Yesterday's 5K: Stopped Runners for Traffic
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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.
THAT is excellent advice & completely makes sense to me. Thanks. In this case, I'm more concerned about achieving my personal best than being a top finisher.
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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.
Yes, this makes complete sense to me.
It's fun to place at the smaller races, but I'm really gunning for my PR. I could see selecting difference races for different goals. Ah, it's a whole new ball game once you decide you actually want to race - and not just do a "fun run!"
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I have seen that once before to a smaller race but not one with that numbers. Did you at least get a cool medal? That was my saving grace. HA
I was totally off my game on Saturday. I ran the St. Paddy's race in Tacoma and it was AWFUL!!!! There was little to no course support, the runners had to circle back around on each other...not only were you dodging the people you were passing you had to dodge the people that were coming back up the course. There was no separation at all. It was cold, rainy, hilly and windy. Yeah nothing I could do about the hills or the weather it just really got into my head. I swear my marathon seemed shorter. To kick me when I was totally down I went to get my gear check bag it is was sitting in a puddle of water. My shirt was soaked and I was cold. Yeah not my best race. I still managed to beat my PR by 7 seconds which annoyed me even further. HAA I guess it was one of those weekends.0 -
Roxiegirl2008 wrote: »I have seen that once before to a smaller race but not one with that numbers. Did you at least get a cool medal? That was my saving grace. HA
I was totally off my game on Saturday. I ran the St. Paddy's race in Tacoma and it was AWFUL!!!! There was little to no course support, the runners had to circle back around on each other...not only were you dodging the people you were passing you had to dodge the people that were coming back up the course. There was no separation at all. It was cold, rainy, hilly and windy. Yeah nothing I could do about the hills or the weather it just really got into my head. I swear my marathon seemed shorter. To kick me when I was totally down I went to get my gear check bag it is was sitting in a puddle of water. My shirt was soaked and I was cold. Yeah not my best race. I still managed to beat my PR by 7 seconds which annoyed me even further. HAA I guess it was one of those weekends.
Nope, no medal. I did get a SUPER cool race shirt and a sweet race bib to add to my wall (I've been creating a wall of my race bibs in my garage, above my treadmill).
AH! Did I know you were in Tacoma? That's my hometown. I had several friends that did that race. At one point I was wondering if I should have done that one instead. Based on what you said, sounds like my experience there wouldn't have been much better! But, good for you for sticking it out and getting your PR.
I'm doing the Tacoma City Half in May & Sound to Narrows 12k in June. You running either/both of those?
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arussell134 wrote: »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.
Yes, this makes complete sense to me. It's fun to place at the smaller races, but I'm really gunning for my PR. I could see selecting difference races for different goals. Ah, it's a whole new ball game once you decide you actually want to race - and not just do a "fun run!"
Too true about looking at races differently when you have different goals. I'm so new at this, a new PR and placing well are about the same for me. (5K PR is 27:32)
I'll get an interesting test in a few weeks. Running a 5K because of the charity. I think it's going to be a small race, so I'll try for a new PR and hope that also means placing in my age group.
I've been lucky on timing so far. My GPS watch is only off because I tend to forget to stop it! Took me nearly a minute to remember at a half I ran yesterday.
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We are doing the Portland Rock and Roll 1/2 in May. I have heard the other two are much better though. Yeah I have heard a couple of others that ran it talking about it as well. I mean there you go up a hill around 12.5 mile mark...then down a hill and then up one at MILE 13!!! I mean really mile 13. HAAAA0
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Roxiegirl2008 wrote: »We are doing the Portland Rock and Roll 1/2 in May. I have heard the other two are much better though. Yeah I have heard a couple of others that ran it talking about it as well. I mean there you go up a hill around 12.5 mile mark...then down a hill and then up one at MILE 13!!! I mean really mile 13. HAAAA
Oh HECK to the NO. In my opinion, all races should have the last mile downhill! LOL! Didn't they get the memo? I had a friend that did REALLY well on that half yesterday - she finished in 1:40! Pretty darn fantastic, esp after hearing how you've described the course!
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arussell134 wrote: »Roxiegirl2008 wrote: »We are doing the Portland Rock and Roll 1/2 in May. I have heard the other two are much better though. Yeah I have heard a couple of others that ran it talking about it as well. I mean there you go up a hill around 12.5 mile mark...then down a hill and then up one at MILE 13!!! I mean really mile 13. HAAAA
Oh HECK to the NO. In my opinion, all races should have the last mile downhill! LOL! Didn't they get the memo? I had a friend that did REALLY well on that half yesterday - she finished in 1:40! Pretty darn fantastic, esp after hearing how you've described the course!
That is awesome for your friend!! Yeah they missed that memo!!! HAA0 -
I was going to post here some differing thoughts until I checked out the race. If it was a "fun run" I wouldn't have been upset. Also, where I am, we cannot obtain permits to close the roads at all. All of the races are done on open course and our course marshalls do not have the authority to stop traffic. In most cases it isn't an issue. Courses are on low traffic roads and with Police assistance the busier intersections are handled, but I could see a case where the odd runner may have to yield to traffic.
However, after checking out the site, they even say it was a closed course with the exception of emergency vehicles. I would not have been happy.0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »I was going to post here some differing thoughts until I checked out the race. If it was a "fun run" I wouldn't have been upset. Also, where I am, we cannot obtain permits to close the roads at all. All of the races are done on open course and our course marshalls do not have the authority to stop traffic. In most cases it isn't an issue. Courses are on low traffic roads and with Police assistance the busier intersections are handled, but I could see a case where the odd runner may have to yield to traffic.
However, after checking out the site, they even say it was a closed course with the exception of emergency vehicles. I would not have been happy.
I tried to go back and check on that too.... like did I miss something here? Had it been communicated somewhere beforehand, I would've opted for another race. And yeah, had I been doing this one just for fun, I would've lowered my expectations. Apparently this is one of the biggest runs in Portland and the leading males all had times around 15:xx and females well under 20 minutes as well. I may be scratching my head about this one for awhile, lol. But had you seen something I'd missed, I would've 100% been open to differing thoughts/POVs.
Honestly how I'm feeling this afternoon: mostly just mad at myself for not fighting hard enough to gain back those seconds. GRRR.
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That sounds like an awful and frustrating experience! I hope the race directors take your comments and use them for good next year! I can't imagine being stopped for traffic during a race (barring emergencies)! That's just totally unprofessional. Also super unprofessional: having walkers start before runners. That's just asking people to be mowed over!
And you definitely would have aced that PR had there not been weird traffic issues!0 -
I had it happen once, at a recent race. I guessed since it was only a small event, they didn't have the power to stop people from driving in and out of there, and we had to just be considerate of other people using the public space-there were also people walking and running around as we did the race in the park. It was a bit annoying because it does effect your time, but I think there's not really any way around it.0
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During my last marathon in September, I was stopped by a freight train. The train stopped in place on the tracks--it was around mile 2-3 I believe. Runners were going over it between cars and some ran around it. I opted to go over it and stay on course since I couldn't tell how far it was to the front of the train. It was quite the experience! My hands were black from touching the train and the driver was yelling obscenities at us. It got very heated and added at least 2 minutes to my time.
Here's an article:
http://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/life/diet-fitness/2014/09/27/train-interrupts-columbus-mill-race-marathon/16362111/
I am in one of the pictures.0 -
A big group of us were stopped during the Dallas marathon to let traffic pass. It was on an uphill part of the course and everybody was mad! Not that any of us were going for a place(2:40HM) but they stopped us for 3-4 minutes to let a whole lot of cars pass. It took a while for everyone to get the zing back. This was mile 8-9. The marathoners running with us told us it was hard stopping at mile 9 of a marathon.
Btw, that was my best HM time. In a way I'm glad I got those four minutes added there. I don't think I can ever train to beat a 2:30 hm time. I still cannot accept the fact that race times stop going down after a point in time.0 -
arussell134 wrote: »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've seen police or volunteers direct cars through, but never when there's runners approaching the intersection, only when there's enough gap between runners to get the car through without impeding racers. And I was running one half-marathon where a guy was leaving a bed and breakfast and just decided to pull out across the middle of a pack or 10 or 12 racers. Apparently he had somewhere important to go. I did manage to gave him a "WTF'nF?" as did a few of my fellow runners (and this was a race where there were road and lane closures and cops directing traffic).
Not much else you could have done after getting mentally thrown for a loop like that. You just try to get back into it and keep going.
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Roxiegirl2008 wrote: »We are doing the Portland Rock and Roll 1/2 in May. I have heard the other two are much better though. Yeah I have heard a couple of others that ran it talking about it as well. I mean there you go up a hill around 12.5 mile mark...then down a hill and then up one at MILE 13!!! I mean really mile 13. HAAAA
My first marathon was Eau Claire. Lovely course, nothing but good things to say about it, except that the last half mile was a STEEP uphill grade. As in, steep enough that they probably should have built stairs into that trail. The only good thing was by the time I got to it I had completely run out of *kitten* to give....
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