh so they didn’t have those pacers in previous years? Nevertheless... if the cut off is eight hours anybody doing 7h30 pace should be well clear of any hassle. There are marathons when the cut off is only six hours and they specify that it’s a running race and not for walkers: that’s fine, you know what you’ve signed up for then. But if the limit is eight hours the full experience should be available to anyone running 7h59.
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