Hardest you've ever "tanked" in a race?

As a freshman, I had convinced myself that I could hang with Fish in a meet. I was there at the half and by the time he finished I was almost a lap (200m) down...

I think I tried the same thing in the 2mile the following year @ Indoor, when I had I just run for place, would've scored and we wouldn't have tied for the team overall

I have this freind here at college.

Trained with him all winter. He was a bad ass in the workouts. Stepped up to the indoor 800 meter line and was looking really good

came thru the first 400 in around 53/54

looking good about to p.r the whole crowd was on his side...

and he finsih in a blistering

last place... 2:08

Yes...he got owned.

Finished**

First collegiate xc race, went through the mile in 4:50 and ended up running a 32 or so. Did not account for the heat and I was probably only in 25:30 or so shape anyways.

Also tanked a 5k pretty bad, went though the mile in 4:27 and ended up running a 16:27. This was a week after running a 14:11.

There are days when dropping out isn't a bad idea.

I started "running" track in 12th grade after 3 years of cross country and long road races and marathons. I had never run an interval in my life. My weeks would look like 6, 6, 8 or 5, 4, 16. The previous 4 months included 2 marathons run around 3:30 and I was in training for Boston. There was no practice for distance guys, although a respected member of our community works with dist. guys I never had the pleasure of running under him. I stood at in lane 1 of a 1600M in a double meet with beat trainers on and the worst 25 or so mile weeks ever assembled by man under my belt. I took off in first and let one kid pass me at 200M, we came around and the lap was 61. I turned my head and yelled " WHAT?!". Needless to say, THAT was the hardest tank ever. The kid crawled in to a 4:4x or 4:5x win and I finished in 5:50. I came back better after Boston but that was because I did my first ever 200s, 400s, and 800s. I was actually able to win a 2 mile, but it was a low profile meet.

My first marathon, after starting a run program only 6 months beforehand. I ran the first half in a surprising 1:27, but limped home in 3:45... a positive split of 51 minutes. The wheels started coming off at about 16 miles, and fell off completely at about 20 miles.

So little time, so many choices ...

Probably the worst, statistically, would be my first and only marathon. I had been running pretty well for me, with a recent 47+ 15k and decided a few weeks out to enter the Detroit marathon. My longest run had only been 15 miles, but I figured as long as I ran 10-20 sec. slower than my 15k pace - or whatever it was that seemed equivalent at the time, that I'd be Ok.

Ran even-paced and comfortably through the half in 1:13+ and felt like I'd break 2:30. From miles 17-19, my legs turned very quickly into stone. Had to walk much of last 10k and ran 3:08.

One of the most laughably bad instances I've seen on the track was when a freshman on our team who was a 56-57 guy tried to do his first 800. 61/89 - 2:30. He laughed about it (after he recovered) and so did we.

Sophomore year of high school, I join the track team. Coming from a football background, when my coach told me I had to run twice around the track, I practically thought I was running the marathon. The most I had ever run in football was maybe 50 yards at a time.

Coming from a school without a track (we practiced in the school cafeteria and, due to terribly cold weather, we never actually ran outside until the first race), I had no idea what my pace should be in any event. First race of the season (and my life) the competitive juices take over in my 800 race. A seasoned runner from my school takes out the pace pretty fast and I come through the 400 in 65. My coach, about ready to shit himself with excitement that I'm not in last, tells me to "HANG ON!" I remember thinking to myself, "I feel great. I knew football players are tough and I'm going to be really good at this." With 300 meters to go, I'll never forget a gust of wind blew and I was so spent at the time I felt like I was in a hurricane. I felt like walking off the track. I felt like everyone in the crowd must have been laughing at me because, at this point, I was clearly shuffling, crawling, anything but running. Runner after runner passes me and I cross the finish line in 2:29. An impressive 65/84.

Luckily, getting my ass kicked in that race made me realize what a great sport this is and I ended up going on to compete in college.

In my senior year of high school the Sectional finals of the 3200. I'd won my league meet in the 3200 in 10:02. Not blazing but a pr and my first big meet victory. On the Thursday of the Sectional we had to run a semi to make it to the finals. I broke 10 for the first time ever. In the finals on Saturday, I'm sitting in good position in fourth, last of the lead pack with the next group falling behind. Going through the 1600 I'm really jazzed because I'd never qualified out of Sectional in my HS career and I'm on track to pr again. At 2400 I feel great, then on the backside I can feel IT happening. I get through that lap and as I go around the first turn I can just remember the weights being added to my shoulders. I get to 200 to go and the curve judge obviously sees what's going down and tells me I can still do it I have 50 yards on the next guy. Hitting the straight away my District asperations flew by me then another runner and as I hit the track and crawled across for 6th place I can remember thinking at least I scored. It was a memorable last HS race if nothing else.

I flew across the country to run in a 5k race. All these idiots on a message board were guessing how fast I would run. It was an evening race and was pretty warm about 84 degrees. I took off the first mile not realizing how hilly it was. Went through in 4:27. Managed to hold on for a 5:00 second mile and then staggered through a 5:15 third mile to finish in 15:16.

Two options for me. One is my first marathon: went out in 1:25 and was on pace for 2:50-2:55 which was my goal... ended up finishing in 3:15 and almost in the medical tent. My last 5k was over 30 minutes. Second, and in my mind this one is worse, was a 10 miler last year. I was coming off an intense weekend at Reach the Beach, developing a hamstring injury, and the course was downhill for 5 miles than uphill for 5. I was fit enough to run about an hour for 10 miles, but neglected to account for my sore hamstring, previous weekend of racing, and the unseasonable heat. Went out in 30:30 or something similar and felt very good, but crawled home in 65 something after discovering that 2+ miles of uphill running at that point in a race was completely impossible. Felt quite embarrassed.

hit 1200 in 3:18. Finished the 1600 in 4:45. yes, 1:27 for the last lap.

2:57 marathon. split 13.1 in 1:18:01/1:39 last half lots of walking stopping etc tanked real bad last 10k was 2:01 at 20 miles so 56 min last 10k. Tanked it BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5k on the track.

First mile 4:12. Second mile 4:17. Third mile 5:10. Threw up on myself that third mile.

My worst "tank" happened at a long course duathlon event (5 mi run - 62k bike - 5 mi run). I wasn't in that great of shape due to an injury so I was just trying to keep within myself on the first run. I split through a 32 low and then the wheels came off on the bike. It was an extremely windy day and I went out way too hard when the wind was at my back to start. After about 20 miles of punishment I ended up getting passed by an 8 year old girl riding a bmx bike with streamers coming from the handlebars. I dropped out of the race shortly thereafter.

My first XC race in HS (5k). I was a 2:03 800m runner my sophomore year. But 800m was the longest I had raced. I did lots of road work and was running with a 15min 5k guy on our team in practice. First race, I go out hard in a sub-5 mile. The second mile was 5:30 or so. My time was 18:39. My ex girlfriend (top runner on the girls' team) said to me, "I thought you were fast."

During many of those first races I used pray that a crazed madman would jump out of the woods and attack me so I'd have a good excuse to stop.

Ran a 10K in 95 degree weather. I went through 2 miles in 9:20 and finished the race in over 37 minutes. Over 28 minutes for the final 4.2 miles.

My first marathon... I ran a few halves in 1:20 so I figured I could run 2:50. Went out at 6:30s (except for a 5:56 that snuck in there), hit the half in 1:25, then was doing 8:00s by mile 18. By mile 22, every single muscle in my legs were spasming. I had to stop and stretch out all the charlie horses in my calves, quads, hamstrings and hips at mile 23. That mile was 14:30. Managed to hobble in to the finish line, where my legs promptly gave out and I sat on the sidewalk for half an hour before I could support myself on my feet again. Ended up running 3:19.

In my first 100-miler, I did the first 50 miles in 10 hours. I finished the race in 27 hours. At the mile 90 aid station, I passed out, and laid at the aid station for over an hour, before walking the final 10 miles.

Anybody ever crash harder than that?