Well it’s that time of year again, the stupid bluenose marathon, blocking off all the downtown streets so when this damn thing is finally over and everyone wants to enjoy the dowtown area nobody’s at work because we couldn’t cross the stupid marathon route. Please run elsewhere and let the downtown core get on with our lives
—can’t cross the street
This article appears in May 7-13, 2009.
you have the rest of the year to go downtown… don’t get pissed off because they’re having a marathon for a good cause…
The Marathon is on a Sunday, isn’t it? It’s also a heap of fun and I’m fairly certain that the organizers volunteers and traffic cops do their best to ensure traffic can continue down must streets.
It’s a weekend-long event and it’s a good thing for Halifax. People come from all over (mostly the maritimes mind you) to race, so there are tourism dollars involved. It’s a small inconvenience for the change to bring people and their pocketbooks to the city.
Oh, bawww harder OP.
Boo hoo. Get over it.
Again, deeds not words. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem, ad nauseum.
You need to contact the race committee, express your concerns, and offer your services, to plan a less obtrusive course for next year. But dont whine about shit you can change. It’s a frikin’ charity run! … you might as well move to the country now, because every city I’ve lived in…and there has been many, have high profile races through the downtown core every year..Boston marathon ring a bell?
I bet you hate parades too, just ’cause someone rained on yours when you were a kid …”what scary-assed clowns came to your birthday party?”. Lighten up! it’s four hours of your life.
oh god… not again.
prepare for the “They weren’t prepared! I had to stop for traffic… didn’t know where I was going” bitches people.
It’s going to be a long, bitchy weekend.
“They closed the MacDonald! I had to drive an extra SEVEN MINUTES WAAAHHHHH”
In all seriousness, I’m thinking of running next year. Anyone else done it?
Doing it this year (not the full marathon though). I know people who have done it in the past and have great things to say about it. If you run, there’s lots of clinics and events around the run date that are fun and informative. Also, the swag bag isn’t bad either. Halifax is a bit hilly for a long run, which makes it a slower marathon than other places, but the challenge can be part of the fun. I just hope it doesn’t rain.
I did the half marathon last year and loved it.
I’d say a fairly small majority of downtown workers would actually BE at work on a Sunday, OP. It’s one day of the year – chill out! Or, if you can’t beat em, join em. Sounds like you have a little too much spare time on your hands and could do with a little stress release. Running’s good for that.
There is another cool 5k run downtown on the waterfront for charity in August. Closes minimal streets and has some good eats. I think the Lung Association runs it – might be wrong though.
I actually want to run for that marathon, hopefully next year. Leave early, be patient. WHy are you rushing to get anywhere? Enjoy life, and don’t be such a grinch.
MIles: Yeah it poured last year, I think? I wanted to go this year but I sprained the fuck out my ankle last month and it’s still bugging me.
Ustwess: I’ll have to look into that one later if my doc clears me. 5k I think I can do.
!
@ Flyingbrick:
“Heads is ducks, because ducks have heads!”
“Well what’s heads and what’s tails?
If you don’t know then I don’t want to do this with you….”
I kinda agree I have to bus over from dartmouth where the bus only runs every hour the bridge is closed and I dont have time to grab coffee! Which your thinking is no big deal but sunday mornign 8 am ugh
You’ve got the rest of the week to figure out how to brew a cup at home 😛
Actually Jane, you could probably swipe a cup of Gatorade from the race course…I hear they are spiking it with RedBull this year. That ought to give you a boost.
Make it before you leave Jane, it’ll taste better anyway.
I ran the half two years in a row. Couldn’t last year because I broke my foot playing basketball. It’s a great weekend, I can’t believe the people who complain about the streets being closed downtown. Like someone else said it’s 4 hours, jesus just wait until after lunch to go downtown.
um..no Dogma…ooooooh kayyyyyyy.
FB, you were quoting a Friends episode. ND and zZz were playing along.
If you think having the downtown closed off is bad, try living on a street that is used by the marathon course. You become a prisoner in your own home for hours. The organizers (I use the word loosely) do not bother to advise you of the fact in advance either, which I find inexcusable. They need to at least vary the course from year to year so as not to afflict this upon the same people every spring.
This year, I predict a rash of injuries as the potholes on our street are the worst on record and have not yet been filled as they have in previous years prior to the marathon.
What, they come up and nail your windows and doors shut after breaking your legs, Krusty?
Also, the routes for the race have been posted online for a while, and I think they have changed the route this year. Unless you expected the organizers to go door to door delivering route maps to everyone, I think they did what they needed to do.
http://www.bluenosemarathon.com/EN/raceinf…
I think it would not be hard to send a flyer to homes on the route advising them that they will be hosting a road race on a certain day and that they will not be able to use their cars to leave their homes for the morning. That courtesy could easily be accomplished if they wanted to. Nobody who is not involved in the marathon would be likely to visit their website. And the route has only marginally changed; most of the same residential areas are still afflicted with the race. C’mon, all anyone wants is a little consideration and forethought in exchange for the inconvenience.
“Nobody who is not involved in the marathon would be likely to visit their website”
If I remember my double negatives correctly, that sentence is a little obvious. Someone involved in the race is very likely to visit the website. How does that help what you’re trying to say exactly?
I admit it’s a bitch…. I got stuck on the wrong side of the parade of lights in the rain with no jacket last fall because I forgot and went to a movie at parklane.
something tells me you’ll survive.
Krusty, since you have been in this situation before and you obviously know that the race exists. If I was worried about getting blocked in my home, I would probably check out the website, or place a phone call, to find out exactly where the route runs. You do have a point about being extended the courtesy of being informed, but the race is well publicized, so I think the information you need is accessible to you and any of the residents of Halifax.
I lived on the route for four years and they put up those special events signs on the lamp posts and power poles days before the event. The signs are typically bright orange – you cannot get much clearer. That should serve as half a hint.