Back of the pack problems
SonicDeathMonkey80
Posts: 4,489 Member
I stumbled across this a few days ago:
http://www.momsmagicalmiles.com/2014/07/the-back-of-pack-gets-hosed-again.html?m=1
Basically, the post-race spread of bananas, bagels, peaches, etc were ravaged by the faster finishers and families/spectators. I think it's annoying and rude, but bigger races bring bigger crowds, and it's bound to happen.
When I ran Pittsburgh, they had volunteers who would put stuff in your bag as you went through the line. Maybe I was too lazy to go back for seconds, but they made it rather inconvenient which was for the better. And I really wanted another smiley face cookie! I remember using my "fast people privilege" to graze on pizza after Knoxville HM and eat more Panera goodies at that 10k, but I've never filled up a bag like the people pictured.
Anyone ever have an issue with stuff like this happening?
http://www.momsmagicalmiles.com/2014/07/the-back-of-pack-gets-hosed-again.html?m=1
Basically, the post-race spread of bananas, bagels, peaches, etc were ravaged by the faster finishers and families/spectators. I think it's annoying and rude, but bigger races bring bigger crowds, and it's bound to happen.
When I ran Pittsburgh, they had volunteers who would put stuff in your bag as you went through the line. Maybe I was too lazy to go back for seconds, but they made it rather inconvenient which was for the better. And I really wanted another smiley face cookie! I remember using my "fast people privilege" to graze on pizza after Knoxville HM and eat more Panera goodies at that 10k, but I've never filled up a bag like the people pictured.
Anyone ever have an issue with stuff like this happening?
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Replies
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Holy crap. I have never seen this. People take more than 1 banana somethimes or maybe more than one quarter of a bagel but nothing like this. Guess this is how people feel they get their moneys worth at some of the expensive races. Just plain selfish. But 60000 racers...yeah, I'll stick to the smaller races lol.0
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I finished the Broad Street Run at the later end and most of the snacks were gone -- the worst part was when walking over to the subway I saw lots of runners bags with picked over snacks dumped in the trash -- lots of fruit and yogurt not even touched but trashed. It should be one bag per runner and have paid concession stands for your hungry family and friends.0
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Back when the Army Run had Soldier Fuel bars in the recovery area you would see ignorant twats grabbing handfuls of them (they are really, really good but cost about $2 each at retail), now they have bagels and bananas just like everyone else and people seem less greedy.
I'm lucky, I'm a MOP runner so this hasn't impacted me personally but I can see some of the slower participants getting short changed.....
(A little OT but.....why would they have anything other than water / Gatorade at aid stations along the way on a 10K?????)0 -
Yep, I was there. It was like the zombie apocalypse. The volunteers were encouraging people to take as much as they can, even handing them boxes to carry more. In some cases the volunteers themselves were carrying away a large amount of stuff. This was happening 2 hours after the first runners started the race when there were still thousands of runners out on the course. They really should hand out bags/boxes like they do at other Atlanta Track Club events to prevent this sort of thing, but I don't know if it's logistically possible with so many runners. I finished pretty late since I was out taking photos for 2 hours but my wife grabbed one extra of everything for me.0
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I ran a 15k in Ft Wayne Indiana last Thanksgiving that has a similar problem because of the 2 race distances. The 15k was scheduled to start 45 minutes before the 4 mile race but we started at the same time. The course was setup so the 15kers merged into the 4 mile course and had the same finish line. I ran a personal PR that day (so I wasn't going slow 9:30 pace) but by the time I got onto the 4 mile course I was running a slalom through all the walkers.
When I finished the 1000s of 4 milers had mobbed the drinks/food area and none of the 15kers could get in. It was 22 degrees that morning and I was way under dressed (not expecting it to be so freaking cold) so there was no way I could wait, I needed to get to the car. The 1/2 mile walk back to the car sucked...
The race setup was a logistical failure!0 -
I've had 2 back of the pack experiences this year (my only 2). The HM i ran in Feb out of 1000 people I think 30 finished after me. When i ended up at the party in 2:48, there was all the beer, vegetarian chilly and chocolate truffles i could stomach waiting for me. I filled out the post race survey and told them how happy i was. (Loco races in NH, I highly recommend).
My stroller HM i ran in May, I finished in 2:22, 300 registered racers, about 1/3 of finishers came in after me. There was plenty of food left when i came in. I waited for my daughter to finish napping for about 20 mins before heading to the food table. Since the racers were mostly in at that point, they offered me an extra chicken leg for my daughter, which we happily took (she wasn't registeted, but she was part of my team). This was also a loco race, i gave positive feedback for that too.
I also participate in BAA races (the Boston Marathon people). For these races (I'm not the back of the pack) they have controls in place to stop this stuff from happening. In the 5k, they hand you a goody bag (it has the Hawaiian sweet rolls in it, but no cool whip). So no problems there. And for the 10k and HM, b. Good hamburgers are ticketed. So everyone who runs the races and wants a burger gets one!
But i do live in runner's paradise.0 -
I don't think I was the back of the pack at the Manitoba Marathon, but, when I got to the recovery area for my "refreshments" after finishing with a 4:42 time it was almost all packed away. The allotted time to finish the course was 6 hours, so, I was a little miffed that I had to beg for a chocolate milk, and there wasn't any butter or cream cheese or even a napkin for the cellophane wrapped bagel someone handed me from the bottom of a cardboard box. No bananas to be seen.
I chalked it up to the weather - which was a miserable rainy day for spectators and people just standing around.
At the 2 HMs, there was ample food supplied for racers and spectators and I don't think there would be a shortage for anyone.0 -
That's insane, SonicDeathMonkey! I cannot even imagine....
But I have to wonder if there wasn't a miscommunication here? While I HAVE seen people taking a bag's worth of stuff home from an aid station or post-race food station, it has always been because the volunteers were looking to get rid of it. I wonder if that's what really happened? Perhaps some volunteers were misinformed about when they should start packing up.0 -
Perhaps some volunteers were misinformed about when they should start packing up.
Maybe, but I think they just wanted to go home.0 -
We once sat around at the finish line and waited for a friend who was at the very, very back of the pack. We all went home with about 3 things of bananas, since there were so many left. I made some lovely banana bread. A win for back-of-packers everywhere
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My third half marathon was like that. I finished about 10 minutes before three hour cut off time and there was nothing left for me. Everything was broken down and volunteers were gone. No bananas, water, Gatorade, bagels - even though the guidelines said the 'recovery station' would be stocked for 30 minutes after the finish cutoff time of the last runner to cross start line. (<--- Did that sentence make any sense? Basically, it should have been up for last runner to cross the start line + 3 hours + 30 minutes. So they were gone a minimum of 40 minutes early.) It was a bummer. As it was, there were only 2 water stations during the course because of bad planning. Otherwise, I've had fairly good experiences being a back of the pack runner.0
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I've had 2 back of the pack experiences this year (my only 2). The HM i ran in Feb out of 1000 people I think 30 finished after me. When i ended up at the party in 2:48, there was all the beer, vegetarian chilly and chocolate truffles i could stomach waiting for me. I filled out the post race survey and told them how happy i was. (Loco races in NH, I highly recommend).
My stroller HM i ran in May, I finished in 2:22, 300 registered racers, about 1/3 of finishers came in after me. There was plenty of food left when i came in. I waited for my daughter to finish napping for about 20 mins before heading to the food table. Since the racers were mostly in at that point, they offered me an extra chicken leg for my daughter, which we happily took (she wasn't registeted, but she was part of my team). This was also a loco race, i gave positive feedback for that too.
I also participate in BAA races (the Boston Marathon people). For these races (I'm not the back of the pack) they have controls in place to stop this stuff from happening. In the 5k, they hand you a goody bag (it has the Hawaiian sweet rolls in it, but no cool whip). So no problems there. And for the 10k and HM, b. Good hamburgers are ticketed. So everyone who runs the races and wants a burger gets one!
But i do live in runner's paradise.
Tell me again about the free beer
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Yep, I was there. It was like the zombie apocalypse. The volunteers were encouraging people to take as much as they can, even handing them boxes to carry more. In some cases the volunteers themselves were carrying away a large amount of stuff. This was happening 2 hours after the first runners started the race when there were still thousands of runners out on the course. They really should hand out bags/boxes like they do at other Atlanta Track Club events to prevent this sort of thing, but I don't know if it's logistically possible with so many runners. I finished pretty late since I was out taking photos for 2 hours but my wife grabbed one extra of everything for me.
Nice. The ATL women's 5k was awesome.0 -
I ran the Peachtree in 96 and 2000 and I don't remember any issues like this back then. I think I got a banana.
When I finished my ultra last year, all but two of the volunteers had gone home (including the photographer). There were only 2 beers left! I drank one of them and left the other, because there were still 4 people out on the course.
At my last beer run, they ran out of good beer and had to start serving cheap beer.0 -
Tell me again about the free beer
Lots of free beer along the course at the Peachtree!0 -
Tell me again about the free beer
Lots of free beer along the course at the Peachtree!
You waited until now to tell me that?0 -
Some people really can have bad manners.
I'm running my first half-marathon in a few weeks. There will be a marathon on the same day with same finishing area. Full marathon starts at 5:30 and half at 6:00 so a large number of the half entrants will finish long before the bulk of the full distance runners. I'll certainly be polite enough to take only my fair share of the post race refreshments and hope that others would do the same. Would really be discouraging to finish 26 miles and find virtually nothing left at the finish because of the selfishness of others.0 -
Tell me again about the free beer
Lots of free beer along the course at the Peachtree!
You waited until now to tell me that?
I didn't know until this year's race. Last year I was too busy racing the race. Now I know better - the Peachtree is a race to have fun and enjoy unless you are an elite. I will still make sure I am in the first wave every year but not worry about my time.
EDIT: one of my running friends found 7 places giving out free beer. I only found 2 this year. So next year we are going for BR's not PR's!0 -
I haven't experienced this first hand because I'm a middle of the packer. However I have been to races where they have run out of the free beer. I have also been to races (well one) where they made you ration the food. Like you could have a banana or oranges, not both. Which I thought was stupid. If I pay over 100$ to do a race I want as many bananas as I can eat!!!0
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Shout out to my ATL running brethren! I ran Peachtree too in the N wave, so towards the back of the pack. There was plenty of food when I finished. It took me a while to even get to the tents, because I was more concerned about finding the port-a-potties and my family. However, I saw so many people loading up on goodies like in the photos. I don't fault the Bluebell (ice cream) volunteers for handing stuff out willy-nilly, because that stuff was going to melt anyway, but everyone else should be ashamed of themselves.
I ran another 10K in February (Chattahoochee Challenge) and was in the back of the pack. Nothing but water was left when I finished. And at a 5K I did last fall (Georgia Race for Autism) they didn't even have water left on the course itself. Which would have been fine, but it was 80 degrees out and there were lots of walkers, families and people with special needs on the course. That pissed me off. I fault the race organizers in both of those cases.0 -
..... they didn't even have water left on the course itself. Which would have been fine, but it was 80 degrees out and there were lots of walkers, families and people with special needs on the course.
Simply NO excuse at all for ever running out of water. Certainly could make it challenging for some to finish a race if resources like Sports drinks/gels run low but exercising without water, especially in hot/humid conditions could be very dangerous.
Water is cheap and there should be a much larger supply than you could possibly ever need.0 -
Tell me again about the free beer
Lots of free beer along the course at the Peachtree!
You waited until now to tell me that?
I didn't know until this year's race. Last year I was too busy racing the race. Now I know better - the Peachtree is a race to have fun and enjoy unless you are an elite. I will still make sure I am in the first wave every year but not worry about my time.
EDIT: one of my running friends found 7 places giving out free beer. I only found 2 this year. So next year we are going for BR's not PR's!
We need to set up some sort of alert system.0 -
I am slowly edging out of the back of the pack...right now I am probably pretty solid back of the middle? Lol. But. My very first long distance race, when I finished there was only water left. No gatorade or snacks. I was too excited to realize what a fail that was, because I was way undertrained (and didn't know it, but looking back now I know it). At my first half they ran out of water at the last two aid stations. There were bagels and water left after the race at least though.
A more experience runner now than I was then, I would be very upset to get shorted at the end of a tough race. So I feel very badly for the people who finished and got no food.
I will admit, I have taken handfuls of stuff at races, like a couple granola bars or fruit snacks or whatever, but usually if I do it's because I'm eating it there. That is more typically true at my trail races, where I will grab a couple packs of whatever but these are usually smaller races where they are attentive to put on a really good spread and people hang around for a while. I don't think I'd do that at a bigger race with tons of finishers - the trail races usually have about the same amount of racers each time so they're very experienced with what they need and typically end up with lots of extra (which they rollover to the next race).0
