RunningAHEAD - Topic: Grape Stomp fiasco

milerBonnie

posted: 10/26/2008 at 3:17 PM

I don't get angry much but this race in Livermore, CA pissed me off. It goes to show that even if a course is certified, if there are inadequate course markings and a lack of course monitors/volunteers things go awry. That is, people get lost when chalk arrows are confusing and signs missing. I knew it was going to be dicey when I asked where the starting line was at the beginning of the race and noone seemed to know. Finally after 3/4 of the field lined up at a stop sign that was not the starting area, a woman tried to call people back to the correct starting location with a megaphone. The race started 15 minutes late because of the confusion with the start and other issues. Guess I am spoiled with all of the well orchestrated races in FL and expected the same for forking over 50 bucks here on the West Coast. Wow. I've been to better organized trail races that cost much less. Venting session over. On a positive note, I got in a couple of extra miles that I would have probably not run otherwise. Oh and there was a guy wearing a pumpkin hat that was funny as hell. Go Mr. pumpkinhead!

a_brow89

posted: 10/26/2008 at 10:22 PM

yeah, that does sound pretty bad. I know where youre coming from too. I ran a 5k a few years ago that had the same problems. There was nobody directing the runners at an important point slightly after mile 2. I was going straight and there was a large barrier in the middle of the road in front of me, so I turned left. About a half mile later, I was notified that I and a few others had gone the wrong way, and we were made to turn around. The worst part was, it was only the leading 10 or so that went the wrong way. Race officials realized the mistake and corrected it, but that resulted in the 11th place guy winning. It added a mile to a 3 mile race, destroyed what was going to be a PR, and took away an almost guaranteed 2nd place. Needless to say, that was the most frustrating extra mile of my life. Also, today I placed third in a 5k, and also third in my age group. However, they got my age wrong, so they called me up for the 1-15 age group winner. Obviously, I notified them of their mistake so the rightful winner could get his medal. However, when they announced 3rd place in the 19-39 group, they gave it to some other guy that I beat, so I somehow missed out on a medal after coming in 3rd overall. Cry

sorry i had to vent too, ive had bad luck i guess

spaniel

Feeling the growl again

posted: 10/27/2008 at 6:20 AM

Certification only guarantees the accuracy of the course....IF they use the right course!! There are a ton of examples of races where the course was certified but they mismark it, lead people off course, move the start or finish which changes the distance, or otherwise blatantly mismanage things. I've run in more than a few of them and there are races I black-list for these reasons. I find this to be a bit of a self-correcting situation. For the most part, in the 8-9 years I have been doing a lot or road races, I have seen the well-run races grow and the poorly run and mismanaged races fade away quickly. Most of the races I black-listed in Michigan from 2000-2004 are gone.

"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

milerBonnie

posted: 10/27/2008 at 11:01 AM

a_brow89 I feel your pain! Guess it wasn't a great day for racing for some of us huh? If it makes you feel any better, I've seen a very similar thing happen at another race as well. The person who got slighted was supposed to get an overall medal and they gave him an age group prize. He took it in stride but I could tell he was kind of upset. "Another day, another race." I have race redemption already planned a few weeks out myself. Evil grin

Spaniel, I think your self-correcting philosophy is right. This race is definetly on my blacklist and I'm sure a few others who ran it feel the same way now.

Grape Stomp fiasco (Read 382 times)