Races as Training Runs

So on Saturday, I did a half marathon in DC as a training run. 4 weeks out from Boston, the timing was good to work on pacing and do a GMP training run. Doing workouts like that in races are great because you are running so relaxed that you get to enjoy the event a bit more than when you are going all out. You get all the advantages of bands out on the course and people cheering you along, water and sportsdrink every mile, lots of people to run with, clocks every mile with electronic timing etc. Plus I got to meet up with Kevin Fitzgerald pre-race and us two Irish guys got to kick off St. Paddy's Day with a nice run around the city. I've always been a big thumbs up vote for races done as workouts.

Plus, you avoid THIS happening....

Check out the two pics below. In the first, I'm lollygagging my way in, enjoying the end of the run.....but what's that up ahead? Why is that guy stopped right on the finish line with his hands on his knees? Is he going to hurl? OH YES HE IS!

Ugh, I feel for the guy. Especially since the camera caught the money shot. And there's video....ack. THAT'S what redlining racing can get you. The guy left it all out there!

Hmmm, which picture to by?

Oh wow, he really gave it all he had! I'm glad he did that after he finished and not a few yds before.

I'm glad you could have fun, I agree sometimes it's nice to run a race as a training run or even just for fun and enjoy it a bit more.

Well at least you enjoyed yourself, Chris! Talking about leaving it all out there - wow.

It's too bad his race number isn't showing. He probably can't even order the shot of him in all his glory.

Sounds like fun and oh boy to the competition there. Classic... You may accidentally end up on a webpage somewhere with that one!

Hahahahaha, excellent! Same thing happened to the kid who out-kicked me for our mutual BQ.

I like how it looks like you dont' give a shit and just run right on by him. "Yeah, he'll be alright."



That's classic.

Matt W wrote:

It's too bad his race number isn't showing. He probably can't even order the shot of him in all his glory.

Ha ha...I can't resist posting this montage of him. First off, let me point out that this little 18 year old dude ran a 1:17:17! I don't know why but he started 11 minutes after the gun (kids these days.....can't wake up on time!) but then started cranking out 17-something 5Ks the whole way from way back in the pack to run a whole half at under 6:00 pace. But it got to him!

Think of the photo series below as 1, 2 and 4 with the shot I put in there earlier as #3 with all the puking glory captured right at the finish line. He looks OK being led off by medical and sure enough there is a another picture of him grinning with his medal post-race (ah, to be 18!) so I think its fair to laugh about it and marvel at his ALL IN approach to racing. Look at him literally barely holding it in during those last few yards. Classic.

Chris M wrote:The guy left it all out there!

*Rimshot*

This should be on Tosh - too funny.

Hey - did you hear that a number of marathon back of the packers were picked up at mile 22 at this race and bused forward to mile 25, finished and go medals and times?? That is some scuttlebutt that I'm seeing on the Maniacs website. They (the Marathon Maniacs) are quite pissed off about it especially since many of them are "slower" runners (they run marathons or 2 or 3 every weekend) and apparently may have witnessed this. It apparently also occurred at Rock 'n Roll NOLA.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Hey - did you hear that a number of marathon back of the packers were picked up at mile 22 at this race and bused forward to mile 25, finished and go medals and times?? That is some scuttlebutt that I'm seeing on the Maniacs website. They (the Marathon Maniacs) are quite pissed off about it especially since many of them are "slower" runners (they run marathons or 2 or 3 every weekend) and apparently may have witnessed this. It apparently also occurred at Rock 'n Roll NOLA.

I.would.not.be.surprised.one.bit. Wouldn't.even.bat.an.eyelash. The Competitor Group [formerly Elite Racing] has done a great deal to coax tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands off the couch and onto the roads. And they do know how to put on a race. That's all to the good. But they routinely go over the line in pandering to the masses, doing damage to the sport in the process. Consider this from http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/contact/faq:

On race day, if the distance shown on your Forerunner is slightly
more than the official race distance, it just means you weren’t cutting
corners—quite literally. According to the IAAF (International
Association of Athletics Federation) course measurement guidelines (pg.
20), a road race course is defined by the shortest possible route a
runner could take without being disqualified.

For most races, a certified measurer rides the course on a bike,
staying near the curb and taking every available tangent. This ensures
that all runners will run at least the declared race distance. After
the race, if Forerunner shows that you ran a little farther, this just
accounts for extra steps you took to run around others participants, hit
a water stop or stay to the middle or outside lane.

But all this does is propagate the urban myth that you must not have run tight tangents. It does nothing to actually inform runners that GPS watches routinely track long because the side-to-side error inherent in a GPS track should be expected to be somewhat longer than the actual straight-line course actually followed by the runner.

In this light, giving a lift to the back of the pack late in a marathon and.then.awarding.them.an.official.finish.time would do even more of a disservice to the sport since they didn't do the distance, but receive the certification that they did.

I ran the National half marathon as a training run too. When I was done, I jogged the 6.5 miles back up the course, swimming upstream, as it were. I passed the race vehicle bringing up the rear, the two sag wagons and a few blocks further the sanitation dept. workers cleaning the streets before the roads were reopened. So it's clear they had the equipment to give a lift late in the marathon. We know the streets were slated to be reopened on a rolling basis. I don't know that they did it. I didn't see it. But.I.would.not.be.surprised.one.bit.

It appears the Competitor Group has little respect for the integrity of the sport. And as a ten year veteran of the Rock 'n Roll series who deigned to offer constructive criticism, I know they show no truck for criticism of any flavor.

I want to end on an up note about the Competitor Group. They DO pay attention to the important details in course layout, setup, runner support, timing and administration. They DO know how to put on a race. That's why after last year's debacle, the Washington Sports Alliance sold the race to them. And it showed. Moreover, they have attracted many to the sport by making their events family friendly and festive. That's all I got.

A friend of mine works for Competitor, albeit mainly with VeloNews. He's said on multiple occasions that the majority of the employees who've been there since before the merge are either quitting or have been fired - basically, they've gone from valuable members of a small, intimate team to numbers on a budget sheet. And those numbers were too high, so fuck it, they're gone. So the complaints aren't just coming from the outside.

That series of pictures is awesome. I dig this dude's style.

I like that no matter how bad he felt, he remembered to stop his watch.

Nice post -- like to think the guy gave it everything he had.

awesome, yet disgusting, yet awesome.

fabulous post. we runners are nuts.

I love these pics got to show my wife she will crap up. She thinks I look like jackass even when I am not throwing up!

Kenny B. wrote:I love these pics got to show my wife she will crap up. She thinks I look like jackass even when I am not throwing up!

Is crapping up like throwing up but... more... digested...?