I love the running community. I can count on one hand the times I have encountered rude, snobby or otherwise unfriendly runners in the last 4 years I’ve been lacing up.

Recent posts about the slight that slower or “back of the pack” runners get by race directors went nuts. No water. No support. Roads opened up to traffic. Race directors caught a lot of heat.

I just ran the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta – a 44 year tradition, and the world’s largest 10K. There is a cap of 60,000 runners for this fun race that takes place on July 4th every year. The race itself is all kinds of awesome. You can see my post about how much fun my friends and I had running it!

It’s what happened once we entered the race end in Piedmont Park that was out of the race director’s hands and caused by the runners. The Peachtree Road Race runs out of food?

Publix is an awesome sponsor. You don’t just get handed a bagel and a banana and get sent on your way. There were food stations all across the park. Bagels and bananas, sure. Fresh peaches. Packs of cookies. Granola bars. Pretzels.

Y’all, it was like an episode of Peachtree Road Race Food Hoarders. People were grabbing HANDFULS at EACH table. Yes, I’m shouting. It was ridiculous.

Hey, guess what? Yeah – they ran out of food before the race ended.

There was NO need for that – Publix supplied more than enough for 60K runners. It was the runners who treated the food tables like an all you can eat buffet that were the problem. Seriously – this food is meant for finishers. Not your whole family who showed up to cheer you on, bless ’em. This is not food meant for you to make your kids’ lunches for the next week of day camp. This is food for people who just ran 6.2 miles in July. In Atlanta. The people in the last corrals didn’t start until the sun was firmly up overhead. And they don’t even get a crummy banana?

Peachtree Road Race food hoarders, that’s shameful.

Here is what I saw on the walk back to the MARTA station after the race – people with bags loaded up like they had just been to the market.

The one in the middle clearly adores peaches. Free ones. Bottom? At least 5 bagels shoved in there amongst the granola bars and extra beverages.

Oh, and wait. I got my friend involved in the stealth snapping of the Peachtree Road Race food hoarders. This one is my favorite.

Are you seeing this? I’m hoping someone recognizes his snazzy shorts / socks and calls him on this. The only acceptable use for all those peaches is if you are making post-race daiquiris and inviting me over.

Y’all – this is wrong in so many ways. The running community is way better than this display would have people believe. We are encouraging. We are forever trying to turn other people on to running. So why on earth would we treat our fellow runners this way? I had several friends say things like, “I thought I was going to pass out on the way to the MARTA station, I was so hungry.” And, “I started shaking because of low blood sugar but there was nothing left.” Still don’t think your 5 bagel grab made a big difference?

I actually got comments when this post about Peachtree Road Race food hoarders was originally published along the lines of, “If they wanted food, they should have run faster.” Of course, those comments were “anonymous”. Let me tell you something about the back of the pack. They might be slow. They might be in need of losing a few pounds. But here’s the thing – they are showing up and running anyway. They are trying to live a healthier lifestyle and the fact that it takes them that much more effort to do so is proof enough to me that they deserve to refresh and refuel more than most people. Don’t be a snob that shames them while they are getting out and getting active.

PLEASE – show your fellow runners courtesy and love. Only take what you need. If you have family that showed up to spectate, warn them ahead of time that they will need to bring their own food. We are grown people and we should be able to treat each other with respect and thoughtfulness.