Forums >Racing>What is your favorite racing distance?
rather be sprinting
Re: the horrific pain of the 800.. I fully admit I'm a masochist. I mean, I ran for a month on a femoral stress fracture this summer. Never said I was sane. But I think the 400 actually hurts the most. To me it feels like I'm literally running 4 100m all out but back to back. It feels like it is impossible, like if someone told you to rip out your own lungs.
And yet these short distances are easier for me *psychologically* than long distances, which are wars of attrition. The slow grind is much, much more difficult for me.
PRs: 5k 19:25, mile 5:38, HM 1:30:56
Lifting PRs: bench press 125lb, back squat 205 lb, deadlift 245lb
I like 10Ks. Especially on the track.
But that's partly because I've had good 10Ks on the track and I like running straight away in the morning.
It use to be 1/2 marathons until I ran my first 50K. Why do I love that distance? The aid stations. Full damn buffet at ultra events. I wanted to pull up a chair and hang for awhile.
I voted 10 Mile, but truthfully 10M, 20K and HM are all in my sweet spot.
Living in DC I have some seriously good opportunities every year to race 10 miles...Cherry Blossom, Army Ten Miler, plus Broad Street Run in Philly is just a short drive away. There are some good smaller 10 milers too. The RRCA Club Challenge 10 Miler in Columbia MD is a small (compared to Cherry Blossom at least) but seriously competitive race that's guaranteed to bring out your best even though the course is a bear. I've done Columbia with the DC Roadrunners team every year since 2008.
Just saw this post... Even with all of those options up there, I don't see the option that fits me: All of them.
From trying to hit a PR on the 1 Mile, all the way to trying to hit maximum mileage on a 12 or 24-hour run, they are all my favorites.
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The Plan '15 → /// "Run Hard, Live Easy." ∞
uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
I think all races are fun. I have not run a marathon yet, but that is coming in December.
I went with half marathon. I might or might not change my mind after I run my first marathon next weekend.
Bump!
You have too much time on your hands. I prescribe another marathon. Please register for Vermont City post haste. Book your lodging at the windjammer.
Runners run
I haven't raced much, but the best race I ever had was a 10K, so that gets my vote.
Great thread!
I wish there were more polls to participate in!
Trail and Ultra Running User Group
Alas, I couldn't make the sale. I tried. Going to NY for the long weekend instead.
Heh. How'd that work out for you?
Yeah. It looks like I missed a turn and ended up in VT at the Windjammer. Fortunately there was Heady Topper and prize money to be had.
I like the mile because you can push yourself a lot in the mile without having it catch up to you.
Much under a mile, and it's just raw explosive power. Much more than a mile, and you've got to budget your energy in order to finish. In both of those cases, it's basically a formal demonstration of who had the more rigorous training schedule and/or talent; most people aren't going to PR in a distance race or sprint by a very significant percentage of their previous best. If you push yourself to keep up with someone significantly faster, you will walk later on in a 5k, 10k, 5mi, etc., where as in a sprint you will simply not be able to compete.
On a mile (or 800m or 1.5mi), though, any two athletes who are remotely near the same level can push themselves that extra bit to the win. I personally have beaten people in a mile who are 5 minutes faster than me in 5k, and I've seen other people PR by 3 minutes racing a mile against someone versus just practice.
Of course, that race effect I describe can happen at any distance with two people who are on the same level, but just about any decently fit individual can run a mile, and it's the stretchiest distance in terms of percent, from the races I've seen, for the lower divisions.
I personally have beaten people in a mile who are 5 minutes faster than me in 5k, and I've seen other people PR by 3 minutes racing a mile against someone versus just practice.
Is this hyperbole or did you misplace a decimal point? I've been racing a long time and have never seen the phenomenon you describe here where the mile somehow takes place in a parallel universe.
If someone is 5 minutes faster than you at 5k, then their 5k should be significantly faster than your mile (here on earth anyway.)