Last year I read an article in Triathlete magazine discussing the "you're almost there" phenomenon. The article was basically an impassioned plea from a pro triathlete to PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT!
The writer was infuriated when she saw spectators doing it at mile 19 of the marathon in Ironman Canada. She gritted her teeth for a while, but finally pulled them aside and politely explained to them that 7 more miles in not even in the same area code as "you're almost there" and they really needed to stop shouting it at every athlete who ran by.
She also mentioned that while it's bad enough when clueless spectators do it, it's pracitcally a capital offense when race volunteers do it. They should know better.
She asked people to say anything else positive - even suggested "you're doing great", "keep it up", etc. She did point out that people shouldn't say "you look great" because it's just ridiculous - you're an exhausted, sweaty, salt-stained mess and have probably peed down your leg at least once.
I thought this was interesting but didn't think much of it. Until my first race.
The guy at the course talk warned us to ignore the people shouting "you're almost there" because, he said "You're NOT." He said you're almost there when you can see the finish line. I took this to heart - it served me well in that race and I'll remember it forever.
On race day there were twits not only shouting it, they were adding helpful things like "only two more blocks!"... when it was really half a mile. RTP and I rolled our eyes and said how glad we were they'd warned us.
So how about y'all? Do you hear this? Do you have a problem with it?
2 comments:
Everytime I hear it, my blood pressure rises a bit..I know i'm not "almost there"..sheesh..I remember reading that, I think it was Andrea Fisher that wrote that...she's great!!
Yeah, I think I was guilty of it during IMWisconsin this year. I was 2 miles from the finish line, and I'd try to encourage people towards the end. Oops. I forgot just how much I hated that during my races.
I got really mad when this guy (another racer) told me "almost there!" at the end of my second race, and it turns out, I was! Just literally around the corner from the finish, and I had dropped to walk (stupidly) for about 10 steps at that point.
I agree that there are much better things to say!
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