Thats ridiculous, you should always finish as strong as you can, no matter who you're racing. You shouldn't have to worry about her race strategy, her sex is irrelevant, she's another competitor and if you can outkick her then you definitely should, I always finish races all out and I don't understand why you would think that thats somehow insulting to someone you happened to be racing next to.
A race is a race, so why not fight until the end? Now if its just a local race and you're throwing elbows or something like that, that's probably taking it too far regardless of gender. But why give up time and/or placings just to be "nice". Be nice on and off the course and race fiercely on it.
Now I did let a younger girl out kick me at the end of a 10k once, but the circumstances were atypical. I got to the race late and started over 3 minutes after the gun as a result. After working my way through most of the field (~500) I just didn't feel like kicking it for a 14th vs 15th place finish, aside from my legs being shot by that point. She did kick it in for all she was worth though. Incidentally I believe my on course time was either 8 seconds faster or slower than the winner, so I was a little pissed I got there so late.
Another time at a local road race, much to my surprise I had a woman on my heels towards the finish. It was for the win, so I out kicked her with no hesitation. Turned out she was a 2x Olympian.
Jewon wrote:
I ran a 2:33 marathon once and I won't say where, but the female winner caught me at around mile 20, a Russian woman. The woman just sat on my arse and would not share pacing duties.
What's the problem? You got an opportunity to race like elites do. You could have practiced your short surge tactics, or you could have coolly calculated when to speed up for a last kick. Instead you behaved like a wimp, probably almost peed in your pants, and wasted energy on getting annoyed. Your loss.
Btw "share duties in a race". Should we all sing "Kumbaya, my lord" together too?
At what age does the pendulum swing? Someone mentioned they would out-kick 12 year-old girl scouts. What about a 5 year-old? I doubt that would still be the case.
I've finished just behind the female winner in several races. Could have out kicked'em each time, but I think t would have been in bad form to do so just before they broke the tape. So it cost me 5-10 seconds in a couple of races. I got over it.
I'm guessing you're a younger guy. When you get to be middle aged like me you will lose to girls with regularity. You won't always be able to outkick girls or guys at the end of a race. So try like hell to beat as many people as you can now while you still can. No one is feeling guilty about passing you. I certainly don't go out and train every day to just let people beat me on the day of the race.
I am a semi-competitive female with a huge kick. My goal is to finish as high as I can in the standings and yours should be too. You should never ever not kick if you have it in you! In fact, I ran a race last weekend where a guy ceded to my kick and the announcer said "what a gentleman," and I was annoyed that he had let me win over him. It's a freaking race and I expect to be out kicked by most guys anyways!
I finished the next spot behind the female winner in my last two races. It was painful to finish behind females, but the view was better than finishing behind any guy on the course.
Before seeing this thread I didn't realise I had done this. But a few years back I outkicked a fairly well known (nationally) female athlete who was coming towards the finishing in a half marathon she was going to win easily. She was a long way off her PR and clearly wasn't worried about time. I was a fair way off mine too for what it's worth, but I still decided to kick for the line.
I even remember sitting in a bar with a friend afterwards saying something like 'it wasn't a very good race for me but hey I finished ahead of .... (good female athlete) and so it could be worse because she's a good athlete and I'm not.' I wasn't getting excited about it or anything, I realised how irrelevant I was crossing the line, and even if I'm the only one who cares about my race times, that particular race was instantly forgettable for me. But I think I thought you know what I could be 60lbs heavier sat on my couch watching a 'Everybody Loves Raymond' marathon eating takeout but instead I ran a couple of seconds faster than an athlete I've stood and cheered for in major championships.
Now having read this thread I realise what a clown I would have looked outkicking the female winner. I probably wouldn't do that again (at least so long as I wasn't on for a PR). But what you going to do?
la la la, la la la wrote:
Now having read this thread I realise what a clown I would have looked outkicking the female winner. I probably wouldn't do that again (at least so long as I wasn't on for a PR). But what you going to do?
So are you saying that you would have looked better (less a clown) finishing one spot behind the female winner instead of one spot ahead?
la la la, la la la wrote:
Before seeing this thread I didn't realise I had done this. But a few years back I outkicked a fairly well known (nationally) female athlete who was coming towards the finishing in a half marathon she was going to win easily. She was a long way off her PR and clearly wasn't worried about time. I was a fair way off mine too for what it's worth, but I still decided to kick for the line.
I even remember sitting in a bar with a friend afterwards saying something like 'it wasn't a very good race for me but hey I finished ahead of .... (good female athlete) and so it could be worse because she's a good athlete and I'm not.' I wasn't getting excited about it or anything, I realised how irrelevant I was crossing the line, and even if I'm the only one who cares about my race times, that particular race was instantly forgettable for me. But I think I thought you know what I could be 60lbs heavier sat on my couch watching a 'Everybody Loves Raymond' marathon eating takeout but instead I ran a couple of seconds faster than an athlete I've stood and cheered for in major championships.
Now having read this thread I realise what a clown I would have looked outkicking the female winner. I probably wouldn't do that again (at least so long as I wasn't on for a PR). But what you going to do?
Oh. And now I remember saying 'well done' to her or something after we had both crossed the line. Not meant in a kind of patronising 'I'm the man right now because I just beat you there' way, but rather 'this is sort of cool because I know you're a good runner and we've just finished the same competition and you don't really get that in most sports' way. But now I think about it, it would have definitely come across as the former. The athlete in question just kind of laughed. Oh well.
mgm wrote:
At what age does the pendulum swing? Someone mentioned they would out-kick 12 year-old girl scouts. What about a 5 year-old? I doubt that would still be the case.
i would outkick a 5 year-old just as quickly as i would blow past an 85 year-old grandma (perhaps they are finishing a 1 mile fun walk when i'm finishing a 5k that started at the same time). after the race however, i am a very nice guy.
I had a former student beat me by a few seconds and was gloating. I looked at him with the "Hey, imagine that! A 25 year old just outran a 50 year old by a few seconds" look. When I was 25, I would have beaten the 50 year old me by 5 minutes or more.
coed...
I would have been almost as annoyed if a girl drafted off of me for 10 miles in windy weather, only to kick ahead at the end, but you're right, he got a time 10 seconds better (or more) than he would have had I not been in the race. Had it been a girl, she would have grabbed first, thus running to win; I can't argue with that. But I personally think its a bit shitty to let someone do all the work and draft off of them for almost the entire race when outkicking them at the last minute does nothing to improve one's overall gender placement. I also am not one to run someone else's race, meaning I could never draft for 10 miles at someone else's pace; I would eventually have to run MY pace, so the concept seems awkward to me.
"I'm a male. blah blah blah. Am I evil?"
> cogito ergo sum.
Ladybuggers wrote:
I am a semi-competitive female with a huge kick. My goal is to finish as high as I can in the standings and yours should be too. You should never ever not kick if you have it in you! In fact, I ran a race last weekend where a guy ceded to my kick and the announcer said "what a gentleman," and I was annoyed that he had let me win over him. It's a freaking race and I expect to be out kicked by most guys anyways!
Would you have preferred this gentleman to pass you and then tip his top hat just before the finsh line saying, "After you, my lady."
If you can help it, NEVER let a girl beat you. Or a guy, for that matter.
Lol. I would personally be amused if a guy let me win and would wonder if he was feeling ok or suffering from dehydration or hyponaetremia. I cannot imagine another serious member of the running community allowing someone to beat him or her, especially if he was the type to frequent LRC. As typically a 21:xx 5ker, I finish ahead of 80 to 90 percent of men at low kew 5ks. I am more of a 800 meter runner by naure anyway so I often have a good kick. The runners male and female, finishing around me are competitive in a good way, sharing a bond with other runners finishing right before them while also vowing to beat them the next time they race.
Thou doth protest too much.
El Chapulin wrote:
"I'm a male."
Anyone who "lets" the female runner outkick him is just secretly insecure that he might get outkicked even if he tries, so by not trying he thinks he hasn't gotten beaten or isn't being viewed as getten beaten by a girle. I have more respect for the runner who goes for it, whether they succeed or fail as they are true competitors and are honest and not so insecure to worry about the result so much that they don't try.