Anyone else afraid to run marathons?

soldiergrl_101

Hey everyone. i hope my question doesnt sound dumb. I just recently got into running this year and I want to challenge myself by running the Rock & Roll Marathon in vegas on the Strip in November. However after the incident in Boston last year I am a bit hesitant because its such a famous marathon in such a well known location. Does anyone else have this same aprehension? What did you end up doing? I know I shouldnt let my fear keep me from living life.

Thoughts?

GillianMcK

Yep, I'm frightened of running marathons, but it's more the 26.2miles that I have to cover to get to the finish line that scare me, needless to say I've entered one anyway (it seemed like a good idea last year), I'm now less than 7.5 weeks away to the start date!!!

There has been an incident at 1 marathon, The New York Marathon & The London Marathon are both very big events as well (possibly bigger than Boston if you look at the number of runners) and have not had incidents.

Perhaps it's a different British outlook (London dealt with terrorism for years from the IRA), it just doesn't stop us, if we were to look at individual evvnts no-one would leave the house, NY Twin Towers - no one would work in a high rise and would freak out every time a plane goes over head, London Underground Bombings 2005 - the undergrounds are still packed it hasn't stopped people from using them, London Woolwich attack where a soldier return to barracks was murdered in broad daylight - people are still walking everywhere in London, Atlanta Olympic Games Bombing - people stil went and there haven't been incidents since.

You can't live your life worrying about what might happen, that's not living it's exsiting, my friend who survived breast cancer 3yrs ago has just found out that she has incurable secondary cancer of the spine, it's treatable for however long she has but not curable, it won't stop her living every moment to the fullest.

Live your life, do what you want to do when you want to do it, you never know what's round the corner in life and do you really want to be wishing years from now that you wished you'd done this or wished you'd done that.

I'm already looking at NY Marathon for next year, only looking at NY because I can actually get an entry with a sports tour operator, Boston Marathon is much more difficult to get into (although Disney Marathon is also appealing, just don't know if I could deal with the heat).

soldiergrl_101

That is a very good outlook to have and your friends is very inspiring. I didnt even think about the NY or London Marathon but you are right they are big events as well I am from Boston origionally so when I was thinking of doing this run in vegas it automatically surfaced in the back of my mind

neandermagnon

Another British 80s kid who grew up with IRA attacks... including an infamous one in the city where I lived in for most of my childhood. And the London Underground has been targeted by various groups. I'm currently living in Bahrain where there's ongoing civil unrest, including teargas, police road blocks, people setting fire to stuff like tyres in the street to cause disruption and one time I witnessed someone firebombing a police car on the highway about 100m in front of where I was driving, followed by the police shooting at them. Oh yeah and I was living in South London when some racist nut job decided to nail bomb Brixton (where I quite often went for shopping, bars, nightclubs etc) and some other places in London due to people whose skin colour he didn't approve of living in those places.

I personally don't like running and don't want to run marathons for that reason (but I'd happily hike that distance through the countryside given half a chance and a tent (I'm not the Roman army, I'll take my time walking that distance and enjoy the scenery), but really you don't want to ever stop doing stuff just because of terrorist attacks. If you do that then the terrorists win, because that's what they want. Fact is unless you live in somewhere like Syria, the chances of being killed in something like a terrorist attack are miniscule. Really just go and run your marathon and don't even worry.

eldamiano

Hey everyone. i hope my question doesnt sound dumb. I just recently got into running this year and I want to challenge myself by running the Rock & Roll Marathon in vegas on the Strip in November. However after the incident in Boston last year I am a bit hesitant because its such a famous marathon in such a well known location. Does anyone else have this same aprehension? What did you end up doing? I know I shouldnt let my fear keep me from living life.

Thoughts?

With all due respect, thousands of marathons every year, one isolated one-off incident. I wouldnt let Boston put you off.

MeanderingMammal

However after the incident in Boston last year I am a bit hesitant because its such a famous marathon in such a well known location.

As I recall from previous discussions you are ex military, so presumably you've been exposed to IEDs and CIED in the past?

With this kind of thing it's useful to put it in context, there are several hundred, if not thousands of marathons in the US alone every year, never mind globally. Add to that the several thousands of other races every year. While there is a significant amount of event security around high profile events, the vast majority don't have any, and don't have any issues.

According to open source material, Boston itself was a target of opportunity. It seems that the timeline was driven by the availability of the devices, rather than planning around that event as the target.

Going back to the military context, having been involved in TICs several times hasn't stopped me volunteering to deploy again.

joehempel

Hey everyone. i hope my question doesnt sound dumb. I just recently got into running this year and I want to challenge myself by running the Rock & Roll Marathon in vegas on the Strip in November. However after the incident in Boston last year I am a bit hesitant because its such a famous marathon in such a well known location. Does anyone else have this same aprehension? What did you end up doing? I know I shouldnt let my fear keep me from living life.

Thoughts?

Nope, not at all.

I ran the US Air Force Marathon the same year at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.....even if it wasn't on a military base, I would have had absolutely no fear of it happening.

GillianMcK

I'm currently living in Bahrain where there's ongoing civil unrest, including teargas, police road blocks, people setting fire to stuff like tyres in the street to cause disruption and one time I witnessed someone firebombing a police car on the highway about 100m in front of where I was driving, followed by the police shooting at them.

You sure you didn't move to Glasgow, I caused hysterics in the cinema watching The Hobbit when I commented to my friend during the scene in 1st movie where they have been captured by the trolls that they must have filmed that in Glasgow on a Saturday night!!!
You should look at Walk The West Highland Way (you can camp but there are also hostels along the route for a touch more warmth and comfort)!!

I had forgotten about Brixton, although as a horse lover I still remember Hyde Park bombing.

OP, enter the marathon in Las Vegas, having seen pictures it looks amazing, but it's not really the high profile event when compared to Boston, London or NY, Edinburgh Rock n Roll marathon has been cancelled this year, hopefully that won't happen in LV:)

Tell you what, once I know the dates for Worlds Toughest Mudder in NY (I'm not doing it, I'm going as support), if it coincides with the LV marathon I'll enter and run it as well (I know WTM is November, just don't know the date yet!)!!

soldiergrl_101

However after the incident in Boston last year I am a bit hesitant because its such a famous marathon in such a well known location.

As I recall from previous discussions you are ex military, so presumably you've been exposed to IEDs and CIED in the past?

With this kind of thing it's useful to put it in context, there are several hundred, if not thousands of marathons in the US alone every year, never mind globally. Add to that the several thousands of other races every year. While there is a significant amount of event security around high profile events, the vast majority don't have any, and don't have any issues.

According to open source material, Boston itself was a target of opportunity. It seems that the timeline was driven by the availability of the devices, rather than planning around that event as the target.

Going back to the military context, having been involved in TICs several times hasn't stopped me volunteering to deploy again.

You are correct I am military and have deployed and been exposed to such and that makes me more weary probably than the average person

Thank u everyone for your responses and not making fun of me

CarsonRuns

You should fear the marathon, but not for the reasons you state. It's a very long way to run, especially with limited training.

ATT949

However after the incident in Boston last year I am a bit hesitant because its such a famous marathon in such a well known location.

As I recall from previous discussions you are ex military, so presumably you've been exposed to IEDs and CIED in the past?

With this kind of thing it's useful to put it in context, there are several hundred, if not thousands of marathons in the US alone every year, never mind globally. Add to that the several thousands of other races every year. While there is a significant amount of event security around high profile events, the vast majority don't have any, and don't have any issues.

According to open source material, Boston itself was a target of opportunity. It seems that the timeline was driven by the availability of the devices, rather than planning around that event as the target.

Going back to the military context, having been involved in TICs several times hasn't stopped me volunteering to deploy again.

You are correct I am military and have deployed and been exposed to such and that makes me more weary probably than the average person

Thank u everyone for your responses and not making fun of me

I'd be far more concerned about driving than I would about an incident at a marathon (we're thinning the herd at the rate of about 100 people per day on our roads).

I'm much more wary of places like shopping malls, movie theaters, and schools which are slaughter houses due to being gun free zones and, because they are such a part of the fabric of this country. A spate of small devices planted in those areas could cause significant financial and/or social disruption — much greater than blowing up people running a marathon whom the general public probably sees as kinda weird and elitist.

Per Carson, the race itself is the larger issue. If you just started running this year, you're still very new to running and 26.2 is a long haul.

Good luck with your running, good on you that you did your part, and don't let the small stuff slow you down.

MeanderingMammal

Thank u everyone for your responses and not making fun of me

Oh in a uniformed environment I'd be ripping the p!ss as much as everyone else would

Being in a two way range certainly changes your outlook on these things, I'd agree...

annetteh145

No need to be afraid. It was a coincidence that the bombers in Boston chose the marathon as their target ... if there wouldn't have been a marathon they would have chosen some other big event, a parade or so.

CathOh

I've actually never enjoyed large crowds in any form, but I don't avoid them. Even pre-Boston, I had considered that running events would be easy targets. The lead-up to my first large event post-Boston had me pretty stressed thinking about security concerns, but it didn't stop me from running the event.

26.2 miles is a long way to run. Race organizers can do their best to ensure that starts and finishes are secure, but there's no way to keep 26.2 miles of city and neighbourhood streets free from danger. I hope this doesn't stop you from participating in events.

beautifulwarrior18

Terrorists win by instilling terror (or fear) into people. I wouldn't let one incident stop you from doing something. I am not afraid of running a marathon, I just have no desire to ever do it.

Thomasm198

Fear the distance if you're a novice runner. Don't fear the "whatifs" because of what happened in Boston. If you start to fear things like that, you will be afraid to even get out of bed.

An Irish kid here; born in the 70's. So I remember the bombings up the North and in the UK, the shootings (north and south of the border), the killing of police and military, punishment beatings, the bank robberies, the kidnappings, etc etc.

Terrorists win when people are afraid. That's why it's called terrorism.

RunnerElizabeth

I'm afraid of marathons because marathons are hard.

I was at the marathon last year. My vantage point is 3 miles from the finish line, the bombing site. My daughter and i were leaving to go home for nap at the exact time it happened. We got Inside as every emergency vehicle in the area was heading down the road. From what i was told the din from all the trucks and sirens moving at one time was quite alarming and definitely a sign that something terrible had happened. I couldn't hear it because my daughter and i live in a bunker. Suddenly both of my phones started ringing and i was getting texts and emails telling me to turn on the tv. It was terrifying.

Fast forward to April 19th, my birthday. I got a call at 4:45 a.m. telling me I was under lock down in my neighborhood and the trains were shutdown and that my daughter and I were to stay inside until we got the all clear. At 6 pm we were told that all wasn't clear, but law enforcement decided to lift the order anyway. Guess where everyone in the neighborhood ended up when we were told we could leave? That's right, the liquor store. We heard at the liquor store that it was likely they caught the guy. So we all rushed home with our beer to watch more tv. Note that this is just one of the bad things that happened on my birthday. .. Waco, Texas and Oklahoma City are others.

Anyway, since then, I ran the Boston Athletic Association 10k and Half Marathon in Boston and attended the Red Sox rolling rally (the amount of law enforcement at this event was unreal). Every time I run one of the Boston marathon associated races or attend one of these giant events, I think of those 2 days. I won't keep the fear of what could happen keep me from doing things and I'm more resolved than ever to show support for my city and turnout for these major public events.

That being said, I only ever want to be a spectator at the Boston marathon. But not because I'm afraid of terrorism. I travel bits and pieces of the marathon route everyday of my life. If I had a bad go of it, I'd constantly be reminded of my bad time. I'll pick another marathon course to have a bad time on. ;-)

So fear the marathon because it is hard. Make your decision to run based on if you think your trained enough. That's what we all have to do.

greypilgrimess

I'm afraid of marathons because marathons are hard.

I was at the marathon last year. My vantage point is 3 miles from the finish line, the bombing site. My daughter and i were leaving to go home for nap at the exact time it happened. We got Inside as every emergency vehicle in the area was heading down the road. From what i was told the din from all the trucks and sirens moving at one time was quite alarming and definitely a sign that something terrible had happened. I couldn't hear it because my daughter and i live in a bunker. Suddenly both of my phones started ringing and i was getting texts and emails telling me to turn on the tv. It was terrifying.

Fast forward to April 19th, my birthday. I got a call at 4:45 a.m. telling me I was under lock down in my neighborhood and the trains were shutdown and that my daughter and I were to stay inside until we got the all clear. At 6 pm we were told that all wasn't clear, but law enforcement decided to lift the order anyway. Guess where everyone in the neighborhood ended up when we were told we could leave? That's right, the liquor store. We heard at the liquor store that it was likely they caught the guy. So we all rushed home with our beer to watch more tv. Note that this is just one of the bad things that happened on my birthday. .. Waco, Texas and Oklahoma City are others.

Anyway, since then, I ran the Boston Athletic Association 10k and Half Marathon in Boston and attended the Red Sox rolling rally (the amount of law enforcement at this event was unreal). Every time I run one of the Boston marathon associated races or attend one of these giant events, I think of those 2 days. I won't keep the fear of what could happen keep me from doing things and I'm more resolved than ever to show support for my city and turnout for these major public events.

That being said, I only ever want to be a spectator at the Boston marathon. But not because I'm afraid of terrorism. I travel bits and pieces of the marathon route everyday of my life. If I had a bad go of it, I'd constantly be reminded of my bad time. I'll pick another marathon course to have a bad time on. ;-)

So fear the marathon because it is hard. Make your decision to run based on if you think your trained enough. That's what we all have to do.

Thank you for your story. I can't imagine what it was like.


Don't let the terrorists win! What happened has not changed a thing about my attitude towards marathons. I'll never run Boston, but only because I'll never qualify.