Race Day - run alone or accompanied?

stuffinmuffin

Runners, I have a question...

Today I mentioned on my news feed that I had told my new running buddy that when we run the half marathon we have signed up for I would prefer to do it alone. So we start together, do the race and have a massive celebration (and huge amount of food) after the race to mark the achievement. It will be her first half marathon so it'll be a huge buzz for her.

I was wondering if anyone ran in pairs or preferred come race day to go it alone?

cuinboston2014

I have never run a race with someone through it's entirety. It depends on your goals though. if you want to do it for the comradarie of running with that person, stick with your friend at their pace. If it's an experience you want for yourself and you've trained for a goal time, run by yourself.

I trained with a friend for our first half marathon together. We started together and I left her after a mile. We did talk about it before hand though and she was OK with it as we didn't have any set plan.

The last full marathon I ran I started with my sister and I fell behind around mile 18. i didn't tell her I was drifting behind but I did it slowly so she wouldn't notice. Id idn't want to drag her down just because I was having a tough time.

I now have the expectation for a 5k tha tif you want to run with me side by side, fine but there is no talking. It's a full on hard effort. If it's a half marathon I might mutter a sentence or two here or there but I'm running hard enough that we won't be talking. if you can't keep up, sorry but I'm not slowing down.

My marathon times are still laughable so I would probably not hesitate to have a running partner lol

mamahannick

I have run races before with family or friends. We start out together but then go at our own pace and meet up afterwards. I wouldn't want to hold up someone who was faster than me, nor would I want to feel pressured to hang back with someone slower. Just agree to go at your own paces.

DeeVanderbles

It's nice to have someone there before and after a race but during the race I think it's important for people to go at their own pace. If your pace is the same, why not stay together and motivate each other. If it's not, no big deal if someone has to run ahead.

Runs4Wine

IMO it depends on what the goals are for each runner. Are you there to have fun and cross the finish line together or are one of you trying to set personal goals?

I do run occasionally with a friend and she's faster than I am, she runs ahead and I'm perfectly fine with that - in fact I prefer it.. Sometimes she walks and I'll catch up, but that's her prerogative. We always find each other at the finish line and do our celebrating. (We just did a 12K yesterday and she finished about a minute ahead of me).

For me running is a personal sport. I never like to chit chat while running - my breathing gets off, but she's a talker and prefers running "together".

I guess there's no right/wrong answer, just what works for each of you at the time.

ShannonMpls

I have started races with friends but our agreement is usually that we will run our own race. I train alone, and I prefer to run alone too.

I do love running with a pace team, though - I have "people" but am still running my own thing.

ayalowich

Runners, I have a question...

Today I mentioned on my news feed that I had told my new running buddy that when we run the half marathon we have signed up for I would prefer to do it alone. So we start together, do the race and have a massive celebration (and huge amount of food) after the race to mark the achievement. It will be her first half marathon so it'll be a huge buzz for her.

I was wondering if anyone ran in pairs or preferred come race day to go it alone?

It depends on many things. Are you treating it as a race or just a very expensive long run? How good a friend is this? What happens if you do run together and things don't work out?.

If it is a race then you need to focus on your own self and not layer on the worry about whether you are going too fast or too slow for the other person. If it is a big race it can be pretty easy to lose someone, especially if it is dark out for the early miles. And what if one of you has a stomach issue? Are both of you just prepared to stop and lose two or three minutes while waiting?

Now I have recently ran a half marathon with a friend, and it was a great experience overall. We stayed together for the first 8 miles and I had to stop for 1 minute but was able to pick it up and catch him by 11.5. Having said that I certainly was wondering if my time would have been faster if I'd just gone it alone.

That was probably the only time I've done that and I had a good time. But I can certainly see it having gone the other way.