With all your great suggestions, we could make a pamphlet: 100 things to say on the race sidelines. Included would be these:
There’s a guy there at every race each year who always says “You girls are having too much fun!” and I love that, because it really is the spirit of event for us. Also “cute skirt” never feels bad!
“Say cheese” when the cameras are around the corner. That gives you time to perk up before they snap the pic.
“Wow, you look so much skinnier than when you started!” (One commenter said she’d trained her husband to say that, post-race.)
Kids can say anything containing the word Mom, Mama, Mommy, etc. The result can be powerful:
The best sign I have ever seen was at the end of my very first marathon, and my first real race. I was running with my dad. I felt like I was going to die at any minute. I am thinking to myself why I even wanted to do this in the first place as we round a corner and there it is…the finish line. I knew that I was close, but when you see it, it just takes on a whole new meaning. And there to the left of the finish line is my 2 year old daughter holding a sign that said, “You did it, Mama!” and she is yelling, “You did it, Mama…you did it.” I almost couldn’t keep myself from crying. I picked her up and carried her across the finish line with me. I did it to show her that she could do anything that she set her mind to. I hope she remembers that when she is older.
“The body says quit but the spirit says never.”
“Don’t stop – people are watching!”
The random winner of the Road ID is Wendy, a mother of five in Little Falls, MN who started her running blog because, “I had so many women ask me how to start running and I couldn’t answer them all personally.”
She writes: “The best thing I heard at my race last Saturday was: “Great job runners! Enjoy it, today’s your day!” It made me remember how hard I had worked and how privileged I was to be there.”
Wendy’s clever blog is called, Never underestimate the power of a running woman. (Don’t worry, Wendy: we don’t.)
I’d add to that, Never underestimate the power of saying the right thing at the right time.
If you hit a hard spot on your run this weekend–you are running, right?–tell yourself, as Amber heard during her first marathon, “You look like you are gliding over the pavement, smooth and steady!”
Wow! How exciting! Thank you so much! This is the giveaway prize I have ever won (and it is an AWESOME one)! Not sure what to do, do I need to e-mail you my address? I love the “you look so much skinnier than when you started” comment. I will have to train my husband in on that one, too, lol! Good Luck to Sarah on Sunday, you will do great! Looking forward to hearing the race report : )
Thanks for good wishes, Wendy. Yes, please email us your address at runmother at gmail dot com. Dimity is in away for the weekend, helping her big sis celebrate the big 4-0 so it’ll be next week before she hops on mailing anything.
I LOVE the don’t stop – people are watching. That’s why I like running on the main street here in town; I can’t look stupid in front of people. I can look slow and I can look tired but I cannot stop.
I always tell myself that my neighbors are watching me finish, so I push it out at end. In reality I’m sure they think any speed is great, but whatever fires the booster rockets, eh?!
My last Half Marathon as I was DYING on yet another HILL a woman looked me in the eyes and said “You look beautiful.” HELLO!! I loved that :)
When i played lacrosse in college i trained my friends who were sitting in the stands to scream “Move your ass, koegs” when i was looking lethargic. Sounds mean, i know. But i had asked them to do it. I guess i felt like sometimes you need a third party to let you know your doggin’ it and to let you know they’re watching. I knew they were doing it out of love and it always gave me an adrenaline rush to get my ass moving.