Pace Yourself it is a Marathon

I recently saw a post on a friend's Facebook page worried about Black Lives Matter disrupting a marathon. meh. It may not be the political ring that BLM wants to throw their hat into, but I sure would like to see the 3Ks, 5Ks, 10Ks, half and full marathons moved away from businesses and commercial areas, politically or not.

It is disruptive to business in the area that are trying to make money, and can not conduct regular business due to road closures and parking bans.

I know the participants of these races will say they bring business to towns and cities, but they really don't. Besides my first hand knowledge, I have talked to other business owners and they see no up tick in the registers. Some have even reported less in registers including restaurants.

What? I know what you are thinking they are on the road and need places to dine and shop, but consider this...runners come into town with their special diets and eating less pre-race and few stay afterwards as they are drained and just want to go home. This does not fill the registers of eateries, just the tables. Runners are also known to not run big bar tabs, which make money for these businesses. Unless you are a specialty shop catering to apparel and needs of runners, your business will not see any benefit from the race.

The athletes simply take up space and time, not allowing a more valuable customer to use a business, on top of blocking roads and taking away parking spaces.

So move these races out of the town and city centers, into the rural less congested areas, creating less of a strain on business.