Sidewalk cheering adds to excitement
Bill White rose from the chair in his driveway, leaving the warmth of the crackling fire pit and raised a bottle of Champagne before he shouted at his neighbor. “Mimosa?” he asked. Right then, a stampede of runners dressed in neon shirts and shorts, rounded the corner and past his home. The swell filled his Edgemere Park street to the brim with peak-performance athletes.
The juxtaposition of this 7 a.m. party next to the sweaty, heavily breathing mass of humans might seem out of place at first glance, but talk to the people on the sidelines of the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and you’ll know how invested they are.
As thousands of runners competed Sunday in the marathon, half marathon, relay, 5K and kids race, thousands more filled driveways, front porches and sidewalks to cheer them on.
Even as special oncourse areas like Gorilla Hill and Irish Alley have grown to full-scale events of their own, the smaller festivities are a sure sign that the marathon atmosphere has taken hold in Oklahoma City.
“We are the cheer squad,” White said. “My
wife is out running this, and I just want to make sure she hears me when she runs by.”
It was a different sort of party a day earlier. White and his neighbors spent a few hours Saturday cleaning up debris from the racecourse after a wild storm hit early that morning.
“But that’s just how much we love it,” White said. “We all got out there and helped clean up so the runners could come through today.”
White’s neighbor, Clayton Taylor, says they’ve seen not only the marathon grow bigger each year, but also the atmosphere around it. Where once it felt like a day when runners sneaked through their neighborhood, now it’s a miles-long party complete with all the festivities.
“It’s just the whole community has rallied around this event to make it special,” Taylor said. “To think about where we’ve come as a city since the bombing in 1995 and now to see this. It’s special.”
Just down the street from the mimosas and the blasting music of Justin Timberlake and Stevie Ray Vaughan, people lined the street to cheer on friends and strangers alike.
Justin Brannon and Chris George stood with signs in their hands and smiles on their faces.
George’s sign: “Marathon And Chill?”
Brannon’s sign: “I’d swipe right.”
“We just want to make people laugh,” George said. “They are reaching that point in the race where you start to get winded. Any kind joke or friendly face can keep you going.”
Brannon said that both he and George have run the half marathon before and know how important it is to feel like somebody cares that you are running.
“We are just super glad to be out here supporting all of OKC,” he said. “You can see it on somebody’s face when they come by that the encouragement helps. The thumbs up, the smiles ... that’s the best.”
Around mile marker 7 at the beginning of Gorilla Hill was an animal of a different sort.
Molly McBride was decked out in her Tigger costume. While filling the role of the inexhaustible tiger from Winnie The Pooh might seem like a daunting task, McBride and her daughter, Lucy, (also outfitted with a Tigger costume of her own) fit the character splendidly.
She hopped, yelled and danced to the music, all for the enjoyment of people who see her for just a few seconds and are gone.
“I just want to give them some energy as they tackle Gorilla Hill,” McBride said, referencing one of the steepest elevation inclines of the marathon. “We just want everyone feeling good and having a fun time. If I have to get a little silly to do that, then I will.”
The streets filled with people in the Crown Heights neighborhood. The music was loud, the wind was brisk and shots of alcohol were passed out to those runners brave or foolish enough to take one.
The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon is proud of its own rapid growth, including numbers in its pamphlets about how it’s gone from just a small race when it started in 2001 to being listed as one of the “12 Must Run Marathons” by Runner’s World Magazine.
But one of the unheralded parts of the marathon has got to be the atmosphere around it, says Mitchell Costa, a native of Dallas who came to support a friend running the marathon this year.
“I love the Memorial Marathon because it feels like the entire city gets behind it,” he said. “I’ve raced in others around the country, and there’s just something special about OKC. Feels like a showcase of the city.”
You can see it in full effect once runners get to the Mesta Park and Heritage Hills area of the race. Most front yards have watch parties spilling out of houses and into front lawns as the runners enter the last stages of their endurance fight.
At the corner of NW 18 and Olie, Matt Warren and friends stand near the giant pink flamingos gracing his front yard. On the porch, cases of beer and wine are ready for the more than 75 guests Warren expected to see on race day.
“The first year, we were just so unprepared for how awesome this would be,” Warren said. “But now it’s something we look forward to all year. We have friends over and neighbors over. It’s just a big, fun party day.”
Just a few blocks away at NW 14 and Shartel, Eric Casper and Lisa Woodard shouted at some half marathon runners just entering the last couple of miles.
“This is the most important part for the half runners,” Casper said while interrupting himself to scream, “Good job.”
Having run the half marathon before, Casper said the last miles are the hardest. While cheering on runners last year, Casper said he spotted a friend and started going ballistic chanting his name.
When he checked his phone later that day, he had a text message waiting for him.
“He texted me ‘Thanks man, I really needed that,’” Casper said. “We just want to be here to tell people they are so close and give them that little boost they need to get to the end.
“It’s special to run it. It’s special to cheer for runners, too.”