Which group to run in?

davemunger

I'm going to enter a track 5k this July, and there are two heats. The first heat is the open division, and the second heat is for 17:59 and better pace. I've run two 5ks faster than that, but I seriously doubt I could run that fast on a muggy July evening. So is it better to run in the open division and possibly be way ahead of the other runners, or to enter the 17:59 division and possibly finish in a much slower time than that?

I'd kind of like to be in the fast group just to see what I can do. Would it be rude to enter a 17:59-and-under race and possibly finish in 18:30?

vmclach

Would you rather be lapped or potentially win your heat with no competition?
If you even ran a 17:30 around here, you would get lapped.

When I did the mile there were these waves I could pick from
Sub 6
6-7

I was planning sub 6- DUH... Right? Until I realized that the winner would be running sub 4:30.. I decided no thanks. Even though I knew I would blow sub 6 out of the water.

In the 6-7 heat it was:
5:38
5:46
5:47- me
6:01
6:10
Etc etc..

The "sub 6" heat was like this:
4:20
4:28
4:32
4:45
4:52
4:58
5:03
5:05
5:12
5:23
5:27
Etc..

Boy am I glad I chose my 6-7 heat lol.

vmclach

However, I should add, it depends on the type of runner you are. I've done 5ks on the track where men & women were combinded. At the time, I was running ~22;30 & the guys were running sub 17.. This was on an INDOOR track. It was a horrible experience to be lapped sooo many times.

When I ran the 1500, my coach always put me in the slower heat, and I would lead & win in every time.I really enjoyed that a lot, then, one day, he put me in the fastest heat & I PRed by a TON & beat most people on my team I consistantly ran slower than.

I think I enjoyed that "faster heat" because the winner was maybe 8 seconds in front of me.
If I would have been getting lapped, I would have lost confidence.

So the real questions are:

How elite are the guys running the sub 18 heat?
How do you feel when racing against people who are potentially way faster than you?
Can you push yourself without competition?

davemunger

Would you rather be lapped or potentially win your heat with no competition?
If you even ran a 17:30 around here, you would get lapped.

When I did the mile there were these waves I could pick from
Sub 6
6-7

That's what I was wondering - will there be anyone running my pace in the open division. Sounds like, from your experience, there are usually some folks who sandbag and enter the slower heat, so it's not like I'd be horribly out of place there. Really I just want there to be some runners out there who are doing a similar pace to me, so I'm not running the whole thing on my own. Sounds like the open division might be the place to do that.

vmclach

Would you rather be lapped or potentially win your heat with no competition?
If you even ran a 17:30 around here, you would get lapped.

When I did the mile there were these waves I could pick from
Sub 6
6-7

That's what I was wondering - will there be anyone running my pace in the open division. Sounds like, from your experience, there are usually some folks who sandbag and enter the slower heat, so it's not like I'd be horribly out of place there. Really I just want there to be some runners out there who are doing a similar pace to me, so I'm not running the whole thing on my own. Sounds like the open division might be the place to do that.

Yes. Plus you always have to idiots that go out too fast. Are these the only 2 heats? I feel like you may get annoyed of passing people running 27 min 5ks lol... Have you looked at prior years results? Is there like a 24 & other heat? I don't think I would want to run a 5k on a track with anyone faster than 18 min and anyone slower than 21:30.. I'd probably run 19:45.. I just feel like there would be too much lapping going on. It's not fun to have to dodge runners. Also not fun getting lapped.

davemunger

How elite are the guys running the sub 18 heat?
How do you feel when racing against people who are potentially way faster than you?
Can you push yourself without competition?

Good questions! I will need to do some more research. I'm thinking the top finishers will be around 16 flat, so I'd definitely be getting lapped by some folks. I don't mind running with faster people, but what I don't want is to be a lap behind the entire field (or a lap ahead).