Runners don't need eyes in the back of their head. During races they're aware of being lapped. In the past some have shown courtesy. But it seems to be wavering like manners.
Passing a lapped runner is just like passing a runner in front of you.
Might be old school, but my first big invite 2-miler in high school, we were told runners about to be lapped, to step off the track. And yes, being a 10+ minute sophomore, the winning 9.08 guy dropped me.
With that said, I agree with you. You should move out to lane 2 if there's a record on the line. And the runners who were definitely going to get lapped should have been in the B heat.
In the case of HS, I will almost always lap someone in the 3200, as they run both heats together. While I am not going for any sort of record, I think it is best for people to just stay in the inside lane. It can be confusing/annoying if they swing out while I am going around.
The practice way back was that you couldn't finish when you got lapped, and they would take kids out down to the places. The problem is that there was not chance for somebody to run strong late to pick off a place. Plus, many of the tracks were 160's, not 200's. Later, they told runners to get outside when getting lapped but it didn't work either. In races where there was a group or a few in front (more than one), people would move out and cut off somebody else close to the lead. It caused way many more problems than it solved. Stay in lane 1 and you everybody knows what's going to happen.
In a perfect world, it would be best for lapped runners to move out but generally those who are getting lapped aren't having a good race/are pretty tired and aren't aware of those coming up behind them. You'd need officials telling people specifically to move out and when or risk spontaneous moving and possibly crashing into the leaders.
That being said, it's ridiculous Grant and Moh had to lap so many guys and especially Elise Cranny in an american record attempt. The ones actually going for the record should had a separate heat to avoid this problem entirely.
It was appalling watching Grant and Mo have to pass lapped runners on the turn by going outside them. Yeah, yeah I get it. You're a 28 low 10k guy and have never been lapped before. But for crying out loud, have some basic common courtesy and respectfully move out to lane two so the record-seekers can have lane one. This used to be accepted etiquette. At the very least the starter should remind competitors of this just before the gun.
Terrible post.
As a runner who is usually doing the lapping and not getting lapped, I have no problem running by people.
If there are on the rail, which of course they would be, you barely need to move over for a couple of strides. If done well, it can't possibly add more than 0.2 seconds by by estimate.
What IS a problem is runners thinking they're doing you a favor and easing out a bit (like the outside half of lane one) but not enough to be clear if they are letting you through or not. Nobody is thinking straight with three laps to go in a hard 10,000, and the best most predictable thing is for everyone to carry one running normally, not swerving around.
This was discussed last year when Sisson was lapping everyone in the 10k at the trials. Officials told the runners beforehand to NOT move to lane two and everyone knew this and apparently appreciated it because tried runners trying to correctly time when someone was coming up behind them could result in poorly timed moves and collisions.
When I was watching the race, I was in the “lane two!” group but after hearing this after the race I agree with the reasoning and believe people shouldn’t move to lane two.
The biggest favor you can do to someone passing you (lapping or otherwise) is to hold your line. Moving out risks interference, which could easily lead to a DQ.
A lot of cheerleaders for slow pokes. I guess LR is mostly hobby joggers these days. Note I'm not talking about a requirement, just proper etiquette. And yes, racers should have enough situational awareness to move into lane two well before the leaders are right on his heels.
The balls to call someone a 200m lap behind Grant Fisher a "hobby jogger". In an indoor race that's like 30 seconds behind, just shut up dude it's more predictable if they stay in lane 1.
It’s not unpredictable if the overtaking runner calls track. If you aren’t stepping off the rail when asked you’re a doofus in my book as you’re intentionally impeding when you’re hopelessly out of contention.
They say the same thing in driving school, don't be polite, be predictable. People trying to jump out of the way last second has disaster written all over it.
Watch a few championship 10,000m races and see what happens when a group laps someone who steps out into lane 2. A couple of runners can make it up the inside of the lapped runner, but anyone wider has to veer out and go around. This creates a massive disadvantage for anyone running wide. If people just stick to the curb, then no one is disadvantaged relative to their opposition.
In F1, lapped cars must yield and move over. While crash risks on the tracks are vastly different, the common principle is that slow participants not impede much faster ones, thus affecting the competitive result.
But in F1 they have race radio so the driver is being told by his team manager exactly what is going on behind him. Runners do not have the same luxury.
I've run in masters 10,000 m races where multiple age groups are on the track at the same time and so have experienced the pleasures of lapping and being lapped in the same race. The best organised races were when we were told to stay in lane 1 when being lapped. In those races every lapping incident was predictable. In other races no instructions were given and the race would soon have a Russian roulette feel to it.