Toronto Marathon

Working at the Toronto Marathon Expo & the marathon itself this weekend was one of the most exhilarating and inspiring experiences I have had. Being a part of the psyching team was a different opportunity than what we as sport psychologists are usually used to. Here I had an opportunity to do "quick/brief counseling" to unfamiliar runners, as compared to the other times, where we try to get to know the athlete better, have initial intakes of familiarization and then move on to work with them.

Pre-marathon Expo 
The first spot of contact with the runners was on the day before race day at the Expo. Here I could see some nervous, some excited and some calm runners, a range of emotions. Some runners voluntarily came up to us seeking advise, while certain others, we approached them and they were happy to get some help, while few others were apprehensive about talking to us. Building rapport quickly was not as difficult as I thought it would be and soon I began talking to a few half-marathoners and marathoners. As expected, the first timers expressed a lot of doubt whereas the more seasoned runners were apprehensive about the weather on race day. I found it was important to first guage quickl, purely  based on eye contact, who needed what kind of reassurance.

Race Day
Build-up:
I travelled by public transport bus from downtown Toronto to the start line which was a good 45 minute ride. I had a bus full of half-marathoners who had also decided to take the bus and since I had my "psyching cap" on a few of them approached me. It was wonderful to be able to talk to them and do some brief interventions, helping them calm their nerves and get them to be positive about the race ahead.

Start line:

Can things be more exciting! About 10,000 runners all raring to go, doing it for various reasons ranging from: competitive achievement, improving their personal time, first-timers, runners for a cause and some running for fun.  About an hour before the start of the half marathon a lot of people approached us (psyching staff). We had a bit of time to help them cope with their apprehensions and nerves and try to help them stay focused and take it one kilometer at a time. 21 kms (half-marathon) & 42 kms (full-marathon) was an unnerving task for a lot of first-timers especially when the weather was not as expected as it was raining, windy and cold.

Finish line:

What an accomplishment! This is where you could see all kinds of emotions. Thousands of people completing an astounding feat. Some crying with joy, some in pain, most of them cold, some laughing, some excited, most of all everyone was happy. I was between the medical tent and the last kilometer of the finish line, helping people find a blanket, find food, seek medical attention, find their bags, get in touch with their family and friends and just being excited with them. Amongst all the wonderful experiences I had, these come to my mind immediately, I was able to walk with a marathoner in her last kilometer of the race as she was completly exhausted and motivate her to finish strong. Another incident happened at the finish line, I met a runner that I had earlier spoken to at the expo, he had been apprehensive about finishing the 10K that he had signed up for, but come race day he went on to finish the half-marathon.

It was an an exhilarating experience over all. On the personal front, it was very satisfying being able to offer that little mental edge to runners and I would like to think that it helped them positively in some way to complete their run.
During the course of the day one of my colleague had remarked: "Runners are a happy group of people". Indeed, they are! And working with and around them made me excited, exhilarated and above all happy.