AIBU to be fucked off at road marathons?

We used to live in what was the loop back so we never got leaflets but our street by being within the loop was basically closed.

Just wake up one morning get the in car to go to Morrisons so find road closed oh well we will go Y way. No road closed. Ok X. No closed.. oh I bet S road will be fine. No closed.

Ok we will walk:.. you can’t walk there runners will be coming though… fuck off.

I sympathise OP, I really do. It's very frustrating when something impacts on us personally and most of us will have experienced something similar at different times and places and been inconvenienced.

We had a problem at the weekend in Glasgow when the Great North Run was on - a 10k race and a half marathon. We had tickets to see the Matinee performance of the Arena Tour of Les Miserables on the Sunday Afternoon at the Ovo Hydro. Unfortunately, we only discovered on Friday night about the race - and the huge, huge number of road closures and restrictions. All listed out sure, but not being from Glasgow, apart from realising that all the ways into the Hydro, or the hotels surrounding it, were closed, from the East side of the Hydro, most of the roads didn't mean anything to us, so we couldn't see how to find an alternative route. Advice from the Hydro was to come from the 'West' to the multi-story carpark but that was it. Not much use if you were coming from the 'East'.

We were lucky and got a cancellation in the Premier Inn 10 minutes walk from the Hydro for the Saturday night so that we didn't need to worry about the road closures on the Sunday, as we were already in place - but it was annoying ( and much more expensive than we intended the trip to be)

Having said that, I guess the run's are important and do encourage people to take some exercise on the day and in all the preparation before-hand.

Bingo!

So long as it's organised properly I've never had an issue with the marathon where I live, or the half marathon nearby, or a couple of 10k runs.

Yes, it can be a bit inconvenient. But there's usually a nice atmosphere and many runners are raising money for charity.

I've done some running - nothing as long as a marathon - and laps of a park is quite dull after a while. The spectators also really motivate you to keep going and make it much more enjoyable than a training run.

They do monthly road races past my house but they don’t close the roads. It doesn’t have much impact on me that way. We are on a popular jogging route so I’m used to looking out for them when emerging from the drive.

What bothers me more is the cycle races that they don’t close the roads for. The cyclists are trying to get round as fast as they can which means they are emerging onto main roads straight in front of traffic without even looking and expecting the traffic to get out of their way. Easier said than done when there are high hedges with limited visibility. Luckily the cars are going slowly because there are signs out, but this leads to the bikes coming out of the junctions faster than the cars are moving. How there aren’t more accidents I really don’t know.

But it has been that way for YEARS!

It is now, but that wasn't the purpose of it's introduction.

Because no one pays road tax, it's vehicle excise duty and is broadly based on how large and polluting your vehicle is.

Indeed they are. So why should car users pay road tax then?

So much angst here! I live on the route of a half marathon and a 10k, both of which happen once a year. We can't get our car out on that morning. There are road closure signs up for weeks in advance - you'd have to be the most unobservant person every not to know it was happening. You just plan accordingly. If you want to go somewhere, just move your car outside the closure zone, or wait, or take a bus. It's twice a year, for a few hours.

I ran Cardiff half marathon at the weekend. Lots of road closures involved, and the route involved quite a few residential roads. SO MANY people were outside their houses, clapping, playing music, offering jelly babies - they were genuinely having a good time, and their support was very much appreciated. Same with Brighton marathon- a big chunk of that goes through residential parts of Hove, and people were out the front of their houses, in their garden chairs, having street parties and offering amazing support.

Different things inconvenience different people in different ways. We have road closures in town for a big set of concerts each year. They cause a similar level of disruption than the races do. But again, we just plan accordingly and get on with our lives.

@OP - I get that you aren't keen on the road closures for races. But I'd also be willing to bet that there's something in your life somewhere that you 'benefit' from that inconveniences others in some way. It's all part of rubbing along together and living and letting live.

People doing local events are not running at the pace of Mo Farrah, the ones I see are definitely jogging.

Just think how much faster ambulances could get to their destination if there were fewer cars on the road and less traffic jams

Bikes are vehicles. So you could walk out of your cul de sac, just not drive?

Many of your examples don't stack up. These events typically happen on a Sunday morning, often starting before many people have got up.

All races will have to have plans in place for emrgency services access.

YABmassivelyU. Events like this bring people into towns and villages and often bring a huge amount of money in, as people stay in hotels, eat in restaurants etc.

Encouraging people to get active also, fairly obviously, has huge benefits.

It's usually 1 day - and in most cases not even a full day and they are always organised well in advance. Suck it up.

How very narrow minded. Are you really that deluded, or just very dismissive.

Just tell the disabled mobility scooter/wheelchair user to park it 3 streets down

Tell the nurse coming as a carer to the lady at number 5 to park 3 streets down (the extra time won't impact her later visits all that much, she can just make it up by skimping on Mrs Jones visit later or working late)

Tell the guy at number 17 to not have that heart attack today, the ambulance can't get through

Or Mr Barrow should tell the funeral director to organise the funeral of his wife for a different day as the hearse wont be able to come to the door.

Mrs Jenkins, no chemotherapy today!

Tell the builder coming to do yokr kitchen extension to park 3 streets down and heave his kit all the way (or take the day off, who needs to work anyhow? no one needa money)

Many reasons why people need unfetered access to their homes.

OP Included in their post and said there was no way out of their road on foot or via car, yet you mansplain that there simply must be, and suggest some stupid reason they should just get on with it because its saving the NHS money!, the people running usually aren't the most costly to the NHS, and if one of them goes on to develop cancer, or some other non obese related issue then their savings are immediately cancelled out.

OP I'd suggest a complaint to the local council, your MP, the department that hands out the permits for these events, nothing changes (even if it is including your road in the plans for a warden). Good luck.

@VeloHostage Sounds like a badly organised and run event. They happen. Complain to the council and the organisers.

Yep, we have one every year that falls on a day I have another event. I have to get there an very early and wait, or I can get there an hour early, park far off, and walk.

They always say there will be opportunities to cross certain streets but it's not really workable at all.

My mum lives right on the route and can't leave her house in the car, and even just walking is difficult. They usually leave the city for the day if they can, but it's not always easy to do as they are getting on and don't like to go too far.

Everyone I know hates the day, it shuts down the whole half of the city but people are still expected to live there and work etc. So some people can "do a run".

Not vehicles. Putting tacks down for the bikes.

Not something I would have done.

And yes for 12 hours you couldn't leave our close. The race went past the end so it was blocked off to cars. If you wanted to walk you needed to be escorted by a marshal. If you were unable to walk, in a wheelchair, you got to watch the race for the day. Which was nice.

@Hoplolly road tax klaxon! Roads are paid for out of general taxation, which I can assure you many of us non car owners do pay rather a lot of.

Most are at weekends, especially Sundays.

Unlike badly planned roadworks, most allegedly essential ones in March so the budget is spent, where work is only done between 8 and 4. The real war on the motorist along with parking payment, not the phoney one the friends of Jeremy Clarkson claim.

*vandalising

So you couldn't walk or cycle out of your cul de sac? And people were vandaliing vehicles? Thats terrible

You wouldn't call Mo Farrah a jogger, would you?
People who race competitively prefer to be regarded as runners rather than joggers. There is nothing wrong with jogging, but it is different to running and racing.
Jog = run at a steady gentle pace.

Its a vehicle tax, not a road tax, drivers don't pay for the roads, they're for everyone