to think marathons in cities cause too much mayhem?

[Bottlew]

There is a full marathon in my city on Sunday. They will start to close the roads 5pm on Saturday and it is impossible to drive anywhere.

My neighbour is immobile and relies on carers. All his visits are severely delayed and it means he ends up sitting in his faeces and urine for hours and hours. He won't get his meals till a lot later. There is access given for carers, emergency services but this still ends up in a lot of delays.

I know it brings in a huge amount of income for the city but the disruption is terrible particularly for those who are vulnerable. It means I don't get to visit people in need because I can't drive anywhere. Public transport doesn't work as I often have a lot of shopping etc.

How did we survive when everything was shut on a Sunday?

Well you used to be able to at least cross your bloody road, on a Sunday.

Here we go again
, where the people who are totally unaffected and not going to be cut off by their roads being cut off, carers not being able to get through, not able to drive their family who have blue badges out etc, are going to lecture the rest of us who are affected every year.

I agree, Marathons, vintage car rallies, bike rides are all totally unnecessary & self indulgent nonsense. However access is usually possible as the wardens stop traffic but the delays are ridiculous, regardless of whether you are let through beforehand or not.

As I said my road is closed usually from 7am-3pm, I would imagine they get in to set up before it begins…not sure why this is really a question!

It just sounds logistically improbable.

OP, for God’s sake save your breath. They don’t to have their road shut off at 03:30am on Sunday morning through to 18:00 and they don’t get it. They will lecture you on benefits of tourism, health, car pollution etc and how your relative needs to pull up his socks and go for a stiff walk.

When I moved to my current street, I went out on marathon day and gave the high fives and cheered along encouragingly. I did wonder where all my neighbours were.

Three years on, I know exactly how the neighbours feel. I am going to have to sit in the house and won’t be going out cheering.

They do it the day before. Some of the road closures start 5pm the day before.

People keep talking about how they will make the most of it, go and cheer them on, enjoy being at home. Such privilege.

I am able bodied but I know it is tough for my elderly housebound neighbours.

Don't be daft.

Amazingly, some of us don't get a lot of entertainment value from watching people jog past their house for hours on end. Or from Sunday morning DJs.

Then stay in and turn the tv up!

Where are they closing the roads the day before? And who is doing it? None of the official road closures on the marathon website are for Saturday, only early hours of Sunday til later in the day on Sunday, is this unofficial closures for setting up entertainment? That’s not on if so.

Not really. It's quite elitist. People that are interested in fitness are possibly already doing it and are doing other things.

Marathons are about attention and competing. Running isn't.

You’ve already said your neighbour should be in a home that can accommodate his needs, but he refuses to go. Instead, he, or you, want to dictate what happens on this basis. Such entitlement.

The local road signs say 5pm. They adjust the times on the signs. They are already putting the signs in place now ready for the weekend.

Where did I dictate what should happen?

I disagree. I happened to watch a half marathon that my nephew ran last year. There were people of all shapes and sizes participating, not just the fitness elite.

Well I can't get to my local hospital due to the London Marathon and it has been this way for my whole life.

I disagree. Lots of elderly/disabled people or people who are economically less fortunate are hemmed in and stuck at home for 50% of their weekend. It gets old. But I guess you will disagree and tell me you feel great for running, cars are polluting the earth etc, people need to move into an old people’s home somewhere out of the way etc.

Quite. Wouldn’t be so bad if they could bother their arses to think up a new route now and then and spread it about.

If you had your way the event wouldn’t happen. Or, at the very least, you don’t think it should, because your neighbour refuses an appropriate care setting.

I’ve never really been a runner. But I think the benefits of organised runs far outweigh the inconvenience to a relatively small group of individuals, once or twice a year.

I was a care for my Dad who was on the route. It did prevent me getting there - it’s a bloody nuisance.🙄

Tell me where I dictated what should happen.

Do you think the marathon should go ahead? Or do you think it will cause too much mayhem?