Were the runners or the resident being unreasonable?

[AdventureBe]

I was at a very large running event yesterday. It's been going for 20 years and has raised £100,000s for charity.

Generally well organised, but there aren't enough toilets - as there often aren't at running events.

The main carpark was a field with a 20m wooded area along one edge. On the other side of the wooded bit there is a 6 ft fence which is the boundary for gardens.

Many runners, male and female, were going into the woods for a last minute wee. Some residents were stood on steps to look over their fences and shout at people relieving themselves. They were going in the woods, not against the fence.

Opinion was very split. Most runners thinking really, what's the harm of having a wee in the woods, residents obviously feeling differently about lots of people weeing quite close to their gardens.

Runners are used to some pretty awful facilities at races and to having to make do with what's available, so may have warped ideas of what's Ok

What do you think?

It wouldn't smell though, if you're pissing on grass. It just gets soaked in and goes, it's not like pissing in a doorway or something. Who cares, what a non issue.

As a veteran of several marathons and dozens of halfs it is extremely poor form for an event organiser to not have in place suitable facilities. Many runners, especially novice ones, make the mistake of drinking too many fluids prior to the race, way more then what their body actually needs, that, plus pre race nerves leads to a massive surge in toilet visits. The best event I attended had put in place large trough style urinals that dozens of blokes could use at once, this in turn freed up the portaloos for the women.

Sadly these days many races have become profit orientated events with ever increasing entry fees. Things like toilets are the first things to be reduced in the bid for extra profit. Result being people end up peeing in a bush as the wait in the queues are so long they risk missing the start of the race.

Runners are v unreasonable and I think could be open to prosecution for public indecency.
I have an alley next to our living room window. Once had a coach load turn up and relieve themselves - utterly disgusting!!!

It wouldn't smell though, if you're pissing on grass. It just gets soaked in and goes, it's not like pissing in a doorway or something. Who cares, what a non issue.

Yes, it does smell.

Shall we all come and piss on your lawn?

Thought pissing in the open was an offence.

Obviously the law only applies if you're a sad old drunk pissing up a wall.

Lots of people at an organised event pissing at the back of peoples houses - clearly acceptable.

I hate it when people piss in public.

According to some Mumsnet users it's okay for children to do it though.

No-one was pissing on anyone's lawn. It was several feet away from the gardens on the other side of a tall fence. Not nice, but let's not exaggerate.

SurlyCue, I'm not making excuses. I'm not one of the organisers and I queued for the toilets, what do I need to make excuses for?

You seem to be making excuses for why this should be tolerated.

A very small number of people are, justifiably, upset v 1000s who think it's a great event, businesses who do well out of it and a charity that has benefited a lot for a lot of years.

see? You might think you are appearing impartial but it is coming across in your posts that you think the race and runners' pissing should take priority over the residents. "Cause its for charity" and "its only a few moany gits residents versus thousands of other happy people" (who arent having their doorsteps pissed on)

There are all sorts of things I'm not that happy about. Didn't much like the election result but we have to go with the majority.

It would be a shame if the event had to stop - although I won't be doing it again, very boring route and there are other better, smaller events locally - but it does very successfully raise a lot of money for a charity that needs it and bring business to the town.

I have emailed the organisers telling them they need to sacrifice some of the funds raised to provide more toilets next time, but I don't think that will eliminate the problem because of that last 10 minute surge.

I don't think the lack of portaloos is always about cost. It is sometimes there is not enough space for more. But that is something the organisers need to sort out. Limit runner numbers if necessary. Some races state that if you are caught pissing in the open by event staff you will be disqualified.

At an event for say 5000 people, how do you provide enough toilets for everyone to go in the last 10 mins?

That's a problem for the organisers. They should have either fewer people or more facilities.

So no mass participation events ever, then Genauve?

It would be entirely on the organisers' shoulders if the event were to be stopped. It would be a totally unneccessary action. And if they really couldnt see a way round this issue without shutting the event then they arent fit to be organisers anyway. Really there are solutions. Very obvious ones. Theyve been mentioned on this thread. It isnt difficult to sort.

So no mass participation events ever, then Genauve?

If you can't organise them properly, then no. Does the London marathon have large numbers of people pissing on grass verges?

Doesn't matter where it was. Residents shouldn't have to put up with this behaviour. The runners were BVVVVVVU

So, if the majority of runners think it is okay to piss near people's homes before a race that raises funds for charity and some businesses see a benefit, then the residents should just have to put up with it?
Of course not. That is a preposterous thing to say.
It does not matter that some of the monies raised go to charity (tons will go towards the organisation, just not enough for loos or stewards to avoid this situation) bececause the residents should not have to suffer like this.
My town has several local events where the main road is shut off. Nobody objects because it's a local festival. But it is different when the roads are shut off for hours because of the marathon, making it impossible for hours at a time. And no, I'm not going to stop visiting my DM in her care home just because there is a race on.

Oh come on that's rank. It's not 'woods' it's a bunch of trees slap bang next to houses.

What I can't possibly understand is that these are normal people who because of a touch of Lycra think it's ok. Would they do this on their way to work? Ugh. I'd think less of someone who did this.

My post was in response to the OP's at 11.38.

Oh yes Gemauve. Far worse than anything I saw yesterday. Grass verges, pavements, gardens.....They do provide masses of toilets at London and urinals for men and women, but it's never enough for that last 10 mins.

there were enough facilities

the problem is the last ten minutes due to nerves/over drinking.......maybe a staggered start if its chip timed?

There's an access road at the back of my garden that leads to garages.

The amount of people who think the access road doubles as a toilet is unbelievable.

I am absolutely sick of teenage boys from the school across the road leaving school every day and peeing in the access road. They've been out of school for less than a minute, they've walked maybe 100 yards, they all live locally, there's no need.

I walk my son home from school and we pass the access road. It can be seen from the street and there's not a week goes by when we don't find at least one teenage boy peeing there as we walk by. They don't care if they are seen, and are often unzipping themselves before they even reach the access road.

Often they are peeing on our wooden gate.

I can understand a young child having to go to the toilet outside if the queue was too long for them to wait, but not teens or adults.

I would be annoyed at what you have described OP.

I would not want hundreds of people taking a last minute wee just a few yards from my garden, all at the same time, and I would be complaining to the event organisers, the charity, and the council about it.

I think you are lucky the residents are not all standing there in the wood taking pictures to report you all to the police for public nuisance.

The organisers need to provide more facilities, and if that means less for the charity then so be it.

I really don't think the 1000's of people or businesses would be happy if the runners were weeing in their shop doorways, car parks, or on the pavements outside their homes or businesses.

Be honest, would you be happy if this was happening on an annual basis outside your own home? Bearing in mind they probably have an admittedly much smaller amount people weeing out there on a daily basis and no doubt have to cope with irresponsible dog walkers as well. And you could probably see it happening from your upstairs windows, and smell it in warmer weather?

Would you be happy to put up with that day after day and then have hundreds of people all turn up at once to use the same place as a public urinal and be told to get over it because it's a one off and all for charity?

I have been in some mass participation races (Great Scottish Run/Glasgow's women's 10k) and have never seen anyone not using the portaloos.

It is not really the runners fault, you go to a race expecting there to be appropriate facilities. In the OPs case, I guess people were trying to go in the most discreet, least offensive place possible.

The organisers were very much in the wrong though, and if enough complaints are received they will find it very hard to get permission to repeat the race in future years. It doesn't matter what the entrance fee is, or whether it is for charity - it is the organisers responsibility to ensure they have sufficient facilities for the number of runners and that they leave muster areas, the race route, and the finish area in a condition at least equal to that before the race.

If they had to go anywhere, surely it would be better to go on some paved/tarmaced area with drains so that all the piss could be jet washed away once the race had started?
Okay, more public than the wooded area, but if they aren't averse to peeing a short distance away from thousands of people, then that shouldn't be a problem for them.

If only 10% of runners at a 5000 strong event pissed up against back-gardens, that is 500 people, and 2 dl of piss per person on average (The bladder can hold 400 to 600ml urine so I am stingy here), so 100 liters of urine per event? Three times the amount if all bladders are full!

That sucks!

And this whole "last 10 minutes" justification for pissing on the ground like an animal - how about stop running races if you are so unable to hydrate yourself effectively?

My bladder is fucked and even I manage to run without pissing just before the race starts.