1. A marathon is 26 miles long (42km) if you participate in a race during a marathon event weekend, such as a 5km, 10km or a half marathon (13 miles) you have not run a marathon you have run 5km, 10km or a half marathon and you should be very proud of yourself but do not tell your friends you ran a marathon, you didn't.
2. When running on a sidewalk or bike path keep to the right, just like you were driving a car, if you are going to pass do so on the left. If you come toward me running on my side of the path I will not get out of your way, FYI.
3. Bike paths typically have a speed limit to ensure its safe for slower cyclists and pedestrians, here it is 20km/hour. I typically bike faster than 20km an hour so I bike on the road (safely), so don't yell at me from your car to get my ass back on the bike path. Have you ever been walking or running on a path and had a cyclist blow past you at 30km an hour? It's terrifying!
4. Put some damn lights on! I live in Canada, in the winter the sun is out from 7am to 4pm if you're lucky, some days we don't see the sun at all. At 5 o'clock when I go for a run it is pitch black out and I see countless runners and cyclists without lights on! It's ridiculous...like the two cyclists I saw crash into each other last week, you'll get no sympathy from me but I will call 911 if you are injured.
5. Gel packs are litter! I counted 16 gel packs on the ground one afternoon and I was disgusted. Why go for a run to improve your health and well-being and then litter as you go? Take your garbage with you folks, or I will start running with one of those spiked poles used to pick up trash and I will jab you with it.
6. The refueling station at the end of a race is not a buffet. It's wonderful how hundreds of volunteers set out bagels, bananas, yogurt etc for a post race snack...but that is just what it should be folks, a snack. If you ran 5km or 10km you do not need to eat a bagel, a banana, two mini-yogurts, three cups of Gatorade....I've seen people leave the food tent with armloads of food after running a 5km, dude you may have just burned 300 calories but that bagel has more calories than that!
7. If you are walking your dog on a recreational path where there are other walkers, runners, cyclists, rollerbladers etc and you insist on using one of those asinine retractable leashes so Fluffy can walk 10ft in front of you don't be surprised if you get hit in the head with a water bottle. I love dogs and have one of my own but I walk him beside me. If your dog and that trip-line you call a leash crosses into my path its not going to be pretty for either of us.
8. I encourage people to start running with a run/walk program. Some people continue on with a run/walk program even during races which has been proven to be very effective. If you are going to suddenly go from a run to a walk do not do so in the middle of the race route, stick to the right side. I don't know how many times I've been running a race to suddenly have the person in front of me stop and start walking, I stick to the middle or the left because I run the entire race, if I am feeling like I need to walk I move to the right before I start walking....I'm trying to help here people but if you like me slamming into the back of you please keep doing what you're doing.
9. Be a cyclist or be a pedestrian, you can't be both. If you are over the age of 12 and are biking on the sidewalk I will make myself as large as possible so you have to bike on the street. Follow the rules of the road, no biking the wrong way down one-way streets, no biking on the street then hitting a red light and cutting across the crosswalk. A bike on the road is a small vehicle, keep to the rules of the road, if you don't want to bike on the road then you are not a cyclist, get off your bike and walk it on the sidewalk, put a For Sale sign on your bike and do us all a favor.
10. I did an entire sermon on gym etiquette...incase you missed it: http://theworkoutshop.blogspot.com/2010/11/wipe-off-your-machine.html
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