Spectators RULE
If all goes well, at this time next week I'll be past halfway in a marathon (adjusting for daylight savings time). There will be thousands of runners, but few of us would survive without the thousands of spectators who have supported us all along the way. This morning, I spent some time as a spectator for a 10-miler. I learned a thing or two. As a runner, I learned that the crowd will respond if I ask. Any time a runner hollered, "Let's hear the crowd" or threw up their arms, the crowd cheered. Race spectators are there because they love runners, usually a specific one or two, but they'll certainly take any excitement they can get. As a spectator, I learned that prolonged clapping can be difficult, even painful. If I had a cowbell, or a bugle, or some other noisemaker that wouldn't frighten people, I think I might pack that with me. I also recommend that spectators prepare a few choice phrases to cheer on runners as they wait for their runner. Personally, I turned to the high-pitched "WOOOOO" quite often. I also liked "Good job!" and "Keep it up!" Spectators should probably avoid, "Move your ass!" and "Dear God you're slow!" Runners like cheering, but most of them don't miss that style of motivation.
As a spectator, I couldn't help but notice how much I wanted to cheer for people, but I didn't know what to say. The runners with college names, cities, states, etc. received loud cheers of "Go New Jersey!" or "Come on Colgate!" Some runners took it a step further and provided a script. "Go Steve!" emblazoned across one man's chest, elicited numerous screams of-- "Go Steve!". My scream included. I'm not going to go that route, but my name does appear on my shirt. Unfortunately, it should be larger. I think I'll take what I can get though.

As a spectator, if you don't have somewhere to be, stick around one spot until the crowd thins, but the runners are still carrying on. I promise you, you'll see some big big smiles in between some gritted teeth and pained looks. It felt good to be a spectator cheering everyone fighting through it. I'm counting on a few next week to get me through.