BTW, I did this and ended up winning one of the biggest races of my career (Orange Bowl) and it was hilarious because I ended up not getting any of the credit in a way. Super funny and lesson learned. BTW I did it so my coach wouldn't know I was racing instead of doing his workout that morning, but just felt great.
I'm a former 14:00 5000m runner, and while that was ~15 years ago now, I am still an okay runner. My local running scene is nothing but hobby joggers and normal people who occasionally run, so winning times at local 5ks are literally like 18:00 or slower. I really have no connection to the running scene here at all, but I've been running a lot this year and want to enter a race just as a fitness test. I don't care about people knowing I won or anything, and I was thinking of entering under a pseudonym just for fun, like something that is a little out there but is plausibly someone's actual name. My only concern is if people might find this disrespectful if they found out it wasn't my real name? What do you guys think?
I’d recommend not being a pvssy and using your real name. Nobody cares about a washed up, has-been 14 minute guy. You never won the trials and even if you did; no one would know your name.
It's not really to protect my name/ego. It's to have fun with a race that doesn't matter at all. I use my real name on races that do matter. This spring a ran a half marathon at a pace that was only a little faster than what I used to do my Sunday long runs at. I didn't feel ashamed at all. I actually proud since not many people my age are running that fast, even if it's much slower than I used to be.
I won a podunk 5k once under the name John Wesley Harding. Definitely a couple raised eyebrows at the awards from people familiar with either the Bob Dylan album or the Wild West outlaw.
I’d recommend not being a pvssy and using your real name. Nobody cares about a washed up, has-been 14 minute guy. You never won the trials and even if you did; no one would know your name.
It's not really to protect my name/ego. It's to have fun with a race that doesn't matter at all. I use my real name on races that do matter. This spring a ran a half marathon at a pace that was only a little faster than what I used to do my Sunday long runs at. I didn't feel ashamed at all. I actually proud since not many people my age are running that fast, even if it's much slower than I used to be.
Got it Run as Slofil Dragurnut. Lol . Hungarian runner. Pronounced Shlohful Drahkernoot. Slow fool dragger... NOT!!! Lol
I'm a former 14:00 5000m runner, and while that was ~15 years ago now, I am still an okay runner. My local running scene is nothing but hobby joggers and normal people who occasionally run, so winning times at local 5ks are literally like 18:00 or slower. I really have no connection to the running scene here at all, but I've been running a lot this year and want to enter a race just as a fitness test. I don't care about people knowing I won or anything, and I was thinking of entering under a pseudonym just for fun, like something that is a little out there but is plausibly someone's actual name. My only concern is if people might find this disrespectful if they found out it wasn't my real name? What do you guys think?
You better use a fake name because you will be trolled hard when you get chicked by a 12 year old girl!
Huge shout out to RunnersNerd for sharing this awesome footage:Follow here:https://www.youtube.com/@UC7yGfIYVj3npug2b2j6eQkw https://www.instagram.com/runner...
Having been there before at a high level, the real positive using your real name is that a lot of the runners might look you up and brag to their friends that they raced against you.
I ran against John Akii-Bua once in Aarhaus, Denmark after he won the Olympic Gold Medal. I drew the lane outside of him with my goal being how long I could stay ahead of him. He went past me shortly after I cleared the 2nd hurdler. I've been telling that story for 50 years now. It was an honor to be beaten into oblivion.
You do realize that unless you informed the organizers you stole the first place position from the female runner that came first. So many people on let's run are up in arms about trans runners taking away podium places from female runners but what you did happens way more often. My friends and I have been denied podium places so often by young male runners taking bibs from older females who for whatever reason couldn't race and not informing the organizers when they get a podium place.
I'm a former 14:00 5000m runner, and while that was ~15 years ago now, I am still an okay runner. My local running scene is nothing but hobby joggers and normal people who occasionally run, so winning times at local 5ks are literally like 18:00 or slower. I really have no connection to the running scene here at all, but I've been running a lot this year and want to enter a race just as a fitness test. I don't care about people knowing I won or anything, and I was thinking of entering under a pseudonym just for fun, like something that is a little out there but is plausibly someone's actual name. My only concern is if people might find this disrespectful if they found out it wasn't my real name? What do you guys think?
I can guarantee nobody cares whether you run 14:01 or 24:01. 14:00 isn't really all that good and maybe 1 or 2 may even remember you but unlikely at some small run.
If you've got that big of an ego over your sub elite former time then you must either live a very simplistic life or you're no different than any other kid who thinks they peaked in HS and wonders why life let them down.
As a former 14:35/1:08 guy myself all I can say is get a life dude.
To answer the other part of your question - I'd skip the boring tiny races and just race 1-2x a year in bigger more competitive runs.
When I was coming back from injury I hadn't run for about six months and one morning I just fancied doing a race, just for the experience of it really. I missed it.
I signed up under the name of an animal as I didn't want a really crappy time with my name by it.
I'm sure no one would've cared but they didn't mind about the animal name either so...
I'm a former 14:00 5000m runner, and while that was ~15 years ago now, I am still an okay runner. My local running scene is nothing but hobby joggers and normal people who occasionally run, so winning times at local 5ks are literally like 18:00 or slower. I really have no connection to the running scene here at all, but I've been running a lot this year and want to enter a race just as a fitness test. I don't care about people knowing I won or anything, and I was thinking of entering under a pseudonym just for fun, like something that is a little out there but is plausibly someone's actual name. My only concern is if people might find this disrespectful if they found out it wasn't my real name? What do you guys think?
I can guarantee nobody cares whether you run 14:01 or 24:01. 14:00 isn't really all that good and maybe 1 or 2 may even remember you but unlikely at some small run.
If you've got that big of an ego over your sub elite former time then you must either live a very simplistic life or you're no different than any other kid who thinks they peaked in HS and wonders why life let them down.
As a former 14:35/1:08 guy myself all I can say is get a life dude.
To answer the other part of your question - I'd skip the boring tiny races and just race 1-2x a year in bigger more competitive runs.
if the OP literally wants to know would people be bothered, how do i put this, the odds of people being irked probably rise as either the town gets smaller or the town gets better at running. if the town is small enough there is nowhere to hide and a pseudonym can't so much hide you as make things awkward. and if the town is better at running then people will be annoyed. the premise seems to be the town is big enough one can hide but yet somehow has no other good runners. but if you're already anonymous in a big town then why do you need the disguise. and to me the bigger the town the more the odds go up you have underestimated some mix of the other adults and the new kids coming up. [i always thought people's hopeful theories on how their college sports experience would progress neglected that the coach is out there recruiting more people for next season, and for 2 more years after that. you work on elevating your game but the coach makes his own moves......]
personally i moved back to my hometown after college and for the whole decade i kept bumping into or playing against old soccer teammates and opponents the whole time, and that's a big city.
it's also a static view of the community. you can maybe hide one race. afterwards, if it goes to your dreams, people will want to know who you are. even if they get a fake name your fake name would develop a reputation the 2nd, 3rd time around. i think that would be true even someplace like NY. it's a subset of a subset and people start to know who you are.
i am still asking, "why?" and it's not to be a jerk, it's an interesting angle at self-analysis. and i don't mean the superficial, first answer for why. i mean why do you want to interact with this town this way. or why do you think of yourself in a way you want both dominance and yet anonymity. it's kind of batman and batman's not normal.
If this is a former 14 guy, I would think that they would want to run but be anonymous so that people don't attack what they are vs what they were.
For me, 18 would be a wildest dream.
For a former 14 guy (and probably a competitor in the OTQ), 18 would look different. Places like letsrun and other media, real or assumed, are very intrusive and Mr. Anon probably doesn't want the hassle. If it is AJ and I believe it is... this place has had some awful things to say. And it's easier to take the flak at 26 then it is at 35, or whatever age OP is if it's not who I think. It makes sense
first off, we're assuming a 14 guy worried about 18 wouldn't get clear signals from well-monitored practice. eg when i set a PR in my other sport, i was practicing 10% over the old PR. that's where i get more than a little skeptical here. if he's scared, there's a reason.
second, it comes across contradictory if it's like, well, i want to do some big races and hide for the local one. eg when i set my PR in my other sport, i was building to a later world class event. the PR event was the go, no-go for am i ready for the bigger stage in december. if i am hiding in october, does this sound like i am trending towards being ready for the big ones? i mean, it's a prep race, but if it's prep for a serious schedule, don't you need to be kind of committed and seeing if the serious one isn't a waste of time?
last, if you're hung up on i once did a 14 then you need to be retired or shifted to some other distance because that's done and dusted and everything now is diminishing returns. even if it's not 18 it's gonna be 15 and you used to be 14. are you gonna like that? and the big race won't be magically that much better other than what training subtracts. you're fighting ghosts. you either should get comfy in your new skin or mix things up, new distances, new sports. unless you hire a coach and train for the olympic trials, it's all downhill in the same event from college. i could score a glorious goal in men's league soccer and it's i'm a shadow of myself playing on sunday against guys worse than the weakest team i saw in college. so to me either all-in or do something else.
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