AKA “Does it take a huge amount of effort to thank someone?”
Yes I’m a grump old sod but this is driving me crazy. With the exception of ultra-marathons, at every race I’ve done recently I see a large number of runners not bother to thank marshalls and other volunteers.
Now I get that when you’re in the ‘zone’, especially in shorter races like 5ks, your intensity effort is high so you don’t exactly want to be conversational, but other than that, there’s no excuse. If you can’t even find time or effort for a verbal ‘thanks’ at least wave or give a thumbsup or something.
Case in point – New Forest Marathon on Sunday. Amazingly well organised event, great marshalls and volunteers including children manning drinks stations. The amount of runners who basically blanked everyone was shocking. It’s pretty damn arrogant and ignorant to just blank someone who’s taking the time out of their weekend to help you for free. I feel for the marshalls who are out there for your safety, who see runner after runner going past who can’t even bring themselves to express gratitude. Frankly it’s disgusting.
So for the love of everything that’s holy, grow some manners and show some common courtesy and respect to people who’ve gone out of your way to do something for you.
Rant over!