Corral Jumpers (Read 454 times)

Julia1971


    Curious what you all think about "corral jumpers".  By that I mean runners who sneak into faster corrals than their bib would permit them to join.  If you see someone who doesn't belong in the corral you're in, would you say something or not?  Somewhat relatedly, how big of an offense is this?

    npaden


      On all the races I've entered so far, the corrals are assigned based on the estimated time you give them when you sign up so they are on the honor system anyway.  You never know the circumstances that might cause someone to want to switch corrals anyway.  I signed up for my marathon back in November and signed up expecting a 4:30 finish time because I was going to run with my wife.  She got mono and isn't going to run and I'm shooting for a 3:50 finish time so I'm hoping to get my corral switched at the expo.  If not I will still line up in my assigned corral, but I can see how many people would be tempted to switch to the corral with the 3:50 pace group.

      Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)

      Current PR's:  Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)


      Feeling the growl again

        When the woman with headphones cut to the front line of the Chicago Marathon, right up with those of us intending to run 2:22-2:24, then yelled in indignation when she got plowed over at the gun, I told her she deserved it.

         

        Corrals are seeded for a reason -- everyone's safety, primarily.  Some people who spent months preparing to run a very fast time could have been screwed up by her self-centered stupidity.

        "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

         

        I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

         

          Except in the case of Boston where they are adamant about the corral assignment and everyone knows it, as long as you line up in the corral for the pace you are going to run that I don't care no matter what you bib says.  A fast runner in the middle of a bunch of people slower than they are is just as dangerous as a slow runner amongst the faster people.  The people who line up too far forward for their pace (I can't even fathom why you would want to do this)....I hope they get stepped on and learn their lesson.

          Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

          AmoresPerros


          Options,Account, Forums

            I often see little kids line up near the front of 5Ks, then lots of people have to run around them for the first 200yds. I always figure, why risk discouraging them by saying anything. It would be better if their parent could guide them to starting further back -- especially as getting passed is never as much fun as passing others.

             

            I don't know if the people who line up too far forward at big races are similarly immature/inexperienced, but I have certainly seen that plenty of people do it. I've run in marathons and passed people who were walking, only a mile into a marathon, and walking very slowly at that. I can't fathom why they would start what looked way too far forward.

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

              I was passing large walkers Saturday at Country Music Marathon who had numbers indicating corrals 28 To 30ish.  I started in 13 with a 2:05 predicted half marathon.  It was pretty annoying and I can't imagine where they started if I was passing them 4 miles into  the race.  That night, coincidentally, a large walker told me she sneaked up into a low number corral because she was afraid of not making the cutoff time.

              Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth

               


              some call me Tim

                ah, but Spaniel I believe you also characterized that as being good for a laugh and helping to cast off prerace jitters... not to say it makes sense to hop around with no regard for how fast you can run, but that corral jumpers either jump for a good reason or get a lesson they'll never forget.

                buchy2009


                Bjørnmannen

                  I was at this race too... I was in 20 and there were lots of people from corrals in the 30s in 18 and 19.   Really annoying.

                   

                  I was passing large walkers Saturday at Country Music Marathon who had numbers indicating corrals 28 To 30ish.  I started in 13 with a 2:05 predicted half marathon.  It was pretty annoying and I can't imagine where they started if I was passing them 4 miles into  the race.  That night, coincidentally, a large walker told me she sneaked up into a low number corral because she was afraid of not making the cutoff time.


                  A Saucy Wench

                    Its a bigger offense if you are a walker/slow moving up to a corral you have no business being in, but my experience is that saying something will do no good --overheard at a 5K that had a narrow path through a tunnel about 300 yards in..lady with 2 walking sticks perched on the front line "Why should I have to go farther, the fast people are in better shape, let THEM run the extra 50 feet"

                     

                    I have been in the positioning of registering stupid early for something and being way off on my seeding.  One race wanted $25 to switch up corrals. I didnt jump, but I was pretty aggressive about moving to the front and later wished I had jumped.

                     

                    I was guilty this past weekend of staying in my assigned corral (albeit at the back of it) when I knew I was nowhere near my original projected pace...I was clearly not alone as I passed as many as passed me.

                    I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                     

                    "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                    keeponrunning


                      Depends on the situation:  I'd be more annoyed if a person was in a different corral than was assigned and had no intentions of finishing around that pace group.  If a person registers a while it advance and misjudges their time, then goes to the corral closest to their time at the race, I'm actually happy they do that as it's safer for everyone involved.

                      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 have done this, but only if I really think I made the wrong estimate when entering the race (which can be many months before you actually take part). So, I've had a bib for 3:30-3:45 and run in the 3:15-3:30 section for example. It depends on people being sensible - if you think your on the slow side for your section then don't get right up at the front so that lots of people are likely going to have to go past you - stand in the back of the section.

                         

                        It works in everybody's interest if people are running with people of approximately the same pace... it's not to your advantage to go into a pen that's too fast for you.

                          I was a member of a mob that kicked two people out of the first corral at Boston once. True story.

                          Runners run

                            I have jumped corrals in the past.

                             

                            Quick story:  My first Marathon was a 4:57.  My second was a 4:48.    When I signed up for my third, I "estimated" 4:30 because of plans to increase weekly mileage.

                             

                            Well, I increased mileage and ran a 30K in 2:43:, so I then figured a sub-4 was possible in the Marathon.

                             

                            4:30'ish no longer applied, and I moved up to the "4:00:00" pacer in a different corral, way up from the 4:30:00 pacer.

                             

                            ---I finished in just under 4 hours.  Had I started with the 4:30 guy, I imagine congestion on the course would have slowed me and prevented a sub-4 result.  I also would have been one of those guys not properly placed and had to pass many hundreds of runners.

                             

                            Simple message:  Oftentimes there is a pretty valid reason that folks may have moved up in their corral.    I disagree with the idea of "policing" the corrals and arbitrarily kicking people out of corrals who have moved up, oftentimes for VALID reasons based on increased training between the time they register +"Estimate" their time and the time the race comes up.

                             

                            --- Do racers who are "Corral Jumper enforcers" also drive 55 in the left lane in order to "make everyone drive the posted limit"?

                            Just do your race, man!  Quit worrying about everyone else so much I say.   :-)

                            .

                            The Plan '15 →   ///    "Run Hard, Live Easy."   ∞

                            TeaOlive


                            old woman w/hobby

                              I find it extremely annoying.

                               

                              MTA:  mostly talking walkers, stroller pushers and people too slow for the corral.

                              steph  

                               

                               


                              Feeling the growl again

                                ah, but Spaniel I believe you also characterized that as being good for a laugh and helping to cast off prerace jitters... not to say it makes sense to hop around with no regard for how fast you can run, but that corral jumpers either jump for a good reason or get a lesson they'll never forget.

                                 

                                No, that would be mischaracterizing my characterization.  Smile  It was an annoyance nobody wanted to deal with.

                                 

                                If they jumped for a good reason I probably wouldn't realize they weren't supposed to be there.

                                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                                 

                                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills