Corral Jumpers (Read 454 times)

QuinntheEskimo


Not That Douchey

    at Philly half last year i couldn't even get into the first corral bc it was so crowded with corral jumpers.

    i was shooting for sub 1:20, and there was a  big 285#  fratdouche half drunk clown shooting for sub 2:15 blocking the entrance.

    i finally got into the corral a minute after the start gun went off and spent the first 2 miles dodging and weaving. missed my goal by :30.

    jerseyrunner


    Half Fanatic 12680

      at Philly half last year i couldn't even get into the first corral bc it was so crowded with corral jumpers.

      i was shooting for sub 1:20, and there was a  big 285#  fratdouche half drunk clown shooting for sub 2:15 blocking the entrance.

      i finally got into the corral a minute after the start gun went off and spent the first 2 miles dodging and weaving. missed my goal by :30.

       

      I noticed the same thing at Philly last year. I couldn't settle into a good race pace until the second mile because I was dodging and weaving to pass slower runners in front of me and I was only hoping for a 1:50. I know that in general, it's not such a big deal, but in crowded races like Philly it can really make a difference

       

       

      MJ5


      Chief Unicorn Officer

        This is my biggest pet peeve of big races (it doesn't seem to be much of a problem at my smaller local races). I too suspected the driving force between a lot of the jumpers I've seen was the possibility of not finishing in time. I can understand if you think you seeded yourself off by a bit, but these people CLEARLY did not belong in the corral they were in. They were walking within the 1st or 2nd mile. It was less of a problem in my more recent races where I was under 1:40 for a HM, the problem seemed much worse when I was seeded in the 1:50--2:00 range. If you can't finish the race within the cutoff time, don't do the race. Put the work in to get to that time, or too bad.

         

        I also had a headphone experience that was a safety hazard--at the Hot Chocolate 15K in DC last year, someone close in front of me dropped their iPod touch and it broke into a bunch of pieces all over the road. The person came to a complete, dead stop to pick everything up without even looking to see who was around him. At this point we were running at about 7:20 pace, so a pretty good clip. He almost got trampled. This is why people who flagrantly ignore the headphone rule drive me crazy.

        Mile 5:49 - 5K 19:58 - 10K 43:06 - HM 1:36:54

        keeponrunning


          The HM I have this weekend, they have corrals but we aren't pre-assigned one.  There are over 6000 people in the HM alone...this might prove interesting!  Especially for me, as I have the common goal of sub 2:00, however, my training leads me to believe I can do it, not picking some random number out of the air.

          Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022

          Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)

          Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022

           

           

          DoppleBock


            I typically get to the coral or race start line early - Seed myself according to how I should.

             

            This is why I like small races - I can wamn up on course and just go to my correct spot from the front (no corals at races like Grandmas 6-8k people)  I figure if I am going to finish @ 200th, I will start behind @ 200 people.  In a really small race ... say 300-500 people, if i am going to finish in 20th - I would start in the 3rd row.

             

            at Philly half last year i couldn't even get into the first corral bc it was so crowded with corral jumpers.

            i was shooting for sub 1:20, and there was a  big 285#  fratdouche half drunk clown shooting for sub 2:15 blocking the entrance.

            i finally got into the corral a minute after the start gun went off and spent the first 2 miles dodging and weaving. missed my goal by :30.

            Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

             

             

            csab


              I think the real answer is: it depends. Reading the thread it is also apparent to me that slower people think this is a minor infarction, but top corral seeded runners think this is a big deal. I'm not surprised. If you are a 1:25 half marathoner, it is unlikely you can shave off 10 minutes from your time between registration and the race. If you are 5 minutes slower or faster that is probably not a huge deal. But if a 2-hour half marathoner sneaks into the 1:25 corral, that is disaster.

              redleaf


                I think the real answer is: it depends. Reading the thread it is also apparent to me that slower people think this is a minor infarction, but top corral seeded runners think this is a big deal. I'm not surprised. If you are a 1:25 half marathoner, it is unlikely you can shave off 10 minutes from your time between registration and the race. If you are 5 minutes slower or faster that is probably not a huge deal. But if a 2-hour half marathoner sneaks into the 1:25 corral, that is disaster.

                 

                I'm one of the slower people. I can definitely see how it would be a big deal if I were to jump from the back of the line to, well, pretty much anywhere else. That's why I try to stay where I should

                 

                On the other hand I ran a small 1/2 marathon on the weekend - cap of 3000 and about 2700 actually ran. There was a 3 hour cut off. There were four corrals: 

                <1:40

                1:41-1:54

                1:55-2:00

                2:00+

                 

                I get that it was a small race but there's no way I should be in the same group as a 2:05 runner (I finished in a best 2:47:28).

                First or last...it's the same finish line

                HF #4362

                   1:55-2:00

                   

                  There were four corrals, and that was one of them?

                  keeponrunning


                    Must be a Canada thing.  I'm running the HM in Toronto on Sunday and the slowest corral is 2:00+ with over 6000 runners.

                     

                     

                    I'm one of the slower people. I can definitely see how it would be a big deal if I were to jump from the back of the line to, well, pretty much anywhere else. That's why I try to stay where I should

                     

                    On the other hand I ran a small 1/2 marathon on the weekend - cap of 3000 and about 2700 actually ran. There was a 3 hour cut off. There were four corrals: 

                    <1:40

                    1:41-1:54

                    1:55-2:00

                    2:00+

                     

                    I get that it was a small race but there's no way I should be in the same group as a 2:05 runner (I finished in a best 2:47:28).

                    Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022

                    Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)

                    Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022

                     

                     

                      I've never run a half marathon that had corrals. Now that I think about it, apart from marathons the only race I've ever run that had corrals was the Falmouth Road Race.

                      Runners run

                      AmoresPerros


                      Options,Account, Forums

                        Speaking of dumb people, I bet a lot of the corral jumpers don't even "get" chip timing.

                         

                        Food is a dumb way to time altogether. They should use clocks. That's probably the root cause behind all this corral jumping - if they'd fix the timing, people wouldn't have to worry.

                        It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                        xhristopher


                          When I ran the WDW half this winter they invited a charity team up to take a bow right before the race. Then they put them at the front of the first corral in front of over 20,000 people.

                            When I ran the WDW half this winter they invited a charity team up to take a bow right before the race. Then they put them at the front of the first corral in front of over 20,000 people.

                             

                            Which way did they run when the gun went off?

                            redleaf


                               

                              There were four corrals, and that was one of them?

                               

                              Yep, so 1 group for everyone from 2:01 to 2:59 and 1 for those 5 minutes!

                              First or last...it's the same finish line

                              HF #4362

                              runnerclay


                              Consistently Slow

                                I've never run a half marathon that had corrals. Now that I think about it, apart from marathons the only race I've ever run that had corrals was the Falmouth Road Race.

                                Peachtree Road Race 10k .60,000 runners. 20+ corrals.

                                Run until the trail runs out.

                                 SCHEDULE 2016--

                                 The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff

                                unsolicited chatter

                                http://bkclay.blogspot.com/