Stupidest Race Mistake (Read 1581 times)

Yeah i probably though it would be easy to go out in 5:50, then run 5:20 and 5:00 in a 5k....doesn't work. High school was fun though....yeah so what i thought was gonna be sub 17 was 19:30...negative splits are hard lol

This one's easy for me, first seven miles in 49 minutes, last six miles in 60 painful minutes. A Garmin would have made all the difference in the world for this one.

I decided to use one of those plastic tie-wrap thingies to secure my Champion Chip to my shoe during a large 5K. I had never used these before (always put the chip on my laces, but this time the chip came with this tie-wrap and instructions to use it) and didn't realize that there was a lot of slack left over on the plastic tie-wrap that I should have either cut or tucked in somewhere. The extra slack of tie-wrap ended up hitting the calf of my other leg on each stride. After about 5 minutes it felt like someone was whipping my leg with each step. Actually, another tidbit from this same race.... There was a photographer that lined up right in front of the starting line - in the middle of the road. I started toward the middle to back of the pack, and as I approached the actual starting line I was looking ahead at the large amounts of runners that had started the race ahead of me. And then - CRASH! I ran right smack into the photographer. BTW - this race was 2 years ago and it's still my 5K PR So these mistakes didn't get in the way of a beautiful, crisp morning, a flat course and a great aerobic base after training for my first half marathon.

At my first race I was given a timing chip. Not knowing what to do with it, I attached it to my bib. Needless to say my time was never recorded. duh.

Following 'that girl' pace on my first 10 mile race, I mean, men are normally faster than women, right? By mile #8 she left me behind and I had to struggle with the longest 2 miles of my life. Lesson of humility, I guess

Oh that's funny. Thank God for fast women.

Thank God for fast women, indeed! (Oh, c'mon. It was a lay up. By the way, have you read the thread about cup sizes?) I had a 10K race across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a four-mile span. I showed up five minutes before the race, on the wrong side of the bridge. I've signed up almost every year since then and it gets canceled every time. Reading instructions? Bah!

This is a different kind of mistake, more along the lines of proper race behavior. I was doing a 5k, the course of which I was not familiar. The final stretch was a bike path, and we were packed in like sardines. I was running easily behind a big guy and couldn't see up ahead, so when I got a glimpse around him and saw that we were only a few yards shy of the finish line, I panicked! I darted around him for a finish line sprint, and out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of the person behind me whom I had abruptly cut off. It may not seem like a big deal, but I felt kind of crappy about tripping her up. Other mistakes include running races for which I was undertrained, not eating enough before the race, and not wearing sunscreen. Learning experiences!