If races went away forever, would you consider quitting running?

Agreed

Yes.

But I think my training would eventually drop off to a minimum "staying in shape" kind of level.

I like to think I’d still run and instead of doing races do long runs and hikes through great parks and trails. Basically doing ultras.

I'm hoping you're not serious.

I'm hoping you're kidding.

Animal House...

Banana Bread wrote:

malmo wrote:

What? Over? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

As the letsrun WW2 go to poster I have to correct you. It was the Japanese in Pearl Harbor

I would not mind if I never raced again. I met my marathon goal of qualifying for Boston at my first marathon and then ran Boston twice. I only ran my first marathon because I thought I had a good chance of qualifying for Boston. I also ran Chicago once and two other marathons. I also met my goal of a 1:30 HM. I don't look forward to signing up or running races. I get excited race day if I feel ready. I enjoy running once I am out on my runs and feel down if I do not run every day. I really enjoyed running with others once or twice a week. We would sometimes push each other which was fun like races but without the high registration cost or the pressure of running well or running a PR. Other times I ran with faster runners who helped push me. This was pre-pandemic. I need a new goal to get me interested in a race. I also feel pressure to improve my time if I run a race more than once. The first summer I started back to running I ran races every other weekend with my family. At smaller racers it was common for each of us to win age group awards. This was fun at first but less so after a while. Now my oldest child races at college and my wife and other child no longer race but do run. I am the only other one that continued racing and only 2 to 4 races a year in recent years.

Forget it. He's rolling.

No I would not stop running if I could not compete against others. Even when racing, I was primarily competing against the course, the clock and myself. I discovered that I did not need other people around to push myself. Some of my best efforts and times were in time trials.

If a race involves direct side by side competition against others, I would not mind if I never raced again.

I have run almost 50 years, and completed close to 700 races from 400m to over 100 miles (avg distance some where between 7-8 miles). Many years I would average 25 races a year. I also won over 200 of those races.

After focusing on running and training hard for 5-10 years, and doing enough races, you figure out where you rank. Its not like you are suddenly going to start running 28:00 for 10k when your PR is 29:00. So you realize that your overall finishing place in races simply depends on who else shows up. Unless you are genetically very gifted, and very elite, you realize there are always people that are faster than you.

Why does it matter if you finish 9th or 999th? Unless you enjoy the social scene at races, and/or like supporting race directors and sometimes charitable causes, why participate in organized races?

I realize there are some that need to compete against others to do their best, and/or are very competitive and take satisfaction in pushing hard to outsprint someone to finish 998th.

No, but I sure as heck would stop doing painful interval workouts.

I haven’t swam competitively since high school but I still hit the pool a few days a week to swim some laps and occasionally do workouts and time trials just for fun. I imagine running would be the same for me. In fact it already kind of is since I only do a handful of actual races a year now in my 30’s.

NeedForSpeed wrote:

No. I wouldnt quite. I just wouldn't run as much, and i'd aso probably to build more overall strength.

This is what I would do. I'd still do workouts, but I'd probably leave my mileage where it currently is or drop it and lift. Without races there wouldn't be a reason to try and winnow down to my lowest healthy weight.

Bend OR runner dude wrote:

No, but I sure as heck would stop doing painful interval workouts.

I would actually do more interval workouts if I quit running. They are fun and good for fitness.

Running? No.

Training? Probably.

I would keep running. I am 50 and don't race much anymore, but I still enjoy my early morning runs.

Races are not the reason I run. For me it’s about the clock and I can still time myself and measure improvement that way. Someday I’ll be too old for that.

HIIT baby, it's the only way.

I would keep running. Most of the races I train for are hypothetical anyway, it really wouldn't matter.

Man, that's a hard question.

I've always run for the competition, even if it's not against others. I run to race & to challenge myself. If all that went away forever...I don't know.

I definitely wouldn't train, per say. At least not like I do now. I might run once in a while. I'd probably focus on other sports.