Why I walk and don't run races -- response to "walking a race" (Read 1068 times)

What I meant by slow runners was the people who line up well in front of where their ability dictates and therefore still act as roadblock to the people behind them. I'm talking about the folks who know they will finish in the back or near the back, but still insist on lining up in the first couple of rows. Just to make it perfectly clear I heartily encourage people of all levels to come to and participate in races, but following just a few simple rules makes the event more enjoyable for everyone involved. Actually I have won several races, and even if I'm not competing for the overall win I'm still trying to run as fast as I can. Sometimes walkers and slow runners (as described above) do not line up where they are supposed to. As an example last weekend I ran a race with almost 7000 people, there were several people who were quite a bit faster than me, so I didn't get one the front row I was about 10 rows back. However, between the front row and me were several people who had no business being that close to a race with that many people and it was so crowded I couldn't get any closer. Ultimately I finished 35th overall and 2nd in my age group after literally slolaming through the first mile, so while I wasn't going ot win the overal race I was certainly competing. After that experience I realized that not lining up in the correct position is not only a frustration to the faster runner, but also potentially dangerous to both the slower runner in front and the faster runner behind. I saw and was almost involved in several near collisions between a runner trying to go fast with nowhere to go and no way to stop momentum.

It sounds to me like in this case you lined up too far back. Given that you finished 35th overall and going on an average of probably 10 per row, you shoudl have been in the 3rd or 4th row back. And even given that, if you knew you were going to finish that fast, you probably should have nudged your way up to the front. I am not saying that some of these people should not have been up there, but everybody probably thinks very similarly. Even slower people (not necessarily the slowest) dont want to get get stuck ni teh pack and may start a bit farther up than they should so they dont have to weave in and out like you did.