Yesterday's 5K: Stopped Runners for Traffic

arussell134

I was super excited for my 5k yesterday and had a time goal of sub 25 minutes. I'd trained for that, and was reasonably confident I could pull it off.

The first mile was tough, b/c I had to weave around quite a few runners (it was a very crowded event), but I was still on track to meet my goal. About a mile or so in though, they stopped the runners - to let a car go by! I was standing there, kind of stunned - but what do you do? But then it happened again, this time they stopped to let several cars go by. I could not believe it. I noticed a little bit farther down the course, they were stopping runners to let the commuter train go by!

At this point, I really struggled mentally and felt like what did it matter? While I know things outside my control could always happen at a race, I guess I did not expect something like this. And I didn't have enough energy/mental toughness to know how to recover from it.

My finish time was 25:08, which made it even more heartbreaking. I emailed the race folks my experience & thoughts. I did place well - #8 for my age group out of 766 and 95th female overall (over 5100). (This is good for me anyhow - I used to routinely place bottom 50%.)

So two questions: 1) have you ever had this happen during a race before? Stopping the runners to let cars or other people go by? 2) any tips for how I could have handled myself better in the final mile or tips for becoming mentally tougher to handle unforeseen obstacles during a race?

I'd love your thoughts & feedback. Thanks!

snowflakesav

This is not typical of chip timed races. definitely let the race directors know that they need to align themselves to support the running community. If runners were stopped for other than a safety issue or train they need to clarify with the city about course usage. You ran a great time!

arussell134

snowflakesav wrote: »

This is not typical of chip timed races. definitely let the race directors know that they need to align themselves to support the running community. If runners were stopped for other than a safety issue or train they need to clarify with the city about course usage. You ran a great time!

OK thank you. I've just never had that happen and was so taken off guard. Thanks for your encouragement. I did email the race directors this morning.

dalhectar

The big question I'd have is did course marshalls treat faster (or slower) runners any different, or did they treat groups of runners in a larger or smaller pack different.

If the course marshalls let the top finishers speed through and block traffic, but then started stopping racers for traffic that would be awful.

Might have been a stipulation on the special use permit for the 5k that traffic flow had to be maintained for specific crossings. Also if it was a more casual race, such as a charity run, course marshals place safety over halting traffic and race officials incurring the wrath of drivers being stopped in traffic for perhaps up to 20-30 minutes.

Nothing you can do about a train though. A train can't stop. Course should have been routed to avoid train lines.

arussell134

dalhectar wrote: »

The big question I'd have is did course marshalls treat faster (or slower) runners any different, or did they treat groups of runners in a larger or smaller pack different.

If the course marshalls let the top finishers speed through and block traffic, but then started stopping racers for traffic that would be awful.

Might have been a stipulation on the special use permit for the 5k that traffic flow had to be maintained for specific crossings. Also if it was a more casual race, such as a charity run, course marshals place safety over halting traffic and race officials incurring the wrath of drivers being stopped in traffic for perhaps up to 20-30 minutes.

Nothing you can do about a train though. A train can't stop. Course should have been routed to avoid train lines.

It was the Shamrock run in Portland, so a large race, but I'm beginning to wonder what the agreement may have been with the city. It's entirely possible there were stipulations I wasn't aware of, but also weren't communicated. And, I agree about the train - route a different course!

This race is HUGE and in addition to the 5k, there was an 8k, 15k, and inagural half. Finish line was chaos. My husband was watching for me and said when the 5k leaders came through they were entirely missed because the race staff was paying more attention to the other finishers. DOH.

The other issue, they had the 5k walkers start before the runners. So about 2 miles in, bam, I found myself having to navigate around walkers (many who were walking 2-3+ abreast).

I'll be curious to hear if I get a response. It may just be I live & learn and pick a better race next time to attempt to PR. Thanks for your thoughts.

RunnerElizabeth

So I ran a HM out here in Newton (runs down heartbreak hill of Boston Marathon fame). There is a spot that particularly effects the 9-10 min pace people, you know, me. It's actually right after heartbreak hill, I think it was mile 11, I got stopped at a major intersection. Totally threw me off, my pace dropped after it happened, I think I lost 3 minutes for the whole ordeal, ran 2:06 that day. I think that there was a note about it on the website though. It was annoying and i couldn't get my mojo back, but I live in a city and kind of expect this sort of thing.
But, in a 5k, that would just completely suck.

vcphil

arussell134 wrote: »

two questions: 1) have you ever had this happen during a race before? Stopping the runners to let cars or other people go by?
Yes. Last year, at a huge major USATF race they made an announcement that the meto train thing/rail/idk what it's called Would be going by at "X" time. They laid time mats down right before and after it in case you did get stopped. However, ignored his statement because I figured I'd beat the train crossing time. Luckily I did.

2) any tips for how I could have handled myself better in the final mile or tips for becoming mentally tougher to handle unforeseen obstacles during a race?

Maybe just tell yourself it's just practice/just a workout. It'll make a good story? You'll be able to have a boat lpad of excuses to why you didn't hit your goal time. Lol.. I've ran races in very icy/unplowed roads before, and I thought the roads were going to be clear. Sometimes, I talk to other people after the race & make a joke of it. Ask what they thought of the race. It's really inevitable that some unforeseen things happen during a race :-) luckily it was just a local 5k! Image training all year for a marathon & tapering, and even traveling across the country for a race then at the start, they CANCEL the race when the gun was supposed to go off.

I'd love your thoughts & feedback. Thanks!

_Waffle_

This sounds like the biggest cluster FFFF that ever was for any race. Don't feel too bad. I'm sure they started the people with canes before the walkers and the double amputees were the first out of the gate.

I expect traffic lights on long runs in town but if I had this during a race I'd never do it again. Ever. I've never been in a race where you had to stop for traffic. Sounds like terrible planning and design.

Congrats on the time! Sounds like you would have broken 25:00 easily without the interruptions.

lporter229

Yeah, that's pretty bad. I once did a 5K (inaugural 5k for a local theater group) where a part of the path was flooded, so the just took it out. Made the course almost a quarter mile short. I have noticed that as the popularity of 5K races has picked up, it has become more common to have events put on by people with no real running experience. They don't really understand that some people take this stuff seriously!

When I run a 5K, I try to get a feel for the level of running "professionalism" involved. If it doesn't seem serious, I just treat it as a fun run. But if I am going to give an all out effort to try and PR, I would definitely like to know ahead of time that it's a certified course.

lishie_rebooted

I don't think I'd ever do that event again, and potentially other events by that company. It'd piss me off so bad.

I've been in races, recently a 10 miler, that had cars stopped and if there was a big enough gap between groups of runners, they let the cars go. But I didn't witness them stopping runners for it. I could imagine stopping walkers, which sounds really mean, but still...

Have you heard back from the RD yet?

litsy3

I think if the race was expensive to enter, one of the things you are paying for is road closures, so I'd expect to know what my entry fee went on if not providing a clear course to run on. I've done races where marshals let traffic past, but only when there was a suitable gap between runners. I think it's only acceptable if it's an untimed fun run.

brandiuntz

That's crazy. Never heard of that before. I'd never run that event again. Sounds like it was very disorganized (walkers before runners?!). Curious what the race director says back.

I've become somewhat picky about the races I do, especially 5k's. If they're more "fun" than "race", I avoid them because my pet peeve is walkers/runners who don't respect (or know) the basic etiquette of a race. Only in my third year of running and I've been in some fantastically well organized races and a few lousy ones. Makes a difference in the experience.

Congrats on your time, though. You would have blown 25:00 out of the water if not for the stops.

CarsonRuns

Never ever seen this before. I would have just walked off the course.

The_Enginerd

I wouldn't be doing another run with that group ever again. Sounds VERY poorly executed. If this was just a cheap 5k fun run for charity, that's one thing, but they had a 1/2 marathon on this event. It should be more serious.

arussell134

Thanks everyone for commiserating. Part of me was wondering if I was just being a poor sport and should suck it up, but it's nice to know that yeah, this isn't the norm.

The thing is, I've done races for years, but only in the last few months have decided to go after it more competitively. I thought choosing a large race would mean = more professional.

I will definitely let you guys know if I hear back from the race director.

So here's my off-shoot question: if you are after a PR as I am, what kinds of things would you look for when selecting a race? I live in the Seattle/Tacoma area, in case anyone here lives or runs in that area and has any particular recommendations.

I have appreciated everyone's sympathy/kind words as well as advice today. Thanks, friends!

arussell134

CarsonRuns wrote: »

Never ever seen this before. I would have just walked off the course.

I was extremely tempted to do just that, but we'd driven down to Portland to do it (I'm from Tacoma) and I knew my kids and husband would be waiting for me excitedly at the finish line (it almost never works out where they can watch me finish).

brandiuntz

arussell134 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for commiserating. Part of me was wondering if I was just being a poor sport and should suck it up, but it's nice to know that yeah, this isn't the norm.

The thing is, I've done races for years, but only in the last few months have decided to go after it more competitively. I thought choosing a large race would mean = more professional.

I will definitely let you guys know if I hear back from the race director.

So here's my off-shoot question: if you are after a PR as I am, what kinds of things would you look for when selecting a race? I live in the Seattle/Tacoma area, in case anyone here lives or runs in that area and has any particular recommendations.

I have appreciated everyone's sympathy/kind words as well as advice today. Thanks, friends!

Don't laugh, but if I'm going for a PR in a 5K, I look for a small race that's been around for a few years. Small races are the only way I have a chance to place high in my age group (which I've done twice). If the race has been around a few years, there's a better chance the "bugs" have been worked out and it runs smoother. I also look for causes I believe in.

Smaller races are nice, too, because I can start close to the front and have fewer people to go around.

litsy3

arussell134 wrote: »

So here's my off-shoot question: if you are after a PR as I am, what kinds of things would you look for when selecting a race? I live in the Seattle/Tacoma area, in case anyone here lives or runs in that area and has any particular recommendations.

I would choose a race that has fast winning times in previous years, even if I can't run that fast - a good quality field usually means (1) you won't end up running on your own whatever your pace, and (2) if the winners run fast times, it means that fast runners pick that race because they know it is a good race for a PR.

I live in the UK so I don't know the running scene in the US at all and I get the impression that you have a lot more races that emphasise participation rather than competition, but I'd also be looking out for races that local running clubs target, perhaps by checking out their websites if they have a race calendar on there.

The_Enginerd

arussell134 wrote: »

So here's my off-shoot question: if you are after a PR as I am, what kinds of things would you look for when selecting a race? I live in the Seattle/Tacoma area, in case anyone here lives or runs in that area and has any particular recommendations.

Is the course USATF certified? If they bother getting certified, they are at least serious about the event.

litsy3

Oh, and brandiuntz can type faster than I can! I like small races too, but for me I think it's: small race if I want to win or place, big race (usually) if I want a PR. I was trying to PR at 10k last autumn and there were two races on consecutive weeks. I picked the first one - bigger race, hosting the Scottish championships, more expensive - for the PR attempt, and did the second one - local race, cheap and easy to get to - just for fun. So I got my PR but was 14th female overall, and in the second race I won by miles but was over 30 seconds slower and ran a fair bit of it on my own (too far behind the guys in front, too far ahead of the next runners). The company in the bigger race plus the more competitive atmosphere helped a lot with the PR.

arussell134

brandiuntz wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for commiserating. Part of me was wondering if I was just being a poor sport and should suck it up, but it's nice to know that yeah, this isn't the norm.

The thing is, I've done races for years, but only in the last few months have decided to go after it more competitively. I thought choosing a large race would mean = more professional.

I will definitely let you guys know if I hear back from the race director.

So here's my off-shoot question: if you are after a PR as I am, what kinds of things would you look for when selecting a race? I live in the Seattle/Tacoma area, in case anyone here lives or runs in that area and has any particular recommendations.

I have appreciated everyone's sympathy/kind words as well as advice today. Thanks, friends!

Don't laugh, but if I'm going for a PR in a 5K, I look for a small race that's been around for a few years. Small races are the only way I have a chance to place high in my age group (which I've done twice). If the race has been around a few years, there's a better chance the "bugs" have been worked out and it runs smoother. I also look for causes I believe in.

Smaller races are nice, too, because I can start close to the front and have fewer people to go around.

Not going to laugh. My last 5k was exactly that. I placed 2nd female overall. BUT - and here is the big BUT - my Garmin read 25:37 and their 'official' time was 25:01. One of these is obviously off. By a lot. I wouldn't let it prevent me from choosing a smaller race again, but the chip timing accuracy is obviously going to be important to me.