Crowd Support
If you’re an athlete/runner who competes in events – how important is crowd support to you? Does it depend on the length of the event? Or type? Or just your preference?
I’ve run two marathons – Chicago 2010 and Madison 2011. They were very different in terms of crowd support. The Chicago Marathon has rows and rows of spectators on most of the course. The Madison Marathon is more sparse – but there is some crowd support.
I am running two more marathons this year – Milwaukee and NYC. I’ve heard Milwaukee is a quiet course, with little pockets of crowd support here and there. And I’ve heard NYC is even crazier (crowd-wise) than Chicago.
The person who told me Milwaukee is a quieter course told me she preferred it that way – it let her zone out.
That made me think – I have no idea what I prefer, crowd support wise, on a marathon course*! I am so new to it that I am still figuring things out! I still feel like I haven’t done a marathon “right.” I gave up mentally at Chicago and Madison. The crowds didn’t help too much with that at either race (what did help, somewhat, was seeing people I knew (at both races)). The crowds were very good for distractions and entertainment at both races though!
I’m thinking, it will be nice to run the quieter course with Erin, because I will have her company. It will be nice to have more crowd support in NYC because I will be running it on my own. We’ll see! Since I don’t know what I think, tell me what your preference is for crowd support!
What is always the most important to me is that Steven is there, somewhere, cheering me on! I don’t expect him to come to my smaller races, but I love it when he supports me through my looooong marathons.
And my sister, her boyfriend, and our best friends from Queens will be at the NYC Marathon! WOO HOO!
And maybe someday I will get my parents to come to one of my marathons.
Someday**.
*I know that crowd support at 5Ks helps me run faster. And it helps at half marathons too.
**Just teasing.
Themocracy
I might be the kind of runner who likes to zone out. I guess we’ll find out on Sunday!
It’s funny – while I was running in Chicago, I LOVED the crowds. But after running Grandma’s this year, and after getting irritated in Chicago at the rnr half, I think I’m more of a small race girl 🙂
I’m not a marathon runner or anything, but I do know that the crowd support at the races I have “ran” have helped me SO much. Like, a stranger cheering me on! How cool!
Take run out of quotes, girl!!! You have run races. And I love that a random person would cheer for me too! 🙂
You still rockin’ out your spinning class?
I think I’m more a small race runner, but it’s been a loong time (5 years!) since I ran the Chicago Marathon. I love the Madison Mini (1/2) Marathon, and Illinois & Fox Valley both had “sparse” crowd support, which I think I liked.
However I did love engaging and feeling like part of a group with my pace group at the Fox Valley Marathon. I was with them through mile 19 and that was great.
I’m also not sure because when I ran Chicago I was so new to running and also didn’t feel like I had done anything in terms of reviewing/preparing for the course that it was hard. I also don’t think I was physically as well prepared for running a marathon as this year, so I can’t tell if that also colors my feelings (don’t want people to see when I’m struggling as hard as I remember).
Who knows? Guess I have to run another big city marathon to determine!
Chi ’07 was my first and the crowds blew me away. I was in awe of them and proud of the city and the support. Plus it was ungodly hot and they were out w/their garden hoses. LOVED it!
My 2nd was Grand Rapids, almost zero crowds. Mostly along wooded bike paths so other than one viewing spot there could be no crowds until the last miles of the race and crowds were sparse there as well. I ran alone and it was my best-run race, PR and BQ.
Boston=Fabulous, crazy crowds
Columbus = small to average crowds although I appreciated the crowd support SO much from mile 20 on because I was struggling.
Overall the 2 smallest marathons I ran (GR and Columbus) were my best runs.
As far as fans, I went to Boston the first time with a posse of more than a dozen and it was awesome.
I went to Boston the second time by myself and it was still awesome.
I do really appreciate it when the Caveman and kids come out to a marathon but I totally understand it is a looong day for them!
Like you, my parents have never seen me run. Oh well!
Good luck and have a great race this weekend. Praying the winds calm down or blow you straight for the finish line! 😀
So your PRs were at the quiet, less crowded races! Maybe that means I will get another PR? Hee hee. Thanks for the wishes! The wind on this morning’s run was kind of crazy!
50% of the reason I picked Philly is because I have done the half 3 times and I love the support. In smaller races, I can do without, but for a marathon…necessary!
I enjoy an occasional race with lots of crowd support but I think if every race had that I would begin to hate it. I love the small little races around town. I enjoy being 10 minutes from the race start and getting to sleep in my own bed. Traveling for races isn’t my favorite but I will do it time to time.
Oh yeah, small town races where I can run or walk to the start = awesome!
I definitely like to get into my own head during long races. In fact, during the two times I ran Chicago, the one thing that bothered me the most was the crowds, especially on the north side. When I could hear the crowds over the music on my earphones, it’d give me the chills and not in the good way.
So, I feel like it depends on the race and on the crowd.
For my the first tri I did, way back in May (ha ha), there was an AWESOME crowd and it was great. But, that entire triathlon had a bit of a party atmosphere, so it seemed appropriate. For the last one, the crowd was really scattered and almost non-existent on the run. I ended up running at a good pace, and kind of enjoyed just getting into my rhythm.
The best race crowd in my experience? On a trail race that I illegally ran, a boy scout troupe had water at 2 different points and they cheered for everyone. It was really fun!
One final point – I totally understand what you mean about having Steven there. My partner is amazingly nice about going with me to most races, and I really do love seeing him when I’m running or biking.
I think for me crowd support would be really helpful. I know when I ran a 5k with Steve in Central Park (I’m gonna milk that puppy for all it’s worth)it really helped me when I wanted to fall asleep on the pavement. I wasn’t expecting it at all so it blew me away. But I can see both sides of the coin! I can see a runner wanting to zone out and do think about their own mantra (bagels, bagels, bagels).
You CAN milk it for all it’s worth! We should do a 5K together the next time I am out there! I have a really good 6 week to a 5K plan if you want it!
Bagels, bagels, bagels.
Store bought bagels 🙁
I have no idea. I know in shorter races I actually prefer the smaller races but not necessarily for crowd support reasons. I prefer them because I can keep pace with people better (if I can only see a few people ahead of me vs. 100s). I am looking forward to some crowd support during MCM though. I am sure there will be some quieter spots during the race but overall it should be good (my parents and Joey are coming down for the race).
I like both.
For marathons, I really liked the crowd support at MCM, it made the whole race fly by – but, my PR is from Lost Dutchman, which doesn’t have crowd support almost at all. I think the crowds can make it a lot more fun.
For trail races, I really like the small community of runners and the ease of not having the hassle of the big crowds.
I loooooove crowd support!! I ran a marathon in the spring with absolutely no crowd support, and it was miserable. I love running through the crowds with people yelling your name…so much fun. It’s also motivating to have other runners around as well. The Wisconsin Marathon wasn’t too bad…definitely a good sized race that’s on the smaller side, but I prefer the crowds of Chicago….and NYC this year!!
I definitely like the crowd support. I can still zone out if I need to but the crowd definitely helps a LOT. I’ve been to the NYC full every year for the past few years and you’re going to be blown away by the crowds in every borough. I’m running Marine Corps this year and hear they have awesome crowds as well, especially up that last hill at like mile 25!