With yesterdays San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon, it seemed appropriate to acknowledge The Runner’s Rule Book 2.14 “Acknowledge Bands Along the Course.” The rule states to simply acknowledge their  presence along the course in one way or another. Similar to you, they were up before the sun, loading their equipment and driving out to the assigned mile marker.

They are out there for us, for YOU in particular. They said: “Hey, this pavement runner fella loves to hear some pretty sweet jams when he is struggling during a race, what can we do to help? We can play him a tune to encourage his legs to keep moving.” well, that’s what I imagine the conversation to be like.

A simple head nod, or my go to move: hand in the air rocking out! Heck, I’ve even slowed my run to an easy pace and danced right on by. (as much as I can dance and run at the same time). Thousands of runners fly by, take a half second and give them a thumbs up, a peace sign, a rock n roll sign, or just scream! They’ll love it. I’ve heard people sing along as they run by… and by “heard” I mean “have done it myself.”

I love drums. Especially the Taiko drums. I experienced them for the first time at the base of hurricane point along the Big Sur course. Imagine you are about to climb a monster hill, read: mountain, and there are a bunch of bass pounding drums calling you to conquer the beast. Inspirational. That’s what they are there for. To hopefully give you that little “umph” that can help you, even if just for a little while.

So next time you are out there, try and do your part to thank them for looking to inspire and motivate your run. Put your iPod on pause for 30 seconds as you race by, give them a thumbs up, a thank you and race
on. It’s honestly, the least we can do.