Let's Hear It: What's Your Worst Race Ever?

Boston 2012. Too damn hot - lots of cramping and walking - finished one hour slower than my qualifying time.

One meet a couple years ago, I ran 34:5x. It was a big meet and I was feeling good until the gun went off. At half a mile, my legs just wouldn't respond. I kept getting slower and slower, until finally that thing was over. The next week, I ran 28:10 on another tough course, more in line with what my times should be.

i think the worst race when it goes wrong is 10000m track. i ran 16.30 for a road 5k and then was forced to run a track 10k for my club as no one else will do it. i was fine through 8 laps ans then seeing 17 to go i fell apart. i ended up running outside 42minutes which was slower than my easy/ steady running pace. i must have been near 8mm for the last couple of miles. i also got lapped im not even sure how many times. 7/8 maybe by the leaders. luckily there was another guy that although a long way up on me didnt actually lap me but god that last lap was soul destroying. i got a standing ovation for the 2+ minutes it took me to drag my dehydrated embarrassed ass around it. i thought about quitting during the race but luckily just found it funny afterwards. we all have terrible races at some point just move on and leave them.

Las Vegas Marathon 2003. When my wife and I arrived in Vegas we found the trip to the hotel less that intuitive. We made the mistake of taking a shuttle van, which stopped at every hotel except ours and dropped us off nearly an hour later. We were not off to a good start. I did easy runs each morning and got the kinks out from the long trip. We heard some bad news about a front coming through before the race, but people told us we’d just get a stronger tail wind. A friend joined us the next day and we out for a nice pre-race meal. The wind was started to pick up, but it was still looking like a tail wind but it was possibly swirling and getting stronger. We hit the rack early since the race started at 7:30 am. Then things started going wrong. Around 7 the fire alarm went off and a check out the door showed the hallway full of smoke. The intercom kept shrieking but the announcements said stay in your room. It turned out a kid across the hall had incinerated some Microwave popcorn and opened the door to air out the room, setting off the hallway alarm. OK, by 8 we were back in bed attempting to sleep. Then the conventioneers came home around midnight. And they had company. And boy did she have a set of lungs on her. Gail, who was in the next room, could hear the goings on so you have an idea what we heard just a few feet away. Needless to say the gals in the old stag movies couldn’t hold a candle to our next door visitor. She certainly earned her keep that night. Our neighbors finally exhausted themselves after several shifts around 2 am. Only 2 hours left to sleep. The alarms went off and we started our pre-race rituals. I slipped on my shorts and headed outside. It was WINDY. Very windy. And from the wrong direction. We got our various preparations out of the way and caught a ride with some fellow marathoners down to the bus pickup. Much trepidation was in the air. The long ride to the start was ripe with speculation about the weather. Our arrival at the start ended the speculation. Whatever we thought the wind would be like, it was worse. It was blowing over the portajons. I had purchased a Tyvek shell to wear at the start and I was happy to have it. The wind made things very cold so I was happy for the gun. As first things went well, after 3 miles I was slightly ahead of planned pace despite the wind, which had now mostly a cross wind. Some sun once we were out of the mountains made things feel warmer and I tied my shell around my waist. Through 5 miles I was on pace and looking forward to the downhill portion of the course. Then we came up over a rise and made a slight turn to the left. That meant we were going into the wind. Once we were no longer behind the mountain rise, the wind grew stronger and by 10 miles I dropped the Tyvek because it kept catching the wind. My planned 6:50 pace dropped to 7:20—7:30 pace as I fought in headwind. I still had hopes for a 3:15 and I hadn’t seen any other potential Clydesdales pass me. There was still hope. By the half marathon point I was only a minute off pace but we had turned more into the wind and now it was gusting badly. I met up with an Aggie brother and we were running together trying to stay with various packs that would form and disintegrate with each big gust of wind. By 15 I was thinking heck, it can’t get any worse so I might as well hang on and just get a Boston qualifier. I was wrong. Very wrong. The gusts picked up to what I later learned was 40-50 miles per hour. I kept getting blown off the road or into other runners as we tried in vain to break the wind in packs. Another Aggie caught up and I ran with him and his friend he was pacing. By 18 8:30 to 9 minute miles were hard and any hope at consistent pacing had gone by the wayside. I decided then that at the next bus I was stopping. A sub 3:10 wasn’t happened, a sub 3:20 wasn’t happening, and worst of all a sub 3:25 needed for Boston might not happen. At 20 I bid my friends goodbye and stepped off the course. My entire right side ached from the constant wind gusts from the left blowing me around. The shelter of the bus felt good, but I was sad to rack up my first marathon DNF.

My last college xc race ever was probably my worst. Senior year college, 1986, conference/NCAA regional in Clinton, Mississippi at Choctaw Trails. Thought I was in about mid 32 shape and had run about 26 flat for 8k about a month earlier. But it was hot, I was over-anxious, went out to fast and faded to just under 35:00.

Most memorable thing about that race, though, was a tragedy. A guy from a team I don't remember dropped just past the finish line in cardiac arrest. EMTs worked on him for a while and took him off in an ambulance. We found out later he died.

The Dingo wrote:

I got lapped by a kid with one arm in a high school 3k. But on the other hand, he wasn't disabled.

Good thing.

Freshman year high school, first invitational. Teammate trod on my heel and took off my spikes. Put the shoe back on and rushed to catch the field. Passing slowpokes at around 200 meters I hit a metal post and was knocked out cold. Woke up with coach standing over me.

Good thread, but not all bad races turn out to be bad experiences. 2013 NXN Southwest Regionals in Gilbert Az was one of those memorable moments for me. I was training for the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon when I got an email from race place events about the NXN race.

At first I wasn't sure why I got this email since I am a masters runner and assumed that this race was for H.S. competitors only. However, upon clicking on the registration link, found out there was an open race. I was in like Flynn and signed up. I hadn't run in a C.C. event since H.S. and looked forward to reliving the good ole days racing in open country. Well, Mother Nature had some surprises in store for my return to the open country.

The race was held at the Toka Sticks Golf Course and it had been raining for two days straight. The course was saturated and a drainage channel that bisected the course was flowing with shin deep water and the race course crossed the channel four times. The open race started at 8 AM and it was cold, windy and still raining when the starter's pistol fired.

I brought 3 pairs of shoes my trainers (Hurricanes) trail shoes (Peregrines) and flats (A4's). I went with the A4's because of the drain slots in the sole of the shoes. The peregrines had better traction and support for the uneven footing but would have become water logged bricks on the feet.

I started the race at good clip considering the weather and horrible footing, until the first channel crossing. The channel was about 30FT across and 8FT deep at the bottom with shin deep running water. The grass was slick and ground soft and your feet sank into the muddy bottom of the channel as you crossed it. So, you got wet, muddy and your feet came up caked in mud. Good times......

After the first channel crossing the course changed direction into the stinging wind driven rain. There I was slogging along in the freezing rain with mud caked shoes trying to muster a race worthy effort. At that point I gave up trying to run quick tempo because the footing was absolute $hit. I rolled my ankles more time in this race than I had all year trail running. So, I spent most of my effort focusing on staying upright and moving forward without falling. Oh what I would have given for a good pair of cross country spikes.

Well, to make a long story less long, the race was far from my fastest or best effort. In fact, I finished two minutes slower than my usual 5k effort. I was sore, cold, wet and spent. There was no award waiting for me at the finish but it was a lot of fun and I would do it again.

1500 at a mid season conference meet my Freshman year in college. I had a 3:58 pr from high school. I was battling a nasty respiratory infection for a few weeks but decided to train through it. I ran a 4:24 to finish dead last and way behind the closest guy. Afterwards I could not stop coughing and hacking up stuff. Never felt so drained,weak and slow in a race.

Very good thread. I've read all the stories so far and had some good laughs. Seems like a lot of embarrassingly bad races happen on the track bc spectators/teammates can watch every second of your struggle. There's also a good amount of Boston blow-ups here. Mine is a Boston blow-up from 2008.

Was n00b runner, but was in pretty good shape. Had run 2:59 in my first marathon having decided to sign up three weeks in advance after I PR'ed by 5 minutes in the half marathon. Had some good training runs leading up to Boston and thought I was a real bad@ss running 60-70 mile weeks.

Goal was sub 2:50. Start feeling flat around 8 miles and was scared that I found what I was afraid was my second wind around 10 miles. Came through the half in 1:24 feeling ok, but by the time I hit 15 it was very obvious things were not going to get any better. Went from 6:20s to 7 minutes, to 7:30 in a hurry and took my first walk break (ever) in the 16th mile. By 20, I was mainly walking as the quads simply couldn't take the pounding anymore. Should have dropped out, but just kept walk-running the whole way in. Logged a couple 14+ minute miles. Staggered home in 3:38, for an excellent 2:14 second half. Had to go to the emergency tent afterwards because I couldn't walk anymore.

5 years later, I came back in again what I thought was excellent shape at the time. Ran a 1:13 first halfand 1:24 second half for 2:37. Much better result, but was in way better shape than that. Boston will chew you up and spit you out if you don't take it seriously.

I ran a 10K race last week that was so badly organized that nobody knew where they were going. There was a 5K course and a 10K course, both with several switch-backs and inner-loops and outer-loops.

I think the idea was that 10k runners were supposed to do two of the outer-loop and one of the inner-loop, and 5k participants were supposed to do three of the inner-loop and one of the outer-loop, or something. Even the cyclist leading the race didn't know where she was going. My friend apparently won the race, coming in 1st and he said he only ran 4 miles. I ran a little over 5 miles but I knew something was wrong when I noticed that slow people I had passed earlier were ahead of me on the final stretch. No two people I talked to afterwards had the same distance on their watch. The whole thing was a big mess but it was really funny.

So I guess this isn't the worst race ever but it was definitely the worst organized and it was a lot of fun.

long time lurker, why not share a bit:

drunk night before, sophomore year DIII, decide to sleep in front team-mates dorm door so he wakes me up when he goes to the van. drunk-spins in the van on the way to the meet. basically wake up about 3 miles into the 5 miler. On the good side, I only had to run a 2 mile race. On the bad side… god that was a brutal 2 miles. everything hurt.

second worse, high school invite, i'm favorite to win, coach screws up start times, stops van at mc'ds for breakfast and i chow down a few egg-mcmuffins, thinking i have till 11am. We get there an hour later at like 9:30 for a 9:45 start. No warm-up, no bathroom break, straight to the line. No idea what the course looks like. I end up around 2 miles at the side of a hill blowing massive chunks. think i ended up second but teammates never let me hear the end of it. singlet was a mess!

4:16 mile, 14:30 5k, 30 flat 10k. so not a great runner, but lots of miles in the mud. where we should be. hated the track.

In 1991, I was in law school in Virginia. I was also the assistant cross country coach for the undergrad so I was able to keep up my running. I entered the Warm to Hot Springs race (it was either an 8k or a 10k I don't remember and there are two towns in Virginia - one named, Warm Springs and the other named, Hot Springs).

I started out leading the thing and took a turn to the right. About 30 seconds later, I hear my buddy yelling at the top of his lungs, "Turn around, you went the wrong way!" So I go from first to last in no time. Turns out the entire field did not follow me. Some guy who had probably run the course before was one of them.

Half the pack followed me and the other half followed him. I tried to make up the lost ground too quickly because I panicked. I ended up second overall after fighting through everyone. The other guy won it. Not the worst experience but definitely frustrating. One of the women's coaches who was also running the race (in an attempt to make me feel better) came up to me after the race and said I probably wouldn't have won it anyway. Yeah, thanks a lot.

The worst "race" came later that fall. I was in great shape for 8k/10k so I decided to run a mile time trial (brilliant, right?). I ended up running a 4:20 by myself on the track but screwed up my achilles for the fourth time in four years. The trainer at the school was a real jerk and wouldn't let me use the whirlpool/ice bath since I wasn't an undergrad. I went to the doctor and he prescribed these ibuprofen horse pills (800mg a pop and 3 a day). Something is wrong when you start lifting weights after not having done any lifting for years and you never get sore. I ended up getting an ulcer from all this and abort my comeback from the achilles injury.

Unfortunately, I waited 18 years before I tried running again. I've only had minor achilles problems since and wish I would've given it a try sooner. Better late than never.

Senior year of HS, 110H at the county meet. The guy next to me had always been faster than me, but I was probably on track for a PR because I managed to keep up, within about a step. The guy crushes my 8th hurdle just before I get there. As I'm going over, it's bouncing back up at me (these are the hurdles designed to stay down). I land awkwardly on my lead foot, faceplant. I pick myself up and finish the last couple hurdles, because why not?

Deep bone bruise or maybe fracture on my heel. Done for the season. Hurts throughout my freshman year DIII (the following year). I quit track because I'm sick of being in pain all the time (also had ankle injuries on the other leg).

After 11 years off, started hobbyjogging a couple years ago.

after writing my story in this thread, i realized that people probably dont want to read something that long and i thought this thread in general was just a great idea so i posted a video to my youtube channel in which i talk about my worst race ever (same story i wrote). link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsyFpPPqslI

My last (and LAST) marathon. Blew up, suffered a foot and Achilles issue since then as I was hitting forty.

It's all over.

MY WORST RACE EVER

My worst race ever came in the BroadStreet 10 Miler. Being in my mid-50's, I have long ago PR's of 2:23 for the marathon and Ran sub-31:00 in NCAA Division 1 X-C, including a 30:45 for individual qualifying from a NCAA Regional

BTW, I have a twin brother who ran a 2:32 marathon back then (early to mid 1980's). We went to a Division 1 University on "Twin Scholarships".

Fast Forward 30 something years: Now,after running a 1:24(my 5 mile and 10 mile splits were each 32:15) Half Marathon at Philly in September 2009 at age 52 on 480 total miles training from scratch, I continued to train hard all winter/spring for The Broad Street 10 Miler in Philly--which was the first Sunday in May, 2010. I was very fit--

Expecting to run under 63:00 and maybe break 62:00 for the 10 Miler, I "ripped" an 81:17 (8:11.7/Mile) at full tilt on a great weather day! My last mile was 7:48 and I really pushed it, leaving nothing out there.

The next year, I ran low 63-low at age 53, then 62-low at age 54 in 2012.

To this day, I still cannot understand what happened!

I ran the worst race of my life just this morning. I had run 12 half marathons in 1:33-1:39. My #13 was 1:49, TEN minutes slower than my second worst.

It was a hot and humid morning, so I started out conservatively, and ran the first 5k in 23:00. Around 8k, I started feeling some pain on my right butt, and I decided to slow down a little bit, hoping that it will get better. The second 5k was 24:18.

Instead of getting getter, pain got worse, and it started spreading through my hamstring. This got me really worried, since I have had multiple hamstring strains. I slowed dowqn even further, and 3rd 5k was 26:47.

The 16th km of this course is net downhill, which I ran in 4:05 last year. This year, it took 5:04. After that, I decided to stop "racing" and just reaching the finish without blowing up my leg became the only goal.

In addition to being the worst time by 10 min, this is also the worst in place. I had never finished lower than 4th in my age group in six previous editions of this half marathon. I was 7th today. And 2nd place was over 1:40, slower than all of my previous 12 half marathons.

This was really my unlucky #13.

Freshman year of college in the indoor 800:

PR of 1:56 from HS, i'm in way better shape. Fell in lap 2, did the whole chariots of fire thing to catch up and then legs went dead. 2:07. Ran 4:13 the next week. That whole week leading up to redemption i felt like a bum.

HS XC:

Won state qualifying while sick, 2nd at conference in most competitive conference in state, expected to be podium/top ten with a sub par race. Won a lot of races in season. Team ranked #1 in state.

I was still sick the night before state. Spent the morning of state clearing my nostrils. Like really trying to get it out for hours in the shower. Took cold medicine before my race. Ran 17:32. Team takes 4th. It was all my fault. They all ran PRs. Still kicking myself for taking a medicine that can make you drowsy before a race.