Yelled at by a kid's parent at a local race

aasd234 wrote:

This is a typical start around my area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpZeThJT-NQ

That chip mat is about four feet wide. Nothing like a congested start. Imagine if the race drew a couple of thousand runners. It would take 10 minutes to squeeze everyone thru that chute.

aloha warrior wrote:

aasd234 wrote:

This is a typical start around my area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpZeThJT-NQ

That chip mat is about four feet wide. Nothing like a congested start. Imagine if the race drew a couple of thousand runners. It would take 10 minutes to squeeze everyone thru that chute.

Gasparilla had 11k in the 5k.

agreebroskie wrote:

You did the right thing, although you could have asked the kid if it was okay that you cut in front of him. Most races that i've run do tell the slower runners, strollers, etc.. to get toward the back so they don't get trampled.

__________________________

Yes, but you are assuming a 9 year old has logic about pace and realistic about his ability. Remember when you were that age? you thought you could run as hard as you want for as far as you wanted. And, do you remember being that age knowing how far 1 mile is? I used to think it was once around the block. When I coached high school xc and track, I even had high schoolers telling me they ran 8,9,10 miles, only to find out they really ran closer to 6, or 7 miles.

My point is, this is as old as time. I'm in my 50's. I have won my share of races in the ny city area and suburbs, and this is something we have all encountered.

I have been at races where the director has used the bullhorn, and said to the front line "unless you are running 5:30 pace or faster please move back.." Many of the little kids don't budge.

Why? because that number means nothing to them.

Believe me, you did nothing wrong, and the director may have helped by speaking up, but it really would not have made a difference.

Enjoy the race, and know that these kids are the future of long distance running. Try encouraging them while letting them know about safety at the start line. emphasise safety, not their place in line.

No 9 year old waits and lets others go through a doorway. they push through as fast as they can. Why? because that's the lifestyle they live with other 9 year old, and that's the whole world they know. Bottom line; They could be a great runner someday.

Good luck.

It seems that some people think that I pushed my way in or shoved a little kid out of my way, all I did was walk to the start line and stand in front. I have never raced a race in my area that I haven't been top 5 so I am quite aware of the local running scene. We do have some fast high schoolers and I would never think of getting in front of them, but 10 and under kids or people that that it is very obvious don't belong at the front of the starting line, I have no problem stepping in front of them.

was that really a 5k wrote:

not his fault wrote:

The ridiculous comment on the video on Youtube:

"Oh my goodness! Look at that kid in front! I bet he ran a great time! Can't wait to see him in the olympics one day!"

Here is another race that company put on.

Listen around 15 seconds in!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYnCJbB2HVI&list=UU_ygaW6PsH30LcfVD9LQrlQ&index=8&feature=plcp

This thread is providing a thorough LMFAO experience. Thanks to all.

It's crazy where I live in Oaxaca.

I recently ran a local race, the prize money was good so the group of ten or so Kenyans who live and train here showed up. Maybe six guys and three our four women. I ran the 5K, so I witnessed the start of the 10K.

The start was narrow (?), maybe 30 feet across. There were all sorts of people up front who didn't belong there, overweight jokers with big smiles.

There was also crowding at the line, it was like a Who concert up there! The Kenyans and local Oaxacan elites fit in as best they could with no complaint.

At the gun, the chubby contingent sprinted the first 50-80 meters, further messing things up. the Kenyans started slow and patient.

Needless to say, we had a group of three Kenyans emerge, running maybe a 4:40 pace, far to the front. We're at 5000 + feet.

I wish the race directors here were a bit more professional!

Great advice.

Nike sponsored a 5k for Kids series and came to Denver a couple years ago.

The start had all the pace signs, etc...I was right around the 6:00 mark and 90% of who was ahead of me were the 8 year olds, their parents with strollers and a bunch of what wound up being walkers with the good ol #'s on the back.

Gun goes off and most start walking and strolling, just like you'd see at your normal park...6 wide ...forcing most on to the sidewalk just to get around them as they chatted with latte's in hand.

It was an out and back...half of them decided to just turn around when they saw they'd have to go up the hill and again were 6-8 across on the road and blocking the leaders (not I) on the way back...

Out of fairness to the little kids who really can run a fast 5K and need to be somewhere near the front, albeit not the first row, I think the race director should specify general zones. Rows 1-4 for runner who know they can run sub 18, last 10 rows for walkers and people with dogs and strollers, etc. I would have probably asked for an announcement to be made. After that, the parent or guardian should guide the child to the most appropriate start location. My kids were pretty strong finishers, so I'd usually tell them to start back in row 5 or 6, depending on the looks of the competitors and start line length.

I wish they'd just do XC style starts where possible. Most of the races in my town start in or right next to a large public open space, yet none of them use a one-deep start. I know it's not possible in a lot of places, but if you're starting in a large park anyway, why not use an arc instead of a 30 foot wide starting line?

The sad thing is, the same parent yelling at the OP for "bullying" his/her kid will be the one in the face of the race director, volunteers, etc. when the kid gets knocked over and injured. Then will sue everyone for negligence. But, of course, will forget that the OP provided a tacit warning by asking the kid to move back.

XC start wrote:

I wish they'd just do XC style starts where possible. Most of the races in my town start in or right next to a large public open space, yet none of them use a one-deep start. I know it's not possible in a lot of places, but if you're starting in a large park anyway, why not use an arc instead of a 30 foot wide starting line?

I think that a big part of this is the electronic timing they use these days. Most of the time,if they just made the start as wide as the whole road, it would be fine (or a lot better) but the cheap timing company only brings 15 feet of "chip detector wire" so you run into this absurd situation where the start is the narrowest part of the entire race.

was that really a 5k wrote:

not his fault wrote:

The ridiculous comment on the video on Youtube:

"Oh my goodness! Look at that kid in front! I bet he ran a great time! Can't wait to see him in the olympics one day!"

Here is another race that company put on.

Listen around 15 seconds in!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYnCJbB2HVI&list=UU_ygaW6PsH30LcfVD9LQrlQ&index=8&feature=plcp

This made my day

Reminds me of an experience I had back in 2004. I was standing at the starting line of the Mt. Washington Road Race where they have 1000 starters crammed into one road lane. I was shooting for a top 30 finish and there were at least 30 guys on the line, so I got there early and squeezed into a spot on the line. One minute before the start, some guy runs up to the line and literally pushes me back. I said, "WTF was that?" He responded with something unintelligible in some weird accent and then the gun went off. I figured that the guy was a total a$$ and forgot about it. After all, 7 miles uphill races tend to sort themselves out regardless of where you start.

After the race I was getting some food and I looked over and that guy was up on stage doing a TV interview. It was Jonathan Wyatt, course record holder, world mountain champ, and New Zealand Olympian. He was still a d!ck, but he deserved to be there.

In both his case and your case, the right thing to do is say, "I am looking to contend for the win here, do you mind if I get a spot on the line?"

So you don't think there is a difference between getting in front of a full grown man that is there to race and stepping in front of a 10 year old that just happened to have lined up in front?

finish before you start wrote:

aloha warrior wrote:

That chip mat is about four feet wide. Nothing like a congested start. Imagine if the race drew a couple of thousand runners. It would take 10 minutes to squeeze everyone thru that chute.

Gasparilla had 11k in the 5k.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYMEMH0gO78

That's ridiculous. Gasparilla is usually a well-run race. I did the half marathon one year and it wasn't a cluster****. Ryan Hall actually ran it one year.

mountains wrote:

After the race I was getting some food and I looked over and that guy was up on stage doing a TV interview. It was Jonathan Wyatt, course record holder, world mountain champ, and New Zealand Olympian. He was still a d!ck, but he deserved to be there.

In both his case and your case, the right thing to do is say, "I am looking to contend for the win here, do you mind if I get a spot on the line?"

Haha, I owe Jonathan Wyatt money.

I could not disagree with DDD more strenuously. When a slow adult gets on the start line of a race, it's dangerous enough. When a parent permits, or encourages, his child to get on the starting line, it's additionally dangerous, because the kid's small stature, on a tightly packed start line, makes it impossible for faster runners to see the kid. This is likely to result in the kid getting knocked to the ground, with the additional danger of hundreds of runners coming from behing having to go over or around the kid on the pavement. I had the experience of getting clipped from behind and knocked to the pavement in the first twenty or thirty meters of a race, with maybe 2,000 behind me. Believe me, I was a grown man at the time and it was quite frightening.

Ellery Queen wrote:

Gasparilla had 11k in the 5k.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYMEMH0gO78

That's ridiculous. Gasparilla is usually a well-run race. I did the half marathon one year and it wasn't a cluster****. Ryan Hall actually ran it one year.[/quote]

I ran Gasparilla that year and it is a great race. Those people could not care less that they didn't even start when the winners had already finished. I ran the 15k and was watching that 5k and it took me a minute to figure out what was going on.