RunningAHEAD - Topic: What entices you to run a race?

Trent

Good Bad & The Monkey

posted: 4/6/2009 at 9:55 PM

Shirts? Accurate course? Flat or hilly course (whatever you prefer)? A date that avoids conflict with another event? Refreshments? Awards? Door prizes? Chip timing? Professional race management? The absence of all that stuff? Others?

I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.

Poor baby

dnephin

posted: 4/6/2009 at 10:03 PM
modified: 4/6/2009 at 10:04 PM

The opportunity to kick ass and take names. Gut check. Self test. Theory that age group medals will increase in value when we go off the dollar, thereby, possibly, being able to afford some semblence of retirement. This assumes that plated base metal will be worth anything. Of course, wooden medals could be burned for heat. I'll take the swag, but, really, it's now truly become a chance to test myself. Camraderie is also a big part.

DWARP
Marathon Madness Mob

jeffdonahue

posted: 4/6/2009 at 10:17 PM

For me, it depends on my goals for the year and then after that it is all about timing of the event as compared to other stuff we have going on. Distance can also be a factor.

Runnerjohn

Certifiably Insane

posted: 4/6/2009 at 10:26 PM
modified: 4/6/2009 at 10:28 PM

Sorry, don't take any of this as bragging. If I was really any good, I would have stood out in college, made the olympics, or something. Shirts? Do you know how many boxes of race shirts I have from 30+ years of racing? I don't need more shirts. Accurate course? Invaluable if you're racing for time or a PR. If you're racing for the scenery, it doesn't matter. Flat or hilly course (whatever you prefer)? Flat if I'm racing for time, hilly if I'm racing for the scenery. A date that avoids conflict with another event? It's good to have a serious race far enough from other ones. Refreshments? I usually take my own, so this isn't a consideration. I'm kind of picky about what I eat. Awards? Do you know how many boxes of trophies/medals/plaques I have from 30+ years of racing? It's nice to get them, and they do serve as motivation for about a year. But after that, what do you do with them??? I think the only race I run for the awards is sponsored by the Weaver Popcorn Co. They give away huge bags of assorted popcorn for the awards. Door prizes? Always good. Lots of door prizes keeps everyone happy, even those that won't get a finishing award. Chip timing? The small races do fine without it. I don't run many big races, but that's a great thing for those. Professional race management? Can make or break a race. If they're very disorganized, lose entries, forget to get awards, starts late, awards late, runners get lost on the course, etc, I probably won't go back. The absence of all that stuff? Others? Enthusiastic, cheering crowds are great. Helpful, friendly people doing the registration and helping with the course can be worth lots of points.

On the road since 1978! "To be good is not enough when you dream of being great." I am not obsessed! I'm just INTENSE! "Nothing is foolproof to a talented fool." Why? Because race results stay on Google forever! (Reasonably recent) PR's: 5K - 16:40 10K - 35:04 HM - 1:18:30

Roses Revenge

posted: 4/6/2009 at 11:19 PM
modified: 4/6/2009 at 11:20 PM

I look at dates and what else is going on in my life. DH hasn't quite accepted that after all these years of me going places he wanted to go for his hobbies that now he should go places I want to go for mine. Then I look at how long the course is open and where I would likely have placed last year. I want to make sure I have a decent chance of finishing before they close the course. Next is to see if it's an easy or inexpensive place to get to or if there are other things in the area that I want to do or people I want to see. Of course, I'm also old and slow and walk more than I run. Three years ago, I wouldn't even admit out loud that I was thinking about walking the Portland Marathon. Now, here I am having just finished marathon number 8 and looking at what would be easy to do for the next several months. (Tacoma, NODM, Foot Traffic Flat or Missoula, not sure about August or Sept, Portland in October, who knows from there. I really need to get to Nashville to visit friends and Indianapolis to visit family. I'm guessing six or eight more before the end of the year.)

Marathon Maniac #991 Half Fanatic #58 Double Agent #22 It's a perfect day and I feel great!

protoplasm72

posted: 4/6/2009 at 11:42 PM

Date and location are the only factors in HM and shorter. If I run a race and it's horribly managed or mis-measured then I probably won't be back. For Marathons I look at travel costs, hills, size of the race, organization. Never shirts, medals, or free junk. Though after running Grandma's Marathon I think I'll avoid any race with Ultima Replenisher on the course Dead

Son, when you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose; it's how drunk you get. -- Homer Simpson

Hobbyjogger

posted: 4/6/2009 at 11:56 PM

It fits my level of fitness: If I'm more injured than usual I'll stick to marathons, otherwise go longer. Most of my races are one-day-wonder friendly: less than 4 hour drive, DOR packet pickup. I won't drive 3 hours round trip just to go to an expo, and unless there's something really special, I won't take an entire weekend just to run another marathon. Note to Rose: Foot Traffic is great for this: wake up, run the race, eat strawberry shortcake and then spend the rest of the day at BBQs and fireworks. If the race will fill very early, I'm less likely to sign up. I get injured or there's a scheduling conflict sometimes. These days I make 2 or 3 exceptions to this each year because there's something special about the race. If there's a marathon that costs $125, and a hundred miler that costs $150 the choice seems obvious. The hundred will have better food. This is a little like what Rose wrote. I'm a wuss and scared to death of having to sweat the cutoffs in a long race. As a mid-packer it's pretty easy to pick races that are either not challenging for the distance or have long cutoffs. All the stuff on Trent's list are either "don't care" or "it depends" for me. I have enough T shirts, and I'll never break the marathon PR I set 30 years ago.

MrFinn

Prince of Fatness

posted: 4/7/2009 at 7:16 AM

Shirts? I have plenty so I don't care much. I will say that if you are going to bother then make it a decent shirt. I've received some shirts that are so cheap that when you hold them up you can practically see through them. Why bother? Accurate course? Yes. Flat or hilly course (whatever you prefer)? Not sure this matters much to me. I think as long as I get a variety over the course of a season then I'm happy. If I'm looking to PR I'd look for a flatish course. A date that avoids conflict with another event? Depends on the event. Refreshments? Doesn't have to be extravagant. Just don't run out. Awards? Don't care. Any race that I have placed in was a small local race that didn't have much anyway. Door prizes? Don't care. Chip timing? For large races, yes. Professional race management? If I'm paying a lot, yes, I would expect this. The absence of all that stuff? Don't care. Others? Online results. I'm willing to wait a few days, but make the results available online. Some of the local races I have run in didn't have them. If you did not hang around after the race you didn't get your official time and placement. I would think that even the small, cheap races could take an email address on the application, scan the results to a PDF, and email them out. Pictures. I could care less about pictures. RA Meetups. Just had my first opportunity for this last weekend, and it was nice. I'd like to do more of that. Can't think of anything else.

Not at it at all.

NateFromRI

posted: 4/7/2009 at 8:04 AM

There are a few things: Proximity - If there is a race I can walk to, you can count me in. I grew up miles away from anything, so it is still a fun novelty to have anything at all right outside my door. Size/Popularity - A big race means that everyone I know who runs, and some that don't, will be participating or can be convinced to do so. It's more fun with a group. The Beer Factor - Is beer somehow involved? My favorite race of the year has six beers on tap, for free, after the finish. Others have packet pickups at bars, lend themselves to post-race parties or do something else like that. Timing - If I feel like I'm in great shape for a 10K PR, I'll look around for any 10K that happens to be scheduled for the next weekend. The last one is very specific: Pharmacy Stockup - CVS organizes a 5K in Providence, RI. The goody bag contains well over a years worth of ibuprofen, band-aids, aspirin, pain-relief patches, insoles, vitamins and more. I haven't bought any of these things in years.

-------------------------------------
5K - 18:25 - 3/19/11
10K - 39:38 - 12/13/09
1/2 - 1:29:38 - 5/30/10
Full - 3:45:40 - 5/27/07

RunningBEHIND

posted: 4/7/2009 at 8:06 AM

Accurate course, accurate timing, race starts on time. Pretty much all I care about.

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Phidippides

posted: 4/7/2009 at 8:14 AM

Really none of the above. I like to run races primarily for two reasons............ First - its a challenge to see how I can do during the race (Im not especially fast but I'm improving). So now my goal is to get from 8:18 per mile in a 5K to 7:59.....then it will be 7:50 per mile......races to me are the only way to really gauge your improvement. Second - when you are a runner, everyone always says how great it is that you run and how great of shape you are in...now all of us runners know that when we are compared to the average Joe on the streets or in the office, its true - we are in good shape compared to most. The reason I like races is because it grounds me in that I am comparing myself to other runners (within my age group and not in my age group) and you realize just how far you really have to go in order to genuinely get in shape. Running in races (for me) always makes me realize just how much better I can be, if i do the right things.... As far as the other stuff that was listed above......take or leave it. I prefer races that have at least 100 runners (5K), 200+ runners (5M) and 500+ runners (HALF) and like them to be well organized -- other then that, I don't really care...

Champions are made when no one is watching

JimHowe

posted: 4/7/2009 at 8:17 AM
modified: 4/7/2009 at 8:43 AM

1. Accurate course. Certified a must for any key race that isn't cross country (for you, Ennay Wink

) 2. Accurate timing. 3. Good competition, especially in my age group. 4. Flat or gently rolling. 5. Chip timing. anything else is gravy.

Age 60 plus best times: 5k 19:00, 10k 38:35, 10m 1:05:30, HM 1:24:09, 30k 2:04:33

Ennay

A Saucy Wench

posted: 4/7/2009 at 8:27 AM

Given where I live and my situation in life - a race not too far from home. Portland proper has a lot of events, but I will go to almost anything out here in the boonies just to encourage the events. In general Accurate course - within reason. I dont give a rats about certified I tend to prefer rolling hills. I do like the chip timing Well run and organized is probably the most important. Chaos at the start or finish or lack of promised support is a big turn off. If you dont have support, fine, but dont claim you do.

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

dnstapes

posted: 4/7/2009 at 8:36 AM

Wow, I didn't realize what a minority I am. I actually wear my race tshirts to the point where I have worn out any that are older than 3 years old. So yeah, it's a bonus if I go to a race and they give out a nice, durable, cotton tshirt. I also run the Beach to Beacon every year to get to eat one of the crappy Hannaford cookies that they have at the finish line. I really like the no bakes but just won't allow myself to have them in the house.

perfesserr

Imminent Catastrophe

posted: 4/7/2009 at 8:55 AM

I prefer smaller races. Scenery. Some hills. Nice finish line food (beer!). Good organization. In states I haven't run in yet. Primate-themed races are nice too.

"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"

"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain

"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.

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What entices you to run a race? (Read 772 times)