Race Protocol / Etiquette When Lead Runner Collapses

Finish the race and win every time.

Everyone likes the feel good story but other people are going to help the athlete anyways, runners should run to finish the race. This is why they have trainers and medical staff/coaches.

What a tough situation. I don't know what the right answer is; clearly it was the adults' responsibility to respond, not the kids'.

You totally can be proud that the kid wanted to help. Not to be too wishy-washy about it, but that's the mark of a *real* winner. In the end, the most important thing is that everyone is OK. Who comes in a race first or last is just a childish game, after all.

Thanks for the replies. I am happy with what my kid did. To be sure, a part of life is making judgement calls (sometimes in just a few seconds) and moving forward. I know that my child cares about the teammate's well being. My child decided that the teammate was likely ok and also knew that help was basically already there.

But, politically speaking, it seems maybe that it wasn't the best call. The coach is not happy.

It feels that the politically correct course of action may have been to stop.

Should the entire field also stop? No.

When Dorando Pietri collapsed before the finish of the Olympic Marathon they still handed out medals.

Right - Good point. I guess I am coming to the conclusion that my kid shouldn't feel bad and did nothing wrong. So, it is poor coaching for the coach to treat them negatively for it.

And, why should I be surprised? It is a public school and a great majority of public school running coaches are terrible. You get what you pay for, and distance coaches hardly get paid. So, we should just admit to ourselves that our coach (like most others) is not up to the task. But, we keep holding out in hopes that that's not the case.

Your kid did the right thing by finishing the race and immediately looping back to see if the runner was ok.

If the lead runner is clearly beating your kid, and trips or stumbles momentarily but is otherwise able to finish, that might be a different situation with respect to sportsmanship, but if they can't finish (in sight of many spectators and the safety officials) then your kid should just run out the race.

Finish the race, every time. I'm all for sportsmanship, but the kids are also out there running to try and beat each other and do their best. There are a couple scenarios here to consider.

1)Opponent collapses on the course and no one's around.

solution: keep running, tell the couple spectators you see what happened, finish the race

2)Opponent collapses towards the end of the race.

solution: keep running, it is the responsibility of the coaches and race organizers to deal with such a situation. A kid stopping to "help out" is not going to help the situation. Also, you're gonna feel like a fool if all that happened was that your competitor went out too fast and died.

Conclusion: kids should keep running, let the adults in charge deal with the situation.

What about the DQ question? We know that outside assistance will result in a DQ, but people competing for the same prize can help one another, e.g., passing around a water bottle. If the guy in 2nd helped the guy who went down and they both finished, would there be a DQ for either? Would it matter that they are on the same team?

I agree with the sentiment that the kid was right to finish his race as he did.

dumb wrote:

Your kid did the right thing by finishing the race and immediately looping back to see if the runner was ok.

This. I mean, what exactly does the coach expect a teenage runner to do... start an IV drip? No. A teenager is going to run for help or shout for help.

Now, if this were a 180+ mile relay and the two runners were in the middle of the night with no one else around, it's a different situation.

Kid did nothing wrong. In fact, he did everything right. Finish/win the race, don't celebrate win, check on teammate afterwards. Check, check, check. Perfect.

Now what's up with the coach? What was he expecting from your kid? Bizarre that he would find an issue with your kid's actions.

By the way, my coach would have been pissed if I did stop. Victories aren't so easy to come by and opportunities for them should be taken.

On the DQ question - no, why would you worry that him stopping would get him DQd?

I shouldn't have gone off on public school coaches. They don't all suck - just most.

I think the coach was/s upset because the structure he has in place is that he is in charge, and then the older team member (who collapsed) is the team captain and coach's favorite. Then, my child, an underclassman, is in a way mucking up the works by finishing ahead the appointed frontrunner. I know that is stupid and doesn't make any sense, but I think that is what is going on. It would not be any big deal, but I think the coach being mad at my child is making a negative impact.

On the DQ - a spectator or parent can't get out there and physically help a runner out by helping them to their feet. No one will question a runner's parent, coach, family friend, or medical professional for taking that action. For everyone else, though, if it results in a DQ, then there is slightly more hesitancy because no one wants to step in too quickly when the runner may be able to still get up and finish.

In this instance, it turned out that the runner was not going to finish, and so there would be no benefit (team-wise) for my child to stop. As it was occurring, though, it was conceivable that perhaps my child could have helped her out by getting the other runner back on their feet, and then even if it took a minute for them to walk (with arm over the helper's shoulders) the last 100 yards, they would have finished like 7th and 8th overall. But, if they both get DQ'd, then it hurts the team finish to attempt to do this. And, as weird as this sounds, I think avoiding a DQ would actually provide cover for my child with the coaches because they preach that getting DQ'd is wrong no matter what.

In thinking about this further, I think my child was / is screwed either way with the coaches. They're upset that the favored one was unable to finish, and my child happened to be the closest one to the occurrence.

Question for the coach is why in the world is your top guy collapsing during races, not whether the teammates should be moping him up off the floor.

Unless a kid has blood spewing out of an artery or is choking on something and in need of a Heimlich or has suffered cardiac arrest and the student is certified in CPR, there is absolutely no reason to expect a high school kid to stop and help another kid during a race. Students are not medics.

As for helping your teammates, XC is not that kind of sport. Each runner has to get himself across the finish line. Teams can work together on pacing, but it is silly to expect student to try to help a teammate who goes down instead of competing because there is really never a time when one teammate can really do anything to actually help the other. It is not like these kids can do a Mr. Miyagi and fix a sprained ankle on the spot. And no kid that goes down ever says "if only my teammate had helped me get up, I would have been able to win the race."

Is this a high school cross country meet?

If so, the second place runner should clearly stop and help. The team result is more important than the individual win. If the first place runner doesn't need or waves off help it is fine to go on, e.g. When Jenny Barringer was collapsing during the NCAA meet, other Colorado runners slowed and tried to assist but were waved on by Jenny.

All this applies double if this is basically a meaningless early season meet. Imagine this scenario: dual meet, #1 runner is leading by 50-100 yards over #2 runner and wipes going around a sharp turn 100 yards from the end. #2 runner slows slightly to see if #1 is ok, but doesn't assist him to his feet, and kicks in to win. The #2 runner selfishly took a cheap win, hurt his team's result, and needlessly tweaked the #1 runner which will inevitably lead to team disfunction throughout the year, e.g. Joe Falcon losing a SEC xc meet to a teammate after falling and the teammate refusing to help, or Georgia HS throwback; Chad Newton beating (for the first time ever) teammate Johnny Kreuger in the 1986 Dekalb County championships after Johnny fell and they were way in front; the rest of the Chamblee team really held that against Chad.

To clarify, the #2 runner should stop only if his stopping could facilitate the #1 runner finishing in a reasonable amount of time. Since spectators are around, if the #1 runner is coughing up blood or has a compound fracture there is no reason to stop.

I don't know about every state but it my state if the second place runner attempts to assist the runner who collapsed and touches them the runner who collapsed is immediately disqualified, I assume other states may have a similar rule but I don't know for certain.

There is no reason for your child to assist. Here are the possibilities,

1-Collapsed runner has no serious problems, runner 2 accomplishes nothing by stopping.

2-Collapsed runner does have a serious problem, runner 2 is not a trained medical professional and again accomplishes nothing by stopping, if anything they just get in the way.

Cross country is a team sport, if both of these runners are on the same team stopping serves no purpose. All it would do is hurt the team score if the second runner ends up getting passed. I agree with everyone who said that your child did the right thing (checked briefly and saw no serious problems, finished and helped the team score, ran back to check on teammate), any serious runner will tell you thats the right thing to do.

Ive been running cross country for 11 years and have been quite successful...I would have done the same thing (plus getting a win over a runner you may not rightfully better than is always a nice confidence booster). Ignore anyone who says your child should have stopped.

Runners #1 and #2 are pretty close. Runner #1 came into the season a little more sharp, but runner #2 is closing the gap. Runner #1 goes out real hard. Usually it wouldn't end in a fainting situation before the finish, but it is quite conceivable to me how this could happen (especially at a warm weather race).

Runner #1 wasn't going to be able to finish the race. The race was about 20 teams, but everyone knows that there aren't any important cross country meets in September. The team dynamic is fine and no one blames my child for going on, though there is a very weird dynamic between the coach and my child.

As I mentioned, it would have maybe been possible perhaps for my child to effectively carry the other to the finish and for this to even help the team score. But, there would be a lot of unknowns... you don't always know how many people are behind you and by how much... and who knows for sure how long carrying the other runner would have taken. (i.e.. would they be able to start walking on their own somewhat.)

There was another parent there on the spot that was telling all the runners / teammates to keep going. But, the coach is carrying grudge, and I think he will likely begin to more aggressively coach against my child. Craptastic coaching for sure, but this is a public high school coach, afterall

Thanks Charles Darwin. I agree in full. Though it is hard to ignore (and tell my child to ignore) the coach.

If it would have resulted in a DQ, then there would be no way for my child to help.

You Are What You Is wrote:

What a tough situation. I don't know what the right answer is; clearly it was the adults' responsibility to respond, not the kids'.

You totally can be proud that the kid wanted to help. Not to be too wishy-washy about it, but that's the mark of a *real* winner. In the end, the most important thing is that everyone is OK. Who comes in a race first or last is just a childish game, after all.

How is coming in first or last a childish game? People get scholarships and make millions based on coming in first