This Monday morning brings one of the most inspirational, motivational and uplifting events on Dublin’s calendar. Being an encourager at the Dublin Marathon is a wonderful way to recharge your batteries if you are feeling a bit low, burned out or like there has to be more to life. It commences at 10am from Fitzwilliam Place near Merrion Square and finishes again on Merrion Square.
Watching people strive, stride, suffer and sweat, on the surface, sounds like vicarious sadism. The marathon, when examined cerebrally, isinadvisable if not insane. However, if you give yourself (and the athletes) the gift of being present along the route you’ll start to get a sense of what this event means to each competitor. You simply have to be there to appreciate it. These individuals really suffer towards the second half of the race. There is the physical an indescribable mental and physical fatigue that sets in when athletes hit the infamous ‘wall’ - each athlete gambling that it will be worth the elation of the finish line.
There are first timers, age group competitors, clubs competing against each other, internal club rivalries, friends, fundraisers and of course the old battle hardened veterans. Each competitor has somehow convinced themselves that not only is this event worth getting up early on a Bank Holiday but that the training was worth trading social time for suffering, the risk to joints was worthwhile etc etc. Their actual marathon run is just the icing on the cake of their actual commitment.
But is it worth getting out of bet on a precious Bank Holiday Monday to be a spectator?...
Yes, you can watch it live on RTE and it’ll still be inspiring stuff, but if you do it’ll cost you! The real inspiration happens along the sidelines where you can participate by feeding athletes encouragement, energy and enthusiasm. It is an incredible moment when you realise that these athletes really are relying on your words of encouragement. Last year I wrote an entire blog about ‘The Power of Encouragers’ after a complete stranger convinced me (with one yell!) to run the last few miles of the marathon shortly after I decided to give up and walk to the finish.
People pay lots of money for motivational books like the new Steve Jobs biography, they pay to watch inspirational movies and speakers. Participating in the marathon as an encourager is free, it gives you a chance to interact with the athletes, the costumes, the unlikely competitors and the shockingly inspirational folk who limp, walk, jog or run all 42 kilometers.
I love these types of events because they remind us that being human is more than just being a logical being. Marathons mirror the trials of life, they remind us who our supporters are, they give us a chance to test ourselves and give us an opportunity to experience that elusive ‘Yes, we can!’ feeling. Is it logical to get out of bed on Monday to shout at a gang of egotistical athletes? Certainly not! And yet, it would be such a tragedy to miss it if you need a bit of a lift this weekend.
Moments of inspiration only come by occasionally unless we plan and pursue them. New Years Eve will come along exactly two months after the marathon and we’ll wonder what happened to 2011! Why not step yourself the gift of a half day of free inspiration between now and then?
