Road Race Disgrace

Make no mistake. I love road races. I sometimes have been known to prefer jostling amongst the running community instead of trekking out on a Sunday in solitude for a 20km run.

But hell, I hate the attitude of road runners who litter the street, kerbs, and bushes with their empty sachets, their sticky energy gel wrappers, their gum and their snot-laden tissues. And if another idiot throws their half-used water sachet right into my path again I may not be so zen about it the next time around.

I can hear them chucking their non-biodegradable foil wrappers at me, shouting their right to litter:"We paid our entry fee, so we have the right to own the piece of road we run on!" And with it we throw out all civility and consideration for our fellow man. We spit and we pee and we toss with gay abandon. Okay fine. Except that those freaking wrappers and sachets get in my way, dammit. One of these days I am going to slip on one and crack my kneecap and then we will see what happens to both of yours.

The solution is really a no-brainer. Whoever came up with the idea that runners needed to be catered for at every 2-3kms must've had shares in the plastic and packaging industry. Honestly, this constant feeding at waterpoints with Coke and water - and now it's sweets and heck knows what else is next - is giving the sport a wimpy facade.

Take trail runners. They are hardcore athletes in their own right just because of the conditions they run in. If they can scramble up and down sand and loose stones, cross rivers and scale hills the gradients of walls, and have to carry their own hydration and energy replenishment - without littering - then why can't we? We've turned into spoilt brats, us roadies, and it gives us a bad name.

Races don't make much money, if at all. Often they run out of water. (And maybe I'm really getting profound now but I always wonder how hygienic that plastic sachet is that I have to insert between my pearly whites to rip open). So save the 2.3 sachets per person per water table and get some sponsorship from a runner's belt/hydration pack manufacturer or something. And Coke - Isn't it ironic that the company is to blame for severe water depletion and degradation in some communities due to their unscrupulous bottling operations? So, in my tree-hugging opinion, ban Coca Cola! The child in me doesn't want to slate EnerJellies and Bar Ones but the health freak (and tree-hugger)in me screams: Empty Calories! Tooth decay! Give me a banana.

So race organisers, at the risk of being vomited upon, I stick my unbranded head out here. There is no need for all this pomp and ceremony. For a 10km race I can carry my own bottle thankew very much; for a 21km 1 bottle and a banana does me well, and for a marathon, if I survived with a hydration pack and some dried fruit and lived to tell this tale, I doubt if anyone is going to die out there without their precious luxuries. Let's be tough! Let's be hard core! Let's gain some respect back. And if anyone can't handle the pressure, then they shouldn't be in the game.

Breathe.

As I said: I love road races.