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Ever just stumbled upon a race and joined in? (Read 312 times)

mab411


Proboscis Colossus

    Had kind of a neat experience this morning...

     

    I'm visiting my parents, and went out for a 10-miler this morning.  As I got to a local riverfront park that I'd planned on running down as part of my route, there's a guy in running gear, stretching in front of a handmade sign saying "5K registration: this way -->"

     

    "There's a 5K going on?" I asked, intelligently.  There was, of course, and I expressed regret, since I didn't have a cent of money on me.  He said they were pretty nice folks, and he bet they'd be okay with me owing them.  I was still a little hesitant, since my plan called for an easy 10 miles today, but what the heck?  Since they were running on part of my planned route, I'd have felt like I was banditing the race if I didn't participate and besides, I could just run the race easy and make it part of my larger run.

     

    They were absolutely okay with me mailing in the fee later (or having my parents bring it by) so, ten minutes later, I had a bib pinned to my shorts and was chatting with some pretty experienced runners (or at least, a lot more experienced than I'd anticipated encountering that day)!

     

    Shortly before the race start, I decided to race it after all...I've been wondering for some time about my current fitness level, and realized this would give me something to plug into McMillan's (it's been a long time since my last 5K - or really, any race shorter than 26.2).  Hope I didn't come across as too much of a d-bag, since I'd been mentioning to others that I would probably run it easy due to the "easy" run I was supposed to be on that day, and I, um, went on to take 2nd and win my age group.  Nobody seemed particularly grumpy with me afterward, so hopefully I explained myself sufficiently.

     

    Anyway, anyone else suddenly found themselves in a race that they did not plan on when they woke up that morning?

    "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people

    wcrunner2


    Are we there, yet?

      Yes. I knew about the race, which was why I was there, but I had gone to volunteer with lap counting and timing. My club had a team there with openings for a few more runners, so I got talked into running instead of volunteering. 24 hours and 32 miles later I finished my first and only 24-hour relay.

       2024 Races:

            03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

            05/11 - D3 50K
            05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

            06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

       

       

           


      an amazing likeness

        Not in the enjoyable way you did. I was out of town and out for a run on a waterfront park's trails when I heard a "boom" sound, rounded a corner and found myself running straight towards the field, face to face with the leaders, of a just-started 10K. Yikes.

        Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

        runningprofesora


          Sort of. Was finishing up a 16 mile long run when we started seeing runners heading the same direction as us, on the same bike path, but they were wearing race numbers. turns out we'd inadvertently "joined" some sort of bark and run race ....a race for people to run with their dogs. whoops! even better, though, was that two of my RPs had cut their run short and were ahead of us in the race, headed toward the unbeknownst-to-them finish line and were mistaken for the front runners in the race. they didn't realize what was going on until they got right up on the finish line and dodged it. the spectators probably thought they were crazy.

          B-Plus


            I had some volunteers try to direct me towards the finish line of a marathon when I was out on a training run once. I was off of the course on the sidewalk, so I guess they thought I was veering off course.

            spinach


              I knew about the race also.  It was put on by a friend but I had already registered for a race that day and so I told her sorry, I wished I knew about it sooner.  The other race started an hour and a half before her race and it was only a couple miles away and so I decided to go to the race to watch after I ran my race.

               

              It turned out that i won the first race but they had a quick award ceremony and so I had a chance to get to the second race just before it started.  When I got there i was surprised by how few people were in it and so I quickly registered to support my friend.  I ended up winning that race also.  That was definitely my best day running.  I won two 5k races in two different towns in less than two hours.

              old-runner


                This happened to me just a couple weeks ago (03/16/13). We were driving about 600 miles from our home in NC to a race in Memphis TN and stopped overnight in Nashville. I got up on Saturday morning and got on the treadmill in the hotel and ran a mile and it occurred to me that there might be a race nearby. I got back to the room and searched around and found a race in Gallatin Tennessee, which was just up the road. I couldn't tell by the listing on Active.com if it was a big race or a small one but I didn't really care. It turned out that it was tiny, with maybe 50 runners, and I got 1st overall after running about a quarter of a mile off course. I pretty much never win a race at 61 years old so it was a lot of fun despite the fact that there was not an awards ceremony after the race so I got nothing but a story to tell.

                 

                If anybody's dying to read the full story it's on my blog at this link...

                 

                http://old-nc-runner.blogspot.com/2013/03/race-208-all-for-one-5k-gallatin.html


                SheCan

                  Nope, never happened to me, but it sure does sound cool!  At first I thought you must have bandited it, but I love how they just let you in that easy.  Talk about spontaneous!  How'd you end up doing anyway?

                  Cherie

                  "We do not become the people who this world needs simply by turning our backs on anyone we don’t like, trust, or deem healthy enough to be in our presence. "  ---- Shasta Nelson

                  mab411


                  Proboscis Colossus

                    Nope, never happened to me, but it sure does sound cool!  At first I thought you must have bandited it, but I love how they just let you in that easy.  Talk about spontaneous!  How'd you end up doing anyway?

                     

                    Second overall, won my age group!  Pretty small field, though...I'd say 40 or 50.

                    "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people


                    SheCan

                      2nd OA!!!!   Danged, well don't downplay it, that's wonderful!   Now it's even cooler.

                      Cherie

                      "We do not become the people who this world needs simply by turning our backs on anyone we don’t like, trust, or deem healthy enough to be in our presence. "  ---- Shasta Nelson

                      flarunner


                        Not in a race, but on a long run years ago I was on a parade route. In before the parade stuff came up the street and got some cheers from the spectators!

                          During a weekend long run last year I also came upon a local 5K charity race;  having no money on me the RD didn't even think twice, he just recorded my name(no forms to sign), handed me a bib number and said 'enjoy the run';.  Suffice to say I mailed them a check the next day for more than the reg price with a nice note.

                           

                          RD's(most of them anyway) are simply awesome people!!

                          never run


                            Sort of, I ran a HM in a foreign country b/c I found out about the Saturday race on Friday night and they had late registration.  Even with that I think it was my cheapest HM ever.

                              About 4 years ago I was running a 5 mile out and back course that I run often and at about the 1 mile mark came across a race in progress....like as I got to this one intersection, the race was beginning ...... so I just joined in and ran to the turn around for the race (almost where I was going to turn around anyway) and ran to the end of the race...

                               

                              At the finish line I ran over to the right of the clock  - and told them I was a bandit runner.......

                               

                              Everyone was really friendly  and I met a lot of nice people.....the next week I joined their running club..........

                              Champions are made when no one is watching


                              Dream Maker

                                I got to a race and couldn't find my race day registration money and asked if there was a close ATM and the RD told me I could just mail in the payment later.

                                I thought that was awesome!

                                 

                                During a weekend long run last year I also came upon a local 5K charity race;  having no money on me the RD didn't even think twice, he just recorded my name(no forms to sign), handed me a bib number and said 'enjoy the run';.  Suffice to say I mailed them a check the next day for more than the reg price with a nice note.

                                 

                                RD's(most of them anyway) are simply awesome people!!

                                 

                                 

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