Forums >Racing>Would this irritate you in a race?
25K around Cape Ann a few years back, approaching 15 k I'm coming up on a shirtless older guy, star spangled short shorts and a rolling stones bandana on his head just wailing away off key to what I think was a live stones album playing on his iPod. took me almost two miles to pass and get away from him, then either he sped up or I faded (the latter I think) and I had to listen to him for another two miles until he left me behind. it was beyond irritating.
I think it depends. I've honestly never had anyone come up to me and start talking, but I remember during my first 5K there was a HUGE hill right at the end. Some people started groaning, so there was a guy who started saying things like, "Oh, dear GOD, who put this hill here?" It was amusing and helped motivate us to get to the top.
Guess it depends on what you say and the situation.
I think that was me. I apologize.
Nope X, it was not you. Im 49 (now 44 then), so when I say older 10 yrs older. I bet you've seen him though.
You'll ruin your knees!
As a rule, if I am running a marathon, any half marathoner irritates me, so I would already be irritated when you came up behind me. Your disregard for my awesomeness for running twice as far as you raises this irritation to a whole new level.
Get off my lawn!
""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)
Proboscis Colossus
I guess I just don't tend to get irritated much by whatever the other runners do, as long as they are not slowing me down by blocking tangents, being oblivious with headphones, etc. Generally any form of conversation, sensible or nonsensical, seems welcome, I think. Maybe because I train alone, company in a race is welcome. The social aspect is part of why I race.
I guess I just don't tend to get irritated much by whatever the other runners do, as long as they are not slowing me down by blocking tangents, being oblivious with headphones, etc. Generally any form of conversation, sensible or nonsensical, seems welcome, I think.
Maybe because I train alone, company in a race is welcome. The social aspect is part of why I race.
+1. The interactions mentioned by the OP don't sound long enough to have bothered me if I didn't find them amusing (and I hate to say whether I would have found them so or not - often, I find things funny during a race that make no sense otherwise).
I've probably been guilty of annoying a fellow racer or two in my time. Like bhearn, I enjoy the social aspect of the race, so I'm always on the lookout for conversation, mainly during the first half of the race, when, as someone mentioned, I shouldn't be out-of-breath, anyway. I think--think--I've gotten a lot better these days about sensing when the other person isn't interested and moving on.
This past race, I saw up ahead a group with "Idiots Running Club" gear on, and I'd just read about them in RW. So, I sped up and mentioned that. "What? We were in Runner's World? Hey guys, did you hear we were in Runner's World?!"
Ouch. But, I think the sarcasm was good-natured (which is my personality, too), and one or two of them asked me where I was from, and we chatted for about a mile, mainly about my interest in starting a running club of some kind in my area. After a bit, I needed to go ahead, since they were shooting for about 10 mins. below my goal. I assume they weren't too annoyed, because they shouted encouragement/fist bumps when they saw me after that point on the out-and-back course.
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
One day at a time
The only thing that has really irritated me in a race was during a 5k in Austin. People brought their frigging DOGS to run with them! I literally tripped over one. Didn't even get an "I'm sorry" from the stupid owner. Thankfully, I haven't seen dogs in races I've run in the northeast.
not bad for mile 25
You should avoid this race.
Irritating.
Forgot I posted this topic, hahaha. Well I saw that I had plenty of replies and the consensus is stop .
When I reread my post, I guess the way I wrote it, I come across as a dick. Just a couple things I want to elaborate on.
1.) The dialogue that I wrote is examples. If it's early in the race in a half marathon, I would just be looking for conversation, and if it's not wanted, I back off.
2.) The way I wrote it appears that I'm just throwing out one liners as a pass people like a dick. That's not really the case. I'm surging ahead to meet runners then staying with them for X amount of time, until I've settled or feel like the pace is slipping. When I get to the runner(s), I normally give a short, "Hey" or "Hi" to get a feel if they want to talk. My chatting is simply me just trying to lighten the mood during the toughest part of the race, to help get my mind of the effort and help get their mind off of the race. I left out some of the dialogue, because 1.) I don't really remember everything that occurred in the exchange 2.) I don't feel like writing a short story about every encounter.
I was never really met with condescending looks, but if I felt that I was not wanted I backed up. For instance, the encounter with the girl: She wasn't very responsive, she smiled at me, but then I realized when a biker indicated her position in the race that she was really trying to focus and I didn't want to distract her so I stopped and just tried to work with her until my next surge.
3.) When I do say something on here that when you read may sound like I'm being a dick, like when we were going up the hill, it's said with ALOT of sarcasm, and normally a smile to let the person no that I have no ill intentions. Anyone who looked at the elevation profile KNEW about this climb coming up, and I was clearly hurting. It wasn't just me fresh legged passing people left and right up a hill, throwing one-liners about how easy the hill was.
4.) For those of you who said I'm not racing hard enough; I'm not really "talking", just bits and pieces of sentences. There was NO talking for me in the last 5K, and the brief conversation with the marathoners at mile 9-10 was painful. Like I said these are just excerpts from conversations. I wasn't taunting the full marathoners, and they knew that I was running the half after I said that and laughed. And there was actually a few good things tossed back and forth besides what I said.
Thanks guys for all the responses.
Did the race allow dogs in its posted rules? If so (or if it doesn't say one way or the other), yeah, people will bring them.
Generally, flying past someone in a race that you're negative splitting telling the people you're passing how great you're feeling (or how EASY THIS COURSE IS) is imo pretty disrespectful (hence the lack of response in #2 of the OP, with the follow up making you sound more like a turd). If they have an ounce of competitiveness at all, they're already down because someone passed them and they're probably falling off the pace that they hoped to run. The last thing anyone wants to do in this situation is hear about how good you're feeling. MTA: In a half, most people running around 1:20 are either trying really hard and racing, so don't want to hear it, or are out for a training run, then you're just making yourself look like an idiot to a 1:12 guy.
Generally, flying past someone in a race that you're negative splitting telling the people you're passing how great you're feeling (or how EASY THIS COURSE IS) is imo pretty disrespectful (hence the lack of response in #2 of the OP, with the follow up making you sound more like a turd).
If they have an ounce of competitiveness at all, they're already down because someone passed them and they're probably falling off the pace that they hoped to run. The last thing anyone wants to do in this situation is hear about how good you're feeling.
MTA: In a half, most people running around 1:20 are either trying really hard and racing, so don't want to hear it, or are out for a training run, then you're just making yourself look like an idiot to a 1:12 guy.
Again, as if you read my response. I am saying this with no ill intentions or saying this in a condescending way. I am surging to meet runners and the main objective is to work with them. If I can tell the person is really hurting, I am really just trying to lighten the mood and get their mind off the distance ahead.
Like I said I left some of the dialogue out. Even though there was silence, I was met with a couple smiles. And after I asked why nobody wanted to talk, the one guy came over and started working with me up the hill.
I think everyone got the idea that I was making HUGE negative splits. I was 6:14 first 10K and 6:11 second half. So I wasn't FLYING by people. And by no means was feeling amazing.
Most people who are really racing don't want their mind off of the race, and they definitely don't want to chat or have to pretend to be polite.
My chatting is simply me just trying to lighten the mood during the toughest part of the race, to help get my mind of the effort and help get their mind off of the race.
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... I think everyone got the idea that I was making HUGE negative splits. I was 6:14 first 10K and 6:11 second half. So I wasn't FLYING by people. And by no means was feeling amazing.
In my very limited experience, this is enough to be generally passing people. I think I had the same pace differential (-3sec/mi) at a half last Saturday, and was slowly passing people all the way.
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
Again, as if you read my response. I am saying this with no ill intentions or saying this in a condescending way. I am surging to meet runners and the main objective is to work with them. If I can tell the person is really hurting, I am really just trying to lighten the mood and get their mind off the distance ahead. Like I said I left some of the dialogue out. Even though there was silence, I was met with a couple smiles. And after I asked why nobody wanted to talk, the one guy came over and started working with me up the hill. I think everyone got the idea that I was making HUGE negative splits. I was 6:14 first 10K and 6:11 second half. So I wasn't FLYING by people. And by no means was feeling amazing.
cool story, bro
2.) The way I wrote it appears that I'm just throwing out one liners as a pass people like a dick... 3.) When I do say something on here that when you read may sound like I'm being a dick, like when we were going up the hill, it's said with ALOT of sarcasm, and normally a smile to let the person no that I have no ill intentions. Anyone who looked at the elevation profile KNEW about this climb coming up, and I was clearly hurting. It wasn't just me fresh legged passing people left and right up a hill, throwing one-liners about how easy the hill was.
2.) The way I wrote it appears that I'm just throwing out one liners as a pass people like a dick...
Well, I didn't hear it, but if you made your hill comment with (sic) "ALOT of sarcasm" and then no one responds to it, then you whine "why does no one want to talk to me?" (That's how I'm reading that encounter) Then, I don't think anyone in that situation found it funny.
Sarcasm is tough enough when you're just talking to someone you know, when they're random people you're talking to that you meet running or on the internet, it's not possible (unless ostriches or t-rexes are involved). You just become really annoying.
Know thyself.