Dad ruining wife's half-marathon finish

I run trails and hills and I’d be really pissed off if someone let their kids onto the finishing stretch. That’s when people are often sprinting for the finish. It’s not safe and not fair on racers.

You don’t have barricades due to the terrain. It doesn’t mean it’s ok for families to invade the course!

Even if it was prearranged still seems a bit daft with another runner & a motorcycle there!

Even if there was a prior arrangement for her to jog to the finish line with the kids, you can see there is absolutely no trace of 'Yes! She won, I'm so proud' from him.

The man is a tool. At best he's clueless, but likely he has form for this sort of thing, intentional or not.

If this is true it does throw a different light on it.

And it wouldn’t have been a good idea of either of them to think this was ok.

Whatever the relationship or arrangement, he is an idiot for letting the kids in the way of the runners. Unsafe for all. It looks like the stewards are telling him off at the end and he’s throwing his arms about in response to that.

Women, and especially mothers, just can’t be allowed to have things for themselves. 🙄

In that case, then you would make sure that your children were somewhere safe, either behind the barriers or after the finish line, spectating and supporting you, not on the course with the potential to trip and to be tripped over other runners.

I always hate the big public proposals after Olympic wins or whatever. It has an air of the man saying ; 'You have achieved the biggest thing in your life- so now I think you are worthy of a proposal'.

He’s a dick for sure. He’s throwing his arm up at the stewards by the looks of it though

And the wife who's idea it was to jog to the finish line with the kids if this is what happened? No criticism at all for her role in it? just all the mans faults because he's a dick, a narc, a fucking cunt, putting his children at risk etc etc?

This is the problem when there's no context. If it is true that this was a joint enterprise because she wanted to jog to the finish line with the kids but suddenly realised the runner up was catching up with her, then she's a dick too.

i cant see him throw his hands up in disgust?

It depends.

The big marathons (London, Boston, Berlin etc.) it’s definitely not allowed. Local trail races and the kind of grass roots road stuff it tends to be fine as it’s not as busy.
Ironman definitely ban it (apart from Lanzarote which is a law unto itself IIRC). Challenge allow and encourage it. As do Outlaw.

I wouldn’t say it’s ’fun runs’ vs. ‘Proper races’.

do you see the dad annoyed?

This obviously isn't her first race, and this isn't a safe or normal thing to do. Which makes me think, is it his first race showing up to support her?

DH and I have done far too many races of various varieties. There is always a game plan for the finish. Hid last 50 mile race we all ran across the finish together (him, me, 3yo and 5yo) and it made for some fantastic photos.Some bigger races (Ironman is definitely one) will DNF you for disrupting the course so that’s a no go. I’m generally too fucked at the end of a long one to be handed the kids!

Anyway, what I’m saying is I understand why he was there but don’t understand why it hadn’t been discussed/agreed in advance!

Absolutely dick move. Would have been so powerful for those little girls to be standing with their Dad cheering watching their Mam cross the finish line and celebrating like a champ.

Reminds me of the guy who interrupted his girlfriend's graduation to propose. Total narc.

Yes

Have you? Because every race I've run families aren't allowed before the end. It's all closed off. Fun runs maybe but not actual races.

I’ve seen it loads where runners finish the last bit with the kids
others have said it was arranged so if he’s been stood there with young kids all geared up to run the last bit with the mum then she ignored them then I’d be pissed off
but if course that clears him of being a twat so no one with be interested in that

just seems a very unusual thing to do if not pre arranged

I think she did pretty well to dodge them and finish. Putting that much effort into a race, the brain isn't focussing on that much else at the time either.
We used to take the DCs to quite a few races. They were never allowed onto the race course itself.

What do we know about these people?

It’s like a weird Rorschach test. I think the guy is not her husband. I think they are not her kids, but they thought she was their mum (I think she’d have gone over to comfort them
of they were her kids after the race). And yeah I think other spectators were yelling at him.

Until we get the full story it’s just a matter of interpretation.

Like focusing on your race means your kids lose out. What a shitty example that would be giving them. They're with their Dad, he should be capable of caring for his kids while she's running her half marathon. Its not rocket science, just him being a half decent parent.

At a casual-ish event, giving them a high 5 would be pretty standard.

I think people are being harsh.... no one knows the full story.

She is celebrating as she running down the hill. He then usher his children in and she runs around them. She then celebrates her win at thr finish line.

He put his hands up because someone looks like they telling off.

More fool you if you'd ruin the finish of a race to hug your kids because 'your kids come first' nobody likes a mummy martyr

Even running marathons we need to be the default parent 😡