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Occupy Portland wishes to welcome Portland Marathon to Lownsdale and Chapman Squares on this beautiful Friday morning.
We look forward to working together to ensure that our events run as smoothly as possible.
This outcome is achievable only through civil discourse and is rendered impossible by threats or use of force.
Therefore, we are eager to discuss with Portland Marathon the constructive ways we can help and support their event while we remain in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.
I am pleased the Portland Occupiers realize their solidarity with the runners and organizers of the Portland Marathon. As was said many times last night, they are PART of the 99%.
Kindness and civility during civil discord is essential to remaining dignified and to having your intelligent voices heard.
Encourage those runners! It’s good karma.
Are you kidding me? They have a permit and have been planning the event for months and you want them to accommodate you.
Wow. That takes nerve.
you are NOT going to ruin my months and months of training by stopping me or getting in my way during my marathon. Do you people not understand the investment that we runners put in when we train for these events?! I don’t have an idea what you guys are about please just get out of the way. Go somewhere else, I spent money to fly here to Portland, registration, and will plunk down more money to eat and shop. Do not fuck this up for me and my fellow runners!
Let’s do it!! This is an opprotunity to keep the message moving!
Please allow the Occupy Portland event to remain in the park, and lend their assistance to the Marathon. I pray that both events can co-exist peacefully, and benefit each other.
I am an occupier and I will also be running in the marathon. I see no reason this has to be an issue, I believe we occupiers should step aside so that this event can go off as planned. Thousands have been training for months for this event and have invested quite a bit of cash in it as well. Please don’t send the message that we are at war with regular people who are just trying to be healthy! This action would cause the movement to LOSE supporters!
A year ago I paid a good deal of money to participate in the Portland Marathon that encourages good stewardship of resources and encourages fitness and health. I am flying in from out of town to participate. It is my 3rd Portland Marathon, an event well run without chaos and confusion. This “national movement” that you call it, threatens to complicate the marathon all so that people can stand in the street and complain about something we are all pretty much aware of already. Obstruction of the marathon will not endear me to your cause, nor can I imagine it will for others participating. I would prefer to see people who have time to protest like this perform other worthy public services that do not use up precious resources of time, people, and materials to state obvious facts. Just imagine if instead of protesting all these people did something beneficial for their world rather than march in streets and disrupt the lives of people seeking to live respectfully of their others? How can your signs (using up materials) and creating garbage for clean-up and police for control (city utilities and services) be helpful? And you are already supporting corporate America with cell phones and computers, clothing, food, shoes, and anything you consume? Without corporate America, there wouldn’t even be the tools and means to form this protest. There are just so many better things to do that could bring immediate and helpful change than this effort. I hope to enjoy my run on Sunday, please don’t cause more trouble.
Running–when the world is reduced to just me and the trail under my feet–has long been the solution to most of my problems (as well as a source of inner peace). My kind of running is different than yours. That’s cool; there’s more than enough room for both. Same for physical space. I welcome fellow runners to my home town.
If you want support from people running a marathon, you should probably get the protesters not to smoke everywhere.
Yes. And if you want the support of pregnant women (me), kids, and the large percentage of other people, it would be nice if people weren’t smoking everywhere. That was hard for me yesterday. Maybe a designated smoking area would help.
I’ve participated in three Portland Marathons. There’s room for everyone. Share the parks. We are all part of the 99 per cent.
I agree with your views, but think interfering with the Portland Marathon is a bad idea. It is alienating to people, and you raise the risk of personal injury to the runners AND marchers. Please consider moving to another park; we have plenty of them in Portland!
I support what Occupy Portland is doing but believe you (e.g. the movement) are making two huge mistakes.
First, many of the photos I see on news sites this morning have people climbing on the park statues. This can be seen as disrespectful and damaging. Stop it or risk being seen as a group of unruly kids.
Second, you need to yield the parks to the marathon. Period. Do it now. Pack up and meet/camp along with waterfront for a couple days and move back to the parks on Sunday night. You took great care to have a peaceful and impactful march yesterday but today you are losing supporters and sympathizers. I work downtown and the mood of my office has shifted from support to frustration. It’s not too late but you need to act quickly or risk losing support of those you are trying to so hard to reach.
I am in full support of Occupy Portland remaining in solidarity of the cause. I think what you are doing is great. However I also think that taking Portland Marathon into considering is a great way for you to show support to the public that you are trying to fight for. This has been an event in plannig WAY before Occupy Portland has (which also means research should have been done in picking locations do do this). Allowing and respecting the space they legally aquired I believe is vital to any protest. Don’t fight the people you are trying to help. It is difficult for outsiders to show compassion and support and solidarity if they are feeling that their cause (something they have trained months for)is being ignored and threatened. Just a thought. I would hate for Occupy Portland to loose any steam or momentum over this. Portland marathon is an amazing community event and should be supported in all ways.
Below is my letter sent to Portland Marathon staff. I encourage other runners to send in to the Marathon staff to encourage a win-win resolution. Email address is
David
Dear Marathon Staff,
I want you to know I support the Occupy Portland movement and highly encourage you to find a solution that does not require the park to be evacuated. I have run the Portland marathon for 14 years, and support both the marathon as well as the awakening of changes needed to a political system dependent on moneyed interest. You will loose my further support and participation if participants in Occupy Portland are arrested.
The dark and ugly menace of moneyed interest is the root cause of the malignant cancer that is spreading within the breasts of democracy. Be the cure which stops this cancer. I implore you to find a solution that allows you both to win.
Sincerely,
David
As a supporter of occupy ptown and a member of the marathon committee, I urge o.p. to keep the runners health as the no. 1 priority. The protest is taking place where we have first aid booths as well as post race feeding and hydration stations. Any interference in the set up or operation of these areas could have grave consequemces.
Running is stupid. Marathon runners are egotistical assholes, so who cares if their stupid marathon is blocked. They’re the same kind of people as the bankers — all they care about is superficial achievements.
We already have thousands of faceless pianists and the piano recital is dying. This guy can bring it to life.
That insight solves the prbolem. Thanks!