The London Marathon.

[anotheoldgit]

After one fatality and numourous collapses brought on by heat exhaustion, at this years London Marathon, isn't it time to call a halt to this ridicules spectacle, which as now got completely out of hand.

This event must put an enormous strain on London's police, emergency services, and staff at the A&E departments, not to mention the total disruption to the capital's roads.

[Reverandfunk]

No more so than drunks on a Friday and Saturday night, so ban alcohol too!

[Gromit]

The London Marathon is an national institution on par with Wimbledon Tennis or the Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race. It is something to be proud of and venerated.

It is the biggest in the world and brings in a lot of tourist revenue for the city, raises a lot for charity and adds to the general gaiety of our nation and beyond.

You'll be saying ban the Grand National next because the odd horse kicks the bucket.

[libertie]

Are you naturally a miserable old git or are you working hard at it!

[Loosehead]

I find myself in the unusual and disturbing situation of totally agreeing with Gromit!

I imagine more people die in many other sports than the London Marathon.

[Gromit]

Hope he's not read about Grumpy Old Man Syndrome...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=450414&i n_page_id=1774

How are your glucose levels?

[kwicky]

Personally I don't like to see a professional road race mixed in with the clowns especially in such a gruelling marathon. The suffering involved trying to make the finish in those ridiculous outfits beggars belief. Maybe they should visit the homes the day after as I cannot imagine many getting in to work the following week. There are other ways of collecting for charity!

[libertie]

Ha ha Gromit...almost as amusing as the French cheese reply!!

[anotheoldgit]

Maybe you would all not be so tolerant towards this mob like activity, if someone dear to you was in an accident or dangerously ill, but could not get an ambulance or vital medical assistance, because the services, hospitals and roads were in deadlock with these ridiculous people.

Reverandfunk, no don't ban alcohol, ban drunks.

Gromit, The London Marathon is a national institution? no it's like an institution being let out. Yes I would ban the Grand National because of the fact that horses do get killed.

The fact remains that a very large amount of these people are not trained athletes or necessarily fit to take on this challenge. Would it be at all wise to let an untrained driver race a formula one car? Or for some other idiot to climb Everest dressed in a silly costume?

Bring in legislation to make it compulsory before entering for the Marathon to obtain documentation showing what training has taken place, clean bill of health certification , and that private insurance has been taken out.

[dummkopf]

I think the London Marathon should continue, though I find it extremely boring , each to his own - if they want to run let them ! But I do agree with AOG about the Grand National it should be banned or those fences removed and the race run on the flat. If I owned a horse I wouldn't risk its life, but to some people money is more important than the animal's life. I didn't hear how many died this year, does anyone know ?

[Oneeyedvic]

The London Marathon raised �41.5 Million in 2006 - compare this to other charity events:

McMillan Coffee Morning - �6.7 Million

Comic Relief - �40 Million

Children in Need - �18 Million

And you can see that it is very worthwhile.

I would also point out that the person who died was 22 and was a fitness instructor.

The majority of people who have died running marathons have had undiagnosed heart problems but have been physically fit and trained correctly

[kwicky]

What surprised me was the runner that died had been drinking TOO MUCH water. This had diluted his salts and he died from this. A message there I believe.

[mrrobbo15]

the grand national.....isnt cruel, beleive me if a horse doesnt want to run, it wont.......the horses love it, why do u think they keep running and jumping after their jockey as fallen off ?

shame about the lad dying but his parents said, he died doing what he loved.......if only everyone cud die that way.....

[Gromit]

dummkopf,

Marathon - person dies - should continue

Grand National - horse dies - should be banned.

Would you like to expand on your reasoning, I could understand both banned or both continue, but your answer I find quite baffling (or disturbing).

[dummkopf]

Quite simple grommit, the runners CHOOSE to run,
the horses don't have a say. What is 'disturbing' about that ?

[willowman]

Do we start banning everything that is a danger to human life? In which case bang goes most forms of transport - cars, planes, trains, even horses.
Then we ban every sport in which somebody has died by taking part - that's the end of most sport, including your beloved football.
Then we have to ban every other activity that has causes the death of someone - there goes a huge number of jobs, and DIY, and kiddies play activities.
And I'm sure somebody has died during that most basic of human activities, so no more hanky-panky!
My mother and father both died whilst lying in bed - should I not go to bed anymore?
Let's get real, life is a danger and we choose to take part in whatever activity we wish.
How controlling do you want the nanny state to be?

[anotheoldgit]

No willowman we do not ban everything, but we should take whatever precautions necessary to make things as safe as possible.

Cars : M.O.T. Seatbelt regulations, Airbags, Tyres etc etc.

Planes: Flight worthiness checks etc etc.

Trains: All the inspections that are found necessary before they are even allowed onto the rails.

Horses: One would be crazy to ride a horse without wearing a crash helmet and the horse without a saddle & harness.

DIY: One would be an idiot to tackle the most simple task without first taking the appropriate safety measures.

Kiddies Play activities: You would not let a small child go near to a paddling pool or to a play area's swings if it did not have soft surfaces.

And regarding hanky-panky you would not take part if you were recovering from a heart attack. Some even refrain due to headache.

Yes I agree in a perfect world everyone should take part in whatever activity they choose. But we do not live in a perfect world, we have a vast amount of people that are not responsible for their own actions (nutters) why else does everything you buy contains a whole list of safety precautions?

[newtron]

I have no problem with rules and regulations that minimize the chances of someone hurting someone else, but I think people should have the right to do stupid things if they are only going to hurt themselves.It's natural selection. Why should the government save us from ourselves?

[willowman]

You didn't answer my last question - how controlling do you want the nanny state to be?

[willowman]

Come on, anotheroldgit, answer the question.
"How controlling should the nanny state be?"
Surely this is a simple question, or do you just ask contoversial questions yourself, and don't like to be put on the spot.

[anotheoldgit]

How controlling do I want the nanny state to be? There are so many issues to address therefore this is a question that cannot be answered, where does one start and where does one end?

One should just has to come to an overall intelligent conclusion to each and every issue. But it seems obvious you cannot be all that intelligent wllowman or you would not have been so stupid to have asked.