What's a 'Safe' Distance from the Finish?

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News outlets announced yesterday that they are changing the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll marathons finish to Petco Park -- news that is sure to please just about everyone.

I worked the final aid station the first year the marathon course changed from the MCRD near the airport to SeaWorld, and it was universally panned. And I'd run the marathon for consecutive years prior.

The next year the organizers added the half marathon, which greatly diluted the crowd circling Fiesta Island before the final push. And last year it dwindled even more, with the half marathoners now sounding the horn that SeaWorld sucks as a finish point. (Finishing on the backside of DisneyWorld during its marathon does too, I might add from experience.)

But that's not why I'm writing this post.

There's a comment from the SDTC coach in the article, saying that seeing the finish line from a couple miles out made those last miles even more difficult.

“At 23 miles, all you want to do is finish the race,” [Paul Greer] said. “It was almost as if the ghosts of the future were coming at you. You’re there (at the finish) but you’re not there. You could hear the people cheering, you could see it but you weren’t there yet. Mentally, it was difficult for a lot of runners.”
Maybe it's just me, but I've found the opposite to be true when I'm racing, that seeing the finish line draw closer and closer and the crowds get louder actually spurs me on. It's elating, not enervating. Once, while unraveling on a quite bike path in the final miles of the Vermont Marathon, the sound of the finish was all that kept me going. When the site of it finally came into view, about three-quarters of a mile out, I immediately improved my form, dug deep and kicked it to the end...even if the end seemed so far away.

Is it just me? Or is Coach Paul right, that marathons -- or any distance runners -- mentally falter when the finish is visible but still miles away?

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