How many racers have never won a race?

I won the Seattle Jingle Bell Run 5k in 2004.

I have run a few races in my career, but they are few and far between and due primarily to luck and limited field. I'm a woman, so I haven't won a race outright since high school (girls only track race), and I can count the number of races I've won since high school on one hand. (Graduated 21 years ago.)

Winning a race is awesome and very satisfying but because it's so random, I don't find it any more satisfying than a PR or placing well in a more competitive field.

Chris All wrote:

I won the Seattle Jingle Bell Run 5k in 2004.

The overahl or the elves division?

Interesting stuff. In summary it seems people think from “less that 1% to 20%” of people have one races or “99% to 80%” haven’t won a race.

What is this database of race results of pros this one dude spoke of? Is this publicly available?

I guess there have to be some runners who never win a race. I went undefeated in XC and Track (1600) my senior year in HS. Won a few track races (1500/steeple/5000m) in college, but never an XC race.

Now that I am in my forties winning overall is becoming harder and harder, although I have won the last 3 races I’ve entered (which is funny, because I am only base training and have entered the races purely for fun).

It is certainly easier to win local 5ks than when I was a kid. There are so many races each weekend where I live that you can run 19:00 and win some races.

Ugh... wrote:

If you've never won a race, you don't know how to cherry pick. Every metro area has tons of little charity 5ks that are won in 19, 20, 21 minutes. Go find one.

I'm old and WELL past my prime, but I still occasionally win road races overall just because there are so many lame ones around these days.

Totally. I've seen races won in 21 minutes with 50 entrants. There's a ton of lame races around.

Hobby Jogger Extraordinaire wrote:

Yep, even 10ks. Another thing to do is find two races close to each other, where one is a "big" race. Do the other race then (assuming you're decent/good). Like in Chicago, if there's a "small" race around the same time as the Shamrock Shuffle, Big 10K, or Rock n Roll Half Marathon, you should have a good shot at it.

This strategy falls apart if they award your weight in beer, or cash prizes for the winner of the smaller events. Like you aren't going to win the B.A.A. 5k because everyone else is doing the marathon.

if you haven't set up a race with someone a lot slower than you. or better yet, don't tell them that you're racing them so you can TAKE THAT WIN

fadsfadsf wrote:

I won the majority of 1600 meter races I ran in middle school.

^also the first line of his tinder bio

I haven’t won anything except a life long curse of being a social retard.

race winner wrote:

I have run a few races in my career, but they are few and far between and due primarily to luck and limited field. I'm a woman, so I haven't won a race outright since high school (girls only track race), and I can count the number of races I've won since high school on one hand. (Graduated 21 years ago.)

Winning a race is awesome and very satisfying but because it's so random, I don't find it any more satisfying than a PR or placing well in a more competitive field.

true-I didn't notch a win until I was 20 when I was running decent 5k times -low 15 min--as mentioned i could have cherry-picked a local 5k/Turkey Trot in my teens but I rather go in the bigger road races and have your teammates to race against and PB and get a top 10 and maybe top 3 in my age group---irony is now I won several races 3 years ago running significantly slower times-partly due to wanting to do local races a 5 minute drive from home -sure a win is nice, but essentially a glorified 5k tempo with maybe a few runners for the 1st mile then solo after that--hence I still like doing a bigger race a couple times a year to get a good time against better competition. As for the % of runners who have had a win, it's hard to say but it would be a heck of a lot less in 1986 when I started racing (way fewer races then but also quite competitive); that local age-group depth of road races has really gone down...

Portland guy wins his first race

https://www.flotrack.org/video/6257351-workout-week-portland-pilots-day-four

I’m part of the 2% that have won a race.

I have two overall 5k wins. I'm not particularly fast. Winning those two races was a bit of a thrill in each case. I've certainly had faster times and better performances and been nowhere near the win.

A friend who was a D1 runner told me, "When you win a race, you don't have to say who was there, what the time was, anything. 'I won it' That's enough."