Protesters plan on blocking Twin Cities Marathon just before finish line twin (Read 447 times)

It's certainly something to ponder. And I am ... How might I feel and why.

I am privileged to be able to train.

I am privileged to be able to enter marathons on a whim.

I worked hard to be able to complete a marathon in 2-5 hours.

I worked hard to get to the finish line in 2-5 hours.

And, because I am privileged and work hard, I can also do it again some other time.

 is a very poor way to recruit supporters to your cause.

That should be their slogan. They make everyone mad but I couldn't count a single person I know that is sympathetic to their cause. We never want to see violence but this has all the makings of some frustrated runner plowing through them, the "victim" filing a claim, and both the runner and the city facing a lawsuit.

Hopefully all the runners come though this fine. The protestors? Who cares?

It could be argued that finishing a foot race is pretty trivial when people are being beaten and shot because of their race. That's what the protesters are arguing, in fact. I will be there, in the foot race. I hope no one gets hurt. I'll let you know what I see.

What happens if the person who crosses the finish line first is underprivileged and rose above their situation to win or even just to finish?  This is what I think the protesters are missing.  Running is one of the few sports that doesn't require privilege to do.

If they want to prove a point, maybe they should all run the marathon as bandits proving that they can finish a marathon without having the privilege of being able to afford paying or training for the race.  I think they would send a much different message.

hope it doesn't get cancelled.

I understand why runners would take this personally, but it surely seems like we're feeling targeted on purpose... as if the statement is being made against running. I don't think it is about us at all, and in fact, our 'thing' got chosen basically because it is a large public event with a huge media presence being held in a municipality (St Paul) that has very fuzzy rules (unlike, say, Minneapolis) about the legal/illegal nature of what they are planning.

It would piss me off, and if I was going, I might be a little nervous about what could happen. AND I think they've made a really bad call here.

But that said, it's just running. I've seen runners all over facebook encouraging each other to punch these people or spray them with mace or whatever, and yikes. Even as a joke, yikes.  This is our passion, but we do this because we wanna and for fun. Supposedly.  I even saw one guy equate our passion (running) to the level of passion they have about "their issue".  Hmm. Even though this chapter of BLM (and mind you, it isn't like they are being directed by a centralized org to do this...) has made an odd choice, it is clear to me that many folks really haven't thought through the issues at hand.

I hope everyone has a safe day. If I was there and came face to face with them, I'd ask the ones in front of me what their names are. I'd tell them mine and ask to pass.  If I didn't feel safe, I'd go around.  Pretty sure they aren't pulling a hands-across-america stunt.  Would this dork up a BQ or PR attempt? Yeah. It's just running and there's another race just around the corner.

That's just me.

 

That should be their slogan. They make everyone mad but I couldn't count a single person I know that is sympathetic to their cause. We never want to see violence but this has all the makings of some frustrated runner plowing through them, the "victim" filing a claim, and both the runner and the city facing a lawsuit.

 

Hopefully all the runners come though this fine. The protestors? Who cares?

I'm sympathetic to their cause and methods. I care about about the protesters' message. I pretty much agree with Mike and Robert. This may not be the bay place for their protest, mostly because there is a good possibility of people being hurt, but I get why they're doing it.