Small, Medium, or Large? Race that is :)

RenewedRunner

Oaky I edited this. I had a goal, looked at the requirements for this goal (aka time reqs), and decided it was a two year goal, not a one year lol. But still wondering what size race you prefer.

I am looking at a Spring Half either in my hometown (hm had 1700 people last year) or one with 9000 (which would be a weekend getaway).

Are you a fan of smaller races? Do you miss the crowds? I am a back of the packer so I hate being all alone lol, I want other slowpokes with me :happy:

litsy3

I like both but all my best times tend to be from larger races (more adrenalin, more people running at my pace, more crowd support).

Also I think people don't always take into account faster or slower runners when they say 'small races are best/nicer/friendlier/etc..' My club used to do a local 10k where there were only about 130-150 people and they all thought it was great, but they were all running around 45-50 minutes and so were most of the other racers. A few minutes faster or slower and you'd be on your own for most of the race, but obviously the middle-of-the-pack runners didn't get to see that!

prdavies1949

Hmmm good question. I have done both, I have run in a local club 10k, my first race, and yes the bulk of the race ran off and left me no problem I plodded round and had a ball. I have run in a 10k with 10000 runners, where the first place runners were coming into the finish before my corall started and where I was triping over other runners for the first mile. I have also run in a half with 15000 runners where they got us all off in less than 5 min. I suppose a lot depends on how well the race is organised. Small races are better value for money. Big races have the wow factor.
Which do I prefer, well this September I had the choice of a half in Worcester, organised by Steve Cram, (British running legend) and which Paula Radcliffe (world running legend) has entered, so I suspect will be over 10000 runners, or the local Macclesfield half, which has a limit of 250. I have entered the Macclesfield race.

davemunger

I like all sizes, but I agree, the huge key is to have some people running close to your pace. I'm relatively fast, but I've been in races where I've been alone in front and alone in back, and neither one is very much fun. Winning is fun, but it's a lot more fun when it's a close race. Huge races are a big thrill, but I think some of my favorites have been smaller races in unique places, like Crater Lake, Oregon and Steamboat, Colorado.

ZenInTexas

For a shorter distance race I like them small. Better chance of winning an AG medal and you don't have to dodge around so many people. Half or full marathon I like big. Lots of crowd support, big expo, good food etc.

lporter229

For a shorter distance race I like them small. Better chance of winning an AG medal and you don't have to dodge around so many people. Half or full marathon I like big. Lots of crowd support, big expo, good food etc.

I tend to agree with this. In a big race, it's hard to avoid losing time in that first mile. You have time to make it up in a half or full marathon, but not a 5K.

RunnerElizabeth

I run a very large 5k and 10k each year. This is what my splits look like for 5k: 1- 1 min slower than I'd like to run. 2- 30 seconds slower than I'd like to run 3- exactly the pace i want to run. 4-30 seconds faster than I want to run. It takes me a full 2 miles to get around bodies and turn tight corners and I'm left with gas in the tank.

10,000 runners is good for a half though. That way I'm never running alone and don't start out too fast.

julie_emma1

I like both, as others have mentioned. I like to do small local races for 5 and 10k, and the big races with the expo for half marathons. But that's mostly because 5 and 10k are my fun runs and hm is the distance I'm working on improving. after training for months towards a HM, i really enjoy the large crowd of other runners who spent months doing the same thing

That being said, I did place 2nd overall among women in my last 10k, which I would have NEVER done in a large race.

kristinegift

For running longer distances, I prefer medium-to-big races. I did local half marathon once and had maybe 500 people and it was so lonely. And there were hardly any spectators, and that was rough. But now that I'm marathon training and 13.1 isn't a HUGE distance for me, I'd be more willing to do a smaller race (looking at a different local half at the end of the summer that has 500-600 participants). I've done half marathons that had 10k participants, and that was a little nuts, but you were never alone and people were really supportive; I'd stop and walk and people would run by and encourage me to keep going (which I needed). Same reason I'm running a big running festival event for my 1st marathon: I'm definitely going to need the support and encouragement to keep my feet moving!

JTick

I've done a 3,000, ~8,000, and ~15,000 half marathon. The big one was my least favorite. The course was very crowded the entire time, and it was hard to settle into a spot to run without dodging constantly. The 3,000 got a little lonely in the later miles. The medium race was perfect. Great crowd support, I wasn't getting jostled, but plenty of runners around.

sinister2014

honestly it doesn't really matter to me for the most part. i've had a great experience at large races and much smaller ones.

i've run a disney half marathon with 20,000 people and the course was not designed to handle that many people. there were so many bottle neck spots that it would have been pretty frustrating except for the fact that we were running at disney world and knew ahead of time that we would not be trying to set a PR or anything so it was still a great time.

this summer i was also on the exact opposite end of the spectrum running 2 legs of an ultra relay and found myself running in the mountains in the middle of the night completely alone for about a half an hour before i caught up to another runner. just me and head lamp and probably a cougar or bear that i thankfully never ran into.

'crowd support' isn't something on my list of things i think about when signing up for a race. one race i don't think i'd ever do though is the vancouver sun run. 50,000 people on a 10km run? that's just way too crowded. unless you're out front there's no way you would be able to settle into a decent pace without constantly having to weave in and out of traffic.

rabblerabble

Interesting thread. I'm running my first half-marathon tomorrow morning. It's the Deseret News Classic. They've been doing a marathon since about 1970 but they only recently started having a half marathon. Last year there were over 900 in the half marathon and over 400 in the marathon which starts 30 minutes earlier and whose second part is essentially the same route as the half. So we're likely looking at well over 1000 runners in both of the races combined.

Last few miles is down the route of a parade which starts later in the morning so should be a good size crowd to encourage us as we get near the finish.

jturnerx

I've been in everything from less than 30 people to upwards of 70,000. Trail races I definitely have a preference for small or even teeny tiny. There's a couple of very popular trail races here that can have almost 1000 people. I've done them a couple of times but I won't do them anymore; just too crowded.

Road races I guess it depends on what my goal is. If it's like a destination race and a PR isn't the primary motivation then something like the 40,000+ at New York is just part of the experience. If I've got a time goal in mind then I prefer small. I had a time goal going into Chicago and the masses of people just ended up frustrating me.

RunFarLiveHappy

The only "mega" race I've done is the BolderBoulder 10k, it brings about 50,000 runners from all over the world including an entire wave of elite runners who run last so everyone can watch them. It's such an awesome experience that even though I hate that distance I love this particular race. Otherwise I run lots of small races for the local race company I work for (3WRaces) and some moderate sized races (a few hundred to 2000 for most of them). This is better in my opinion in general because even at that size there's usually a group at my pace.

Good luck with your decision!

RunFarLiveHappy

Interesting thread. I'm running my first half-marathon tomorrow morning. It's the Deseret News Classic. They've been doing a marathon since about 1970 but they only recently started having a half marathon. Last year there were over 900 in the half marathon and over 400 in the marathon which starts 30 minutes earlier and whose second part is essentially the same route as the half. So we're likely looking at well over 1000 runners in both of the races combined.

Last few miles is down the route of a parade which starts later in the morning so should be a good size crowd to encourage us as we get near the finish.

You're running a HM in the middle of the week?

davemunger

Interesting thread. I'm running my first half-marathon tomorrow morning. It's the Deseret News Classic. They've been doing a marathon since about 1970 but they only recently started having a half marathon. Last year there were over 900 in the half marathon and over 400 in the marathon which starts 30 minutes earlier and whose second part is essentially the same route as the half. So we're likely looking at well over 1000 runners in both of the races combined.

Last few miles is down the route of a parade which starts later in the morning so should be a good size crowd to encourage us as we get near the finish.

You're running a HM in the middle of the week?

Apparently he is. July 24 is "Pioneer Day" in Utah, and that is the day of the race. Sounds cool!

rabblerabble

Interesting thread. I'm running my first half-marathon tomorrow morning. It's the Deseret News Classic. They've been doing a marathon since about 1970 but they only recently started having a half marathon. Last year there were over 900 in the half marathon and over 400 in the marathon which starts 30 minutes earlier and whose second part is essentially the same route as the half. So we're likely looking at well over 1000 runners in both of the races combined.

Last few miles is down the route of a parade which starts later in the morning so should be a good size crowd to encourage us as we get near the finish.

You're running a HM in the middle of the week?

Here in Salt Lake City, July 24 is Pioneer Day and they always have events including a parade, races (marathon, half, 10K, and 5K), fireworks at night, etc, on whatever the day of the week it falls on (unless it's a Sunday in which case it's moved to Monday).

Curiously a few months ago when I was poking around various websites to generate a training plan and trying to enter tomorrow's date as the race day, at least one of them refused to acknowledge a Thursday as being legitimate (wanted it to be on a weekend).

_Josee_

For a shorter distance race I like them small. Better chance of winning an AG medal and you don't have to dodge around so many people. Half or full marathon I like big. Lots of crowd support, big expo, good food etc.

I tend to agree with this. In a big race, it's hard to avoid losing time in that first mile. You have time to make it up in a half or full marathon, but not a 5K.

I agree with both of these ladies! The key in big races is to put yourself in the right corral and not to be afraid to go in the front end of said corral.

In my marathon, my slowest mile was the first one. And I think it was actually a good thing! And I know for a fact that without the AMAZING INCREDIBLE crowd support on the last 3 miles (I'm talking 3 people deep crowd) I would had have the hardest time to finish at the pace I finished.

For 5Ks, meeeh, I wanna place. The smaller, the better! lol 16:00 5Ks ladies don't do small local races and a 22:00-21:00 time can usually get me at least top 5-6 female so that good for the ego lol

vmclach

I ran a marathon with 70 people this past weekend. Race before that was an ultra with 40 finishers. Love the tiny races. Always a better chance of winning lol. Plus I like to run alone & that's what I do in these races :-)

essjay76

I don't have any preference for the size of the race. What's most important to me is how fast/flat the course is, and what the weather is like, especially if I'm trying to PR.

I like the huge ones for the crowd support. Plus the crowds force me to start off slow at the beginning so I can conserve my energy.

I don't mind smaller ones, either, especially if it's a scenic race.

I've PR'd at both.

essjay76

Oh, I do like the smaller races for the possibility of placing. I've been able to win in my age group a few times in a few distances. :-)

SonicDeathMonkey80

I run with a large regional club that hosts several races in the year and they are free for members. I make a point to do as many as I can because there are lots of familiar faces, they're well supported, and don't break the bank. Those are the ones I try to PR since they are usually around 150-250 people. The larger events I'm usually there just to have fun with a moderate amount of effort, or doing someone a favor. I tend to get annoyed most people in large crowds and the annoyance factor dictates how much effort I put forth.

pobalita

I prefer to run halfs and I like halfs of all sizes, including small trail runs. I've had as much fun at at Rock n' Roll as I have in tiny trail runs with nothing but water jugs left out as aid stations.

I do a few really large 5K or 10K fun runs per year, but I don't really like them anymore. I get frustrated with dogs and strollers and angel-winged, tutu-wearing, high-fivers running three abreast. Don't get me wrong...I'm glad for every person who gets out there and runs, but I just don't like putting myself the middle of those things anymore.