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

I ran a 43 second last 200 in a mile when i was on pace to break 4:20 with a 1 lap to go (indoor) I got bumped and locked up really bad, i had never felt or seen anything like it because i was still trying really hard i just stopped moving

I never tanked epically, but I tanked consistently -- with dramatic exceptions.

In high school I produced dozens of 4:50-5:40 type 3200s.

I always thought that I would be able to hang on.

I was lured on by that one race that I would produce almost each season -- usually at a small triangular meet attended only by my school's scrub crew while the A-team was at a real meet -- where I would run only a slight negative split. I would win by 200-300 meters with a time fast enough to have scored for our team at the real meet.

Of course at conference when my coach sidelined a consistent 10:15 guy to let me run I went 4:50-5:40. My coach hated me.

That photo is f*cking classic.

Worst would have to be running a 4:45 1500 after going through the 800 sub 2:15. Don't race with the flu, kids.

That or coming in DFL in my state meet. I went out in 4:45 with the pack (2nd heat) and proceeded to completely die. I don't know why, I had just run 9:45 in horrible conditions, but the wheels came off and I struggled back for a 5:18 second mile in last.

I've shared this before in another thread. The year I ran my slow PB for the 400 (53.58), I entered a summer all comers meet. It had been two months since I did any running and thought I would try my hand at an 800. BIG MISTAKE! I went out in 60-61 and felt really good. But, 150m into lap 2 I realized I couldn't breath anymore. I figured, no problem, I'll just dig down and gut this out. My friend had me at 1:33 at 600. I DNF'd by stepping off the track at about 230m into lap 2. I was gasping for air like a fish out of water. I thought I was going to have a heart attack!

I gained a whole new level of respect for the 800 runners. Studs by every measure of the word.

First 10k ever on the track.

15:58/17:05...first mile in 5:01.

IHSA (Illinois) 1996 Sectional 3200m against Jorge Torres, Adam Wallace, and Terry Brennan. Was with them until the last lap. Ran the last 200m in something like 50 seconds (and I was trying).

Was going after my highschool school record which was 1:56 low, last 800 of my h.s. career. It was a dual meet against a pretty weak team, so it was going to be a time trial. Wanted to go out in 56 and then just come back in sub 60. Went through in 54, didn't even feel that fast at all at that point. Hit 600 in 1:23, still hopes of a good time. Somewhere around 650m at the top of the turn, i ran into a wall and crawled the last 100. Couldn't feel anything, felt like i wasn't even moving. Finished in 2:01. my pr was 1:57 at the time. Couldn't even move for about 30 mins after. just layed in the grass in a coma-like state.

1:58 at 20 miles, 3:23 total time, Houston 1998

for you math-challenged folks, thats 1:25 last 10k

State track, senior year. Move into 1st in the 1600m w/100m to go. Win is in the bag as I have the momentum. 1st->7th in 100m. Basically walked it.

johnny rotten wrote:

In my last Ironman (out of 7) I got off the bike and was flying on the run, going through 6 miles in under 40 minutes and feeling pretty good, when the wheels fell off. It took me nearly 5 hours to do the rest. I finished in about 12:30. I was deliriously singing Van Halen with my buddy, who bonked as well, by the time we finished.

*this* sucks....+4hrs of talking yourself into finishing.

I think to truly hit the wall in a race, you have to run a pretty perfectly paced race up until to point that you crash (ie. to perfectly hit the wall at 8km into a 10km, you have to run a pretty perfectly executed 8km effort).

When I was in the 11th grade, I ran a "perfect" 720m enroute in an 800m race. My PR going in was 2:02.9. The race went out fast, and I went out at a hard, yet relaxed and even pace - 27.4 at 200 and 55.8 at 400 in third place. Around 450-500 meters in, I felt lactic acid creep into my legs, but this once I was able to continue (sprinting) through it.

Coming off the final turn, I was in 2nd place about 5m behind the leader, still holding a good pace - when I hit lactic like I have never before or since felt. The whole field passed me over those last 80-90m, all finishing between 1:54 to 1:58. I stumbled across the line - still going all-out - in 2:03.3 ... I estimated later that my last 100m was about 23 seconds.

Incidently, the race leader also crashed somewhat in that last 100, finishing somewhere around 7th I believe in 1:56high.

worst i ever crashed:

i was sick- violently ill- during a conference championship. as i lined up for the 800, the starter had to halt while i puked on the infield.

i ran a 1:26 600, and was jostling for the top spot, a good 10m ahead of the 3rd runner.

i finished in 2:13.

A few yrs ago in Phoenix, I was having a great string of training, and wanted to lower my 5k pr...the Susan Komen Race for the Cure is often around 15 flat for the winner, and I wanted to see if I could get to around 15:30 (pr was 16:07). I went 5:07, 5:03, then totally blew up and did 7:39 for the last 1.1 miles, the last 300 felt like I was dragging a purple barney in a little red wagon, Ouch.