Congratulations- You've Completed a Marathon! Have a bagel?

Yesterday's race was fantastic!  The new LA Marathon Course was far more enjoyable than the old one, which didn't allow athletes to see many lovely parts of our city.

The crowd was amazing, as were the many volunteers.

Totally recommend it.

However- and this is not particular to LA, coming across the finish line and being offered bagels, pretzels, cookies, chips and cheese (yes, cheese) left a lot to be desired.  I'm writing this on my blog not  as a complaint, but as a reminder that for all of us athletes that would so prefer more Paleo options, we need to contact race organizers, for events both big and small to politely make suggestions.

They DID offer plenty of water, bananas, pineapple fruit cups (which were indeed JUST pineapple in juice- perfect for post workout), as well as dried pineapple and apricots.

As we all are aware, many people are still thinking along the lines of old-school carbohydrate consumption for  endurance training and recovery.   So, it's not that surprising that many races offer a pre-race pasta party the night before, and grain based snacks along the course and after the race as well.

Let's all make an effort to offer alternatives that race organizers might heed for future events.

We don't even need to necessarily go into the 'why' behind it, (but certainly if you have the time and inclination, why not?); rather a simple email or comment in the post-race feedback simply asking for 'more fruit at the finish line' or 'serving yams at the carbohydrate party the evening before' may serve to be quite helpful.

Let's get moving, then!

Comments

[Paige]

Don't get me started. I ran a 5k Saturday morning on the campus of UNC. What did they have at the finish line? Freaking Nutri-Grain bars and... Coke? Their idea of post-workout protein was peanuts. Thank God I packed a Homebrew, or I would have been screwed.

[Nell]

I hear you!
When i saw the bagels being passed out at the finish line, I couldnt even imagine that someone who still eats grains would want a dry, hard piece of... what? Not food! : )

Hopefully you sent an e- to the race director or organizer with some friendly suggestions!