AIBU to be fucked off at road marathons?

[JesusOnAYamaha]

Once a year in London is one thing but they're bloody everywhere now and it's not like the organisers put diversions in so you can get to where you're going. We had one in our town a couple of months ago and I couldn't leave my (no through) street because they blocked it off so people could spend a day running past it. I mean I couldn't even cross the road at the end of my street, on foot. Now I've just found out that I can't get to where I need to be for a family event later this month because another load of joggers are closing down a bunch of roads into/in this other place.

AIBU to think they could just run round a park? Or a field? Or a racecourse? Or a hill? Or somewhere where they're not in the way of residents and other people who just want to go about their business.

I know I probably am BU. It's probably nice that people get to run around if they like running. They probably enjoy spending a day running past my street and I should be happy for them. But, I am a bit fucked off with it all.

AIBU to think they could just run round a park? Or a field? Or a racecourse? Or a hill? Or somewhere where they're not in the way of residents and other people who just want to go about their business.

They can't because then they wouldn't be seen. It's all about being seen. I completely agree and will add cycling events to that list.

Yes it is about being seen, you can't make a song and dance about running round a lake.

You should contact the organisers if you were not informed of the road closures.
As you can imagine, it takes a huge amount of organisation and work with local police etc to officially close roads and I'm sure part of that includes informing affected residents. They will have contingency plans for emergency vehicles etc.

The women's (bike) tour of Britain had rolling road closures. It passed through my village.The signs were up for a couple of weeks prior to the event. The rolling closures must have taken a tremendous amount of organising.

@widelegenes Oh I contacted them, don't you worry. They said that they'd put a document with a list of road closures on their website. Which is great, because that website is where I spend all my time.

It's not just 'not being able to drive to the big supermarket on a given day' though, is it?
There's the Marathon, the Iron Man, multiple cycling events, the street fayre, the Xmas market.
When I lived in the town centre, I got sick of being told, I couldn't leave my road, couldn't get to my care clients. It always seems to be the low paid workers - carers, couriers, Asda drivers etc, that get the brunt of it. It doesn't matter how far in advance they give notice; I can't just say to my service users that there'll be no care, no lunch, next Saturday, because laps are boring.

Were there no physical signs around your road?
I ran a 10K in Cambridge yesterday and as I walked from the car park to the start there were loads of signs pinned to lamp posts and larger signs warning 'Mass event 6th October, expect delays' or something.

I'm curious now. I'm in a running club and the coach is pretty involved in county level race organisation. I might ask him. I'm pretty sure the planning is more than just taping off the roads and throwing down a bunch of cones on the morning of the race.

I am most definitely not a runner but I love it t when they shut the roads.
For god sake it's only a few days a year. And in an emergency you can use your car. I get my bike out for an early morning empty road cycle.
Nice to not have endless traffic.

If they had JSO instead of numbers printed on their shirts they'd be doing 7 years inside.

@widelegenes Not on my road, no. TBF it wasn't listed on their document either - it was kind of closed by default though, because it's one way and the road that goes across it was listed for closure. Maybe they leafleted the people on that one but none of the roads off it.

I was vaguely aware that the race was happening because I'd seen a sign on a verge a few streets away saying it was on and that roads (none specified) would be closed, but I didn't get a leaflet or anything. My neighbour told me about it the day before and we looked up the website to see if we could park elsewhere.

There was a shitty little map that didn't even have all the street names marked on, a list of closed roads (like I say, none of the smaller roads included) and a list of roads you couldn't park on from the night before and all through that day. It seemed to be all the main roads around were no parking for 24 hours, no mention of little roads like ours but we went to a couple and they had cones on already so we just went back home because we couldn't find any alternative. Even if we had, there were no diversion signs or anything so I don't know how we'd have got out.

It was just a bit shit tbh.

@widelegenes The pro races (and most ‘club level’ races) all have rolling road closures but it’s minutes at a time. You (you as in one in general, not you personally) absolutely will not be stuck in your house all day for them. It’s just the mass ability challlenge events of which there are not many left where they have to close main roads for the best part of a day at a time as some people can ride at 25mph and some people ride at 9mph.

In club level road racing which often has a closure convoy, once you drop off the pace you are no longer in the race convoy and no longer governed/protected by the rolling closure and have to ride as per the Highway Code amongst traffic. Obviously at pro level the closures last a bit longer, so riders can catch back on after crashes still within safety etc. There are a team of motorbike riders usually who ride ahead through the bunch and stop cars joining in the next side road etc. quite a few police motorbike riders like to volunteer as you get a day out on the bike and if there’s a bit where there’s a crowd in a big race people cheer at you etc. Once the race gets closer the next one I. The chain tags them out and they move ahead to the next one and so forth. There’s then an organisers car at the front and back of the main ‘race peloton’. The 20mph speed limits in wales have been causing issues for road racing because although the bikes are exempt (in general and also because they are on a ‘closed road’), the cars and bikes in the convoy can’t get round quick enough to make the race safe. Imagine a race going at 25-28mph at pro speeds but the medical car can’t go over 20! They run a couple of road races near me, and a friend is accredited to close the road for the convoy and release it again afterwards. It’s really interesting how it works. People love to moan about closing the roads for cyclists, so just pointing out that it’s really only once a year in England now for full road closures where it won’t pass within 20mins/half an hour. The rolling road block for a race is no worse than when they escort a large vehicle like the ones that carry turbines etc that can’t make standard junction turns without using all available tarmac.

Stupid question, forgive my ignorance as I'm nowhere near where these take place but I presume if a resident had a medical emergency , there's plans in place so that ambulances can get through? That's all I'd worry about really.

I'm a runner (more halves than marathons) and I'd love it if more of the major runs were not along city roads.I nearly died of boredom going up and down the Highway on the one London Marathon that I did.I'd love it if there were fewer Las prepared to close roads so organisers needed to find nicer routes

I live in a beauty spot with public footpaths around the cliffs that get used multiple times a year for running races. Once or twice a year for charity, OK. But a lot of these races are commercial ventures just to make money for the organisers.
These often narrow paths are also being used by families, elderly people and tourists, local people walking their dogs... Some of the runners can be unpleasant and aggressive and try to squeeze past when there just isn't room, rather than waiting for a wider piece of path and they turn a peaceful place into a noisy playground.
If companies want to make money from such events they should pay local landowners to use their farm tracks and paths - just as scenic in this area and not inconveniencing local people and tourists.
(Maverick Race for instance)
Similarly I don't think commercial ventures such as Ironman should be allowed to make a ton of money by inconveniencing thousands of people for hours on end by getting public roads shut. Or if it is allowed and your road is shut you should get a decent discount on your council tax funded by the Ironman company.

YANBU - I run. I sometimes participate in closed road events, maybe once or twice a year. These are big events, with prior warning given and diversions are put in place. They do not block access to residential streets.
There are many running events that do not require roads to be closed off. It's not as If closed road events are the ONLY running events. If it's regular thing, I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. A big celebration event like the London marathon or tour de France is fair enough, but every 3rd Saturday with a 9:30 start is just ridiculous. Why should other people be forced to work around your hobby?
When I am running i consciously try to think about how my running impacts pedestrians, walkers, cyclists and road users. I have been utterly dumbfounded at some obnoxious runners when I have been pushing the pushchair or driving. People running in large groups (20+), playing loud music on a huge speaker, running in front of cars to overtake without even looking. I've had people make contact (a shoulder barge) on a shared cycle/pedestrian path wide enough for 8 people, as if my daughter and I were invisible! I know that's not the same issue, but still, a little bit of consideration goes a long way.
I understand your frustration.

Yes they are everywhere but I'm guessing only one affects you for a relatively small amount of time, once a year

Get in touch with whoever gives permission for roads to close.
Register your protest
Ask for better communication from then regarding closures

Back when my knees let me do such things, I'm sure the races used to start at 8am? So that it wasn't a while day thing. (I only did Halfs, roads started reopening by 10am).

You can't just run around a park. One race I did had 15,000 participants. How are you going to fit them all running round and round in a park? My local park run is a 3lap 5k. You'd be standing end to end.
It's only once or twice a year. And it's usually on a Sunday to cause least disruption.

Marathons, half marathons and cycling races regularly close the roads here. It is troublesome and does not interest me but the world would also be sad without any events. The events don't trash the area.

We have lots of road shutdowns, violence, vandalism and police at high profile football matches at the locall stadium. That is super unsafe and much worse.

Where the hell so you live? These are normal annual events!

It's the same where I live. Very annoying. It's more than once a year! Impossible to get into the city centre, and any of the main roads around. Plus the litter is awful, discarded drinks bottles everywhere.
I've no idea why they do it. No point.

Meanwhile, it has been decided its "too expensive" to shut half a mile of road for half an hour so that the Scouts etc can walk from the War Memorial to the Cemetery on Remembrance Sunday.

Ah is running/runners going to be the new hate for MN ers'? had enough of cyclists have we?

Never read so much twaddle, once the vast bulk of runners have come down a road, people can cross easily on foot, max a road will be closed for is an hour or two, if there is no alternative and TRO's can only be issued with input from Police, Councils etc etc,they would have put signs on lamp posts around the area and on community FB groups too.

Plus as this Marathon (supposedly) took place 2 months ago, why post about it now?

I call BS.

Wider point, a recent 100km cycle ride early on a Sunday morning raised over £8k for our local Hospice, shall i tell them to "fuck off" you cant have this money because some idiot on MN doesn't like being held up on their way to the garden centre?

Most likely not the same paying.