Last Sunday’s Big D marathon is over, but trash from the event remains on sections of Swiss Avenue not yet visited by homeowner’s landscaping crews. The annual Big D marathon is coordinated by Mellew Productions, which also hosted last January’s Hypnotic Donut Dash.
As a resident living along the course, I keep a close watch for signage alerting me to the various races that frequent my street. I live downtown among historical buildings and beautiful landscaping and am happy to share my neighborhood with runners who inspire me to do some running myself. Our neighbors enjoy cheering from the front lawn and even take time to write encouraging chalk messages on the street for the runners.
Every race is coordinated by different running groups, and the Big D marathon is remarkably unadvertised in comparison. There were no signs to move cars or fliers alerting residents of the race. It feels ridiculous to gripe about a marathon in light of the tragedy in Boston, but this will be the second year in a row that the race has shut down most of the neighborhood with little notice and left so much trash for homeowners to pick up. I hope that next year’s Big D marathon will round up more volunteers so they can do a better job with their clean-up and race promotion.
