Funny things parents yell to their kids in a meet

Was waiting for my race to start when in the JV race a kid who was looking like he was about to pass out in the back of the pack (maybe in the last 10 or so people) passes by.

From behind me a man walks up and screams at the top of his lungs, "You better get your ass up there, or you are gonna find you own ride home!".

It was the funniest moment of the XC season by far.

Felt terrible for the kid lol he was already almost in tears.

I was closing on one of my teammates in the last half mile and I could hear his dad yell at him, "Look out, he's about to catch you, don't let him get you!"

A few second later I run by and the dad yells, "Come on, you can get him!" It was nice how he spread his motivation out among the entire team.

My daughter commented that she really doesn't like to run in front of the parents. I told her that I loved to run in front of cheering crowds. Then I saw the difference.

What the crowd yells to an adult in a road race is absolutely nothing like coaches and parents yelling at kids in meets.

Just out of curiousity, has anyone ran faster because someone was yelling at them to run faster?

JoePa wrote:

Austin1505 wrote:

One time in a meet, I was leading the race, and it was a mile. There was 300 meters left and my Coach said, "I know you got hair on your peaches! You got the biggest dick out there! Now go prove it!" I ended up tripping and falling on my dick with 20 meters left. I think I proved that I had the biggest dick.

Did your coach go on to become the defensive coordinator at Penn State?

He used to be. He isn't anymore though. Why? He was the nicest, most gentle and soothing coach I have ever had.

The Gray Zone wrote:

My coach's favorite words of encouragement were "Balls Out!"

Don't know what the girls' coach said.

"LIPS OUT!!!" or "NIPS OUT!!!" ??

During my senior year in high school, my mom told me that she had been identifying herself when cheering for my teammates in XC races for 4 straight years. Like "I'm (my name)'s mom, keep it up, (their name)!" or some other generic encouragement. She seemed to think that they would be weirded out if some "random person" knew their name.

She stopped doing it when I explained, after laughing for a few minutes, that I didn't think that anyone racing cared who exactly was cheering for them.

During a 5k, my mom would be waiting at the 1mile-to-go mark. At which point, she would always tell me "1mile to go, finish strong!" or something like that. But the funny thing is she would tell all the other runners they had 400m to go and some of them would actually believe them. She helped me pass about five runners who burned out thinking they had 400m left in the race.

Jay520 wrote:

During a 5k, my mom would be waiting at the 1mile-to-go mark. At which point, she would always tell me "1mile to go, finish strong!" or something like that. But the funny thing is she would tell all the other runners they had 400m to go and some of them would actually believe them. She helped me pass about five runners who burned out thinking they had 400m left in the race.

Your mother deserves an award.

I ran in a relatively weak high school league, so during my races I would sit behind kids until 500 or so to go. My teammates knew I was dicking around the whole race, but they played along yelling things like "Your form is horrible, fix it" and "He's separating from you, get back up there." I would give them a nice wink to let them know I was about to start my kick. I feel bad for these kids now. Imagine thinking you're going to win a 2 mile, running 11:00, and then the kid you thought was dying throwing in a 58 last quarter as you struggled to an 80.

A friend of mine came out for track his senior year just for the heck of it and customarily found himself trailing the field in the mile. As he trailed the next-to-last runner into the final turn of a late season race, the other runner's parent shouted out, "Way to go, Mikey! You're not going to finish last this time!"

Great inspiration. Suffice it to say, Mikey once again finished last.

The Gray Zone wrote:

My dad never yelled anything at me...because he never came to a meet.

Same here. My dad never went to a track or xc meet. When I was 15 or 16, he would drive me to 5k-15k races on the weekends. I had to beg him to do it. At the race he never got out of the car & read a book. When I finished (he could hear the noise of the crowd) I had to immediately run to the car and leave, even if I'd won an award.

aloha warrior wrote:

The Gray Zone wrote:

My dad never yelled anything at me...because he never came to a meet.

Same here. My dad never went to a track or xc meet. When I was 15 or 16, he would drive me to 5k-15k races on the weekends. I had to beg him to do it. At the race he never got out of the car & read a book. When I finished (he could hear the noise of the crowd) I had to immediately run to the car and leave, even if I'd won an award.

God these are depressing. My dad came to every track and cross country race possible. His cheering was always inspiring. He knew the right volume and intensity to use depending on the point in the race.

Early on he'd say "Stay Relaxed"

Later on "Stay Focused"

Near the end "Keep contact!", "Go Now!"

At an x-country meet back when I was in high school we had a "Retard" on are team, and in the JV race he was running a kid that was running in the race passed him and said way to go retard your going to get last again, My team mate some how beat the kid and waited for the other kid to finish and said "You just got your ass beat by a retard.....actually know what I feel bad for you......it must feel bad to be retarded" LMAO

aloha warrior wrote:

The Gray Zone wrote:

My dad never yelled anything at me...because he never came to a meet.

Same here. My dad never went to a track or xc meet. When I was 15 or 16, he would drive me to 5k-15k races on the weekends. I had to beg him to do it. At the race he never got out of the car & read a book. When I finished (he could hear the noise of the crowd) I had to immediately run to the car and leave, even if I'd won an award.

A mother, to her kid, who is in 10th place or so in a HS XC race

"It's all you, Eric! It's all you!"

Huh?

Another mother:

"Keep moving forward!"

As if he's going to turn and start running backwards?

But the most dis-spiriting thing to hear (when you're not leading) is

"Go for time!"

The best motivation I ever heard in a race was from the coach of a rival school back in high school. I was running the anchor leg of the 4x4 in our conference meet. I had run all the distance races earlier in the day, so I was pretty gassed. At the 200m mark, this rival coach yells to his sprinter who was right on my heels "HE'S ONLY A MILER!!" which really jacked me up, as I went on to somehow hold him off for the win. Funny how the best motivation can be totally unintentional.

Several years back and several coaches back, Wisconsin was running a CC Meet hosted by UW-LaCrosse. It was mainly a D3 meet and I believe North Central was the dominant program that season in D3. As the race progressed the Wisconsin Coach got more and more vocal as his team was still behind the NC pack after about halfway. Around 5k he just tore into his runners - "This isn't a God Damn Vacation!!! These Mother F*ckers are for real!!!! Get your ass up there or step off the f*cking course!!! His guys did move up and pass and beat the North Central Team but it was fairly close.

I would have loved to hear the post race wrap up session after that meet.

I put one of those on a kid who thought he had me beat. He was nearly a quarter lap ahead when I started lap 8. I threw in a 59 to beat him by about 3 seconds. His coach was cussing him all the way down the final 80 meters. It was funny.

At a regional meet for Arkansas, I believe an Ark runner was about to pass a Texas runner, and this fat cowboy yells at the Texas guy in a deep Texas accent "BOY, You better haul Ass!" I believe the Arkansas guy passed him. We used to say that all the time after that.

My coach's personal favorite- "MAKE A MOOOOOVE"...as if anyone who's sitting in the middle of a jv race really has the capacity to make a move...

My favorite story to tell- I was at a last chance qualifying meet just before the district level in spring track. The girls 4x8 is going and there are two teams gaping the field. After the first girl finishes, she jogs across the infield to the other side of the curve and screams at full volume "SLIT HER THROAT!". Both one of the scariest and funniest things I've ever witnessed.

On Saturday, heard a coach tell two of his kids a few minutes a part: "Quick elbows."

That was a new one to me.

It must work. He had the girl's individual and boy's individual champions and the boy's team champs.