Posted: August 16, 2005

Athletics: Everything You Wanted To Know ABout Running The Marathon - The Next Level

 The Next Level
Date: August 2005

Published by: Scott Winter 

Site Info: www.MarathonFamily.com

info@marathonfamily.com

Support for your runner comes in many forms, degrees of intensity, and styles. Some decide to use words of encouragement like 'have fun', and yet others would actually carry their runners on there back to help them cross the finish line. There has got to be a happy medium that you can find inbetween those two extremes. Some where in the middle is a rather popular method of support which actually can be quite refreshing for both the runner and the support crew: Jump in and run for a short while during a point in the race. Usually during the some of the toughest miles based on your runners skill level, speed and experience.

This does 2 things: It gives the runner something to look forward to, and it gives the support person a way to feel more involved in a day focused on the success of another family member. (We use this term family rather liberly in this article to include all people the runner relies on for support, for example: distant relatives, friends, associates, peeps, homeys, and inlaws.)

Why does this help the runner:

Besides giving them something to focus on besides the mileage ahead, it is very reassuring to see a familiar face and voice in a long race. The runner can focus on something different if they have difficulty during the period of time when your running with them. Emotional lift, psychological boost, motivation, and a person to share a story or a few words with that you won't worry about offending.

Why does this help the supporting cast:

You are able to see how they are doing and feeling when your running with them. If they are having a great run they will be able to share how well their times are per mile. It breaks up the time and provides a way to help your runner. It's a great way to get to know your runner, not in a sense of time and distance, but in a sense of mental state and emotional state that runners go through during a long race.

Sometimes you can read people by there facial expressions and other times if you don't run a little, and experience their state of mind when they are trudging through a tough part of the race it is easy to miss the effort put forth by your runner to accomplish the goal.

While running there is also a way to communicate with your runner that will be acceptable or not acceptable. Unfortunately this is a call that needs to be made at the moment you are running with the participant. We will discuss ways to figure out how to easily gauge your runners mental and emotional state so that you can communicate with your runner without totally ruining their race experience. Stay tuned for our Sept 05 article.

Keep trying to make something good happen for someone you love.

Runners, look for our next article on how to replace your family if your training needs are not being met. For questions and more articles, planning templates, family race information, resources for families please visit, www.marathonfamily.com or email info@marathonfamily.com.