Don´t knock the Marathon!

Dear Sir, I WAS disappointed to read your complaint about the Palma Marathon causing chaos in the city streets last Sunday (Ups and Downs, Tuesday October 25). According to the accounts I read in the Spanish press, the local police reported that there had been no serious problems. This was because there cannot have been many local drivers who didn't know when and where the event was taking place. Every other lamp post, at least along the Paseo Maritimo, had a notice giving information about the Marathon and the local press had advertisements, giving the same information, for several days before the race. I watched from four different vantage points and saw no evidence of the chaos your comment refers to. The point about a city Marathon is that it is run along city streets. If Berlin, London, New York, Paris, Rome etc. can put up with the minor inconveniences for half a day, why can't Palma? Most of the runners were foreigners who came with family and friends and who didn't just fly in and out on the same day. They now know what a delightfully warm and sunny place Palma is, even in the second half of October. Instead of complaining, you could have mentioned the achievements of some of the competitors who may be known to your readers. The Reverend Clive Cooper, former Anglican Chaplain in Pollensa, completed the course in the very creditable time for a veteran, of 4 hours 7 minutes. Pollensa resident, Johanna MacDonald, was 12th in the women's Half Marathon. And what about the hundreds (or was it thousands?) of spectators who lined the route? Some of them must be saying, “Next year I'll be running, not watching.” Please stop being spoilsports!