Post by marathondude on Jul 11, 2008 11:07:05 GMT -5
Road Race Miscues
Road race management has come a long way since I started running in the 1970s. Back then a small group of competitors paid a dollar or two and lined up at the start for a race that could be an inexact distance, with one water stop if we were lucky, mile splits that were nonexistent or incorrect and a popsicle stick with a number on it which we grabbed after the finish that noted our overall place. Race t-shirts were still to come in future years, there were only a few age groups and awards were very low-key. Over the past few decades as running has increased in popularity, we have enjoyed and come to expect well organized races. Most of the time race managers provide us with a great experience. But over the years I have experienced and heard about some road race miscues. Here are a few of them.
Wrong turns happen every now and then and are so confusing to a runner. In the 1976 Melbourne Marathon I went off course and added over a half mile to the 26.2 mile route. I wonder if my 2:34 time would have been under 2:30 if I had raced the correct distance. At the 1982 North Carolina Apple Festival 15k I was at least 30 yards past a crossroad when someone yelled from behind me, “Hey, you were supposed to turn back here!” Fortunately I only lost twenty seconds at the most.
An amusing story concerns Jon Hughes and Donnie Cook, two former Winter Park (Florida) high school teammates. They were out in the front, but separated by some distance at a road race and got confused through some unmarked turns. They actually approached the finish line from opposite directions! Jon noted at another race he finished fifth overall, but they had no record of him in the results.
At one of the early Walt Disney World Marathons it was five minutes before the start and runners drank their pre-race fluids. Unfortunately, several thousand runners weren’t at the start due to traffic congestion, so the race start was delayed for about a half hour. Those thousands of us who were at the start ended up watering nearby grass and trees. Even worse is if a race starts “early.” I warmed up for the 2007 Naples Half Marathon and got to the start at 7:25 which I thought was five minutes ahead of time. Unfortunately, the race had started at 7:00. I started my watch and ran a time trial in 1:21:06. After four miles I caught slower runners and weaved in and out of traffic for the rest of the race. My official time was 25 minutes slower, so there was no age group award for me.
I mistakenly thought there was race day packet pickup at the 2004 Jacksonville River Run 15k so I had no race number. However, I was able to talk my way into the first corral and my personal computer chip gave me an official finishing time. Three years later my chip fell off when warming up and luckily I found it in the grass.
Runners expect efficient awards ceremonies after races. After waiting more than two hours following the 1982 Greater Raleigh Road Race 10k for the presentation of the top ten awards, there was still confusion among race officials. Nine of the top ten runners were present, we vouched for each other, went up and announced our names and unofficial times and got our awards.
Unforeseen obstacles during races led me to the two most amazing road race miscues I have encountered. With less than a half mile to go in the 1978 Tangerine Bowl Half Marathon, a train stopped two or three of the top runners who then sprinted to the finish. I was a couple minutes behind on a long straightaway watching that fiasco unfold. We went out and back across a bridge during the Indian River Festival 8k in Titusville, Florida which I raced several times in the 1980s and 1990s. One year on the way back the drawbridge operator opened the bridge for a boat which stopped the top three runners for about 45 seconds. When it went back down we sort of let each other have the spacing we had before the bridge stopped us, but it was hard to race fairly afterward.
These are just a few of the many things that have gone awry in my road racing experience. There have also been short courses, mile splits that were way off and fluid stops that ran out of water and electrolyte drinks. Finishers medals have run out, awards were given to the wrong racers and competitors were placed in the wrong gender. With all of the things that can go wrong, it’s amazing that everything usually goes right!
Do you have any zany stories of race day misadventures???
MarathonDude has 35 years of competitive running and racing experience highlighted by a marathon PR of 2:22:34. He is a regular writer for Florida Running & Triathlon magazine. At www.garycohenrunning.com you will find over a dozen FR&T articles, interviews with running personalities and dozens of “All in a Day’s Run” essays.
Road race management has come a long way since I started running in the 1970s. Back then a small group of competitors paid a dollar or two and lined up at the start for a race that could be an inexact distance, with one water stop if we were lucky, mile splits that were nonexistent or incorrect and a popsicle stick with a number on it which we grabbed after the finish that noted our overall place. Race t-shirts were still to come in future years, there were only a few age groups and awards were very low-key. Over the past few decades as running has increased in popularity, we have enjoyed and come to expect well organized races. Most of the time race managers provide us with a great experience. But over the years I have experienced and heard about some road race miscues. Here are a few of them.
Wrong turns happen every now and then and are so confusing to a runner. In the 1976 Melbourne Marathon I went off course and added over a half mile to the 26.2 mile route. I wonder if my 2:34 time would have been under 2:30 if I had raced the correct distance. At the 1982 North Carolina Apple Festival 15k I was at least 30 yards past a crossroad when someone yelled from behind me, “Hey, you were supposed to turn back here!” Fortunately I only lost twenty seconds at the most.
An amusing story concerns Jon Hughes and Donnie Cook, two former Winter Park (Florida) high school teammates. They were out in the front, but separated by some distance at a road race and got confused through some unmarked turns. They actually approached the finish line from opposite directions! Jon noted at another race he finished fifth overall, but they had no record of him in the results.
At one of the early Walt Disney World Marathons it was five minutes before the start and runners drank their pre-race fluids. Unfortunately, several thousand runners weren’t at the start due to traffic congestion, so the race start was delayed for about a half hour. Those thousands of us who were at the start ended up watering nearby grass and trees. Even worse is if a race starts “early.” I warmed up for the 2007 Naples Half Marathon and got to the start at 7:25 which I thought was five minutes ahead of time. Unfortunately, the race had started at 7:00. I started my watch and ran a time trial in 1:21:06. After four miles I caught slower runners and weaved in and out of traffic for the rest of the race. My official time was 25 minutes slower, so there was no age group award for me.
I mistakenly thought there was race day packet pickup at the 2004 Jacksonville River Run 15k so I had no race number. However, I was able to talk my way into the first corral and my personal computer chip gave me an official finishing time. Three years later my chip fell off when warming up and luckily I found it in the grass.
Runners expect efficient awards ceremonies after races. After waiting more than two hours following the 1982 Greater Raleigh Road Race 10k for the presentation of the top ten awards, there was still confusion among race officials. Nine of the top ten runners were present, we vouched for each other, went up and announced our names and unofficial times and got our awards.
Unforeseen obstacles during races led me to the two most amazing road race miscues I have encountered. With less than a half mile to go in the 1978 Tangerine Bowl Half Marathon, a train stopped two or three of the top runners who then sprinted to the finish. I was a couple minutes behind on a long straightaway watching that fiasco unfold. We went out and back across a bridge during the Indian River Festival 8k in Titusville, Florida which I raced several times in the 1980s and 1990s. One year on the way back the drawbridge operator opened the bridge for a boat which stopped the top three runners for about 45 seconds. When it went back down we sort of let each other have the spacing we had before the bridge stopped us, but it was hard to race fairly afterward.
These are just a few of the many things that have gone awry in my road racing experience. There have also been short courses, mile splits that were way off and fluid stops that ran out of water and electrolyte drinks. Finishers medals have run out, awards were given to the wrong racers and competitors were placed in the wrong gender. With all of the things that can go wrong, it’s amazing that everything usually goes right!
Do you have any zany stories of race day misadventures???
MarathonDude has 35 years of competitive running and racing experience highlighted by a marathon PR of 2:22:34. He is a regular writer for Florida Running & Triathlon magazine. At www.garycohenrunning.com you will find over a dozen FR&T articles, interviews with running personalities and dozens of “All in a Day’s Run” essays.