I'm a male. I out-kicked a female at the end of a race. Am I evil?

I'm a chick and I don't think you're evil, although I have to say I LOVE passing guys in races because they never seem to expect getting passed by a girl.

There was one half marathon I did in Bryce Canyon, (I was 35) with like 500m left I was really struggling to speed up, and this guy beside me said, "Come on, I just turned 50 this week, YOU CAN BEAT ME!" so I started running faster and did get ahead of him. But then he outsprinted me with like 1 second left in the race, I didn't really get why he'd encouraged me if he was just going to prove to me that I COULDN'T beat him, but whatever!

I'm a woman. If I am in a race, I will try to finish as fast as I can and in front of whomever I can, so why shouldn't you? It never upset me to have a man finish ahead of me down the homestretch.

Not evil. One of the things I love about road racing is that it's co-ed. Whether or not we are in the same category, I compete with anyone there and expect you to do the same. It makes us all run faster.

No, but the fact that a woman was in front of you in the first place makes you a loser.

Not evil, just clearly not very fast for a male.

I was once racing this East German woman and got outcocked at the end.

Where I race, I try to beat everyone. It doesn't matter if you are male or female, if you are near me I will try to beat you. That is racing. It has nothing to do with machismo.

Your friend that called it "unnecessary" is probably the type that has no kick. So instead of developing one, he simply mocks those who have one and choose to use it. Never, ever let people like that discourage you and never, ever let a female outkick you. Among the other people who you should never let outkick you are younger people, older people, people in your same age group, etc. Once you just let people outkick you, you should stop entering races.

It is kind of a jerk move.

Lets just assume that the women in front of you is in first place. She has a nice win wrapped up, so may want to just maintain her pace into the line. Her race is basically over. Sprinting past this athlete doesn't really prove you are better since she may or may not see you as a competitor and her race strategy didn't include worrying about you.

If you are all about maximizing your finsh time, go ahead and kick like an idiot at all of your races. This might be a good move if you are closing in on a specific barrier like the 4 minute mile or 3 hour marathon, but otherwise it is okay to simply cruise in and maintain your place within YOUR race.

If this chick is a rival and sees you as one too, go ahead and race it out, but I think this is rare. I'm not a huge analogy fan, but this whole thing is sort of like beating a 10 year old at basketball and then bragging about it.

Depends. Did you kick because you were next to a female, or were you kicking because you wanted the fastest time possible? If you were kicking only because you had a chick next to you, then it's a jerk move. It's similar to kicking on a straggling teammate from behind in XC when no one else is around. What was your motivation?

The Jerkstore Called wrote:

If you are all about maximizing your finsh time, go ahead and kick like an idiot at all of your races. This might be a good move if you are closing in on a specific barrier like the 4 minute mile or 3 hour marathon, but otherwise it is okay to simply cruise in and maintain your place within YOUR race.

So a male age grouper shouldn't pass some guy from a different age group?

No wonder America is going down the drain with this mentality.

You race and you should take opportunity of every other runner to make you perform better.

a race is meant to be raced wrote:So a male age grouper shouldn't pass some guy from a different age group?

No wonder America is going down the drain with this mentality.

You race and you should take opportunity of every other runner to make you perform better.

that isn't what I'm saying. It is just fine to try to run your own best personal performance, but if a woman is cruising into the line for a win, she isn't racing the random age-group dude. It is always okay to pass someone, but I don't consider women to be my competition.

Would you draft off of an elite woman in a race (hmmm, this could be an interesting question for a number of reasons)?

My general rule was to kick early enough to seperate myself from a female so there was no perception of kicking at the end to edge her out.

If I am coming up to a female close to the end, I will ease up and let her finish at least a few seconds ahead so it isn't a dual to the finish.

Either way, we are not crossing the line and going into the chute too close together.

Jerkstore Calling wrote:

Would you draft off of an elite woman in a race (hmmm, this could be an interesting question for a number of reasons)?

I've drafted of the woman winner several times. Once we were a group of 8-10 guys running behind the woman who won a 10k. What's wrong with that? She wasn't what I would call true elite though.

You should leave your entitlement mentality at home when you go to a race.

OP, you have to be ruthless during road races. Given the opportunity, i would out kick a group of 12 year old girl scouts if it got me a higher standing in the results.

I'm a girl...just hate it when some guys ruin my finish line photo with the snotty, sweaty, mouth wide open photo,arms open, blocking me. At least move to the side for chrissakes.

Other than that bring it on...just don't step in front of us.I have too many ridiculous photos of jerks doing this.It really sucks when they are big time races that you want to post but some arse is knocking you over.

It is only a jerk move if you outsprint the winner of the women's race and break the tape in front of her. Any other time is acceptable.

Mint Berry Crunch wrote:

OP, you have to be ruthless during road races. Given the opportunity, i would out kick a group of 12 year old girl scouts if it got me a higher standing in the results.

Mint Berry Crunch wrote:

OP, you have to be ruthless during road races. Given the opportunity, i would out kick a group of 12 year old girl scouts if it got me a higher standing in the results.

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It's not about being ruthless. But it is a "race"! After 40 years of running in these gatherings called races...I still try to out kick ANYONE within striking distance in any race I'm in. It's nothing personal...and I respect all runners.

I will concede that guys who are obviously much older than me do tend to cause me to try a little harder or women in general.

And personally, I do not like the idea of another runner letting me go ahead at the finish because they think I'm in some special category. We're in a race for god sake! Finish as high as possible.