Have you ever won a race bandit what happened

The good old times when men were men and times where fast.

Just keep running after the finish and play like you’re just a regular dude out on his usual run.

I actually have stumbled accidentally into a race a few times like this. It works fine.

huh what wrote:

Just keep running after the finish and play like you’re just a regular dude out on his usual run.

I actually have stumbled accidentally into a race a few times like this. It works fine.

Definitely!

I (would have) finished 8th in a 10 miler - I was marathon training and ran the 10 mile loop before it started then again with the race. It was bloody awkward when I didn't go down the chute tbh as there were a lot of spectators.

In college in the 1980s I ran some races bandit. It was in a relatively smaller city and my friend and I were known among the locals to do this sometimes and we were tolerated. One race I would have come in second and as I approached the finish I just stopped and walked off the course. The small group of people around were politely clapping and asked why I stopped, and were a little perplexed when I explained. It was a Y-sponsored race and they weren't really the runner's club people we knew.

At a very informal 5K I did come in first as a bandit. It was a club-sposored Dingus Day fun run (which I learned was the day after Easter). The cost to enter was $3 plus optionally a donated trophy if you cared to bring one. I did bring a trophy but I didn't have $3 to spare. My bandit buddy got drunk at the after-party but I had left long before and he said people talked about it a little but weren't hacked off or anything. I had brought a damn good first place age group trophy from one of the bigger races in the area and they were taken aback by that a little and I think that took the edge off them.

I once bandited a race when I was 11.

I joined a friend who was registered in a 4 mile race and ran with him.

I was conscious even then of not having a number and peeled off to the side.

That's the only race I bandited.

I have been in a race where the bandit was leading and peeled off to not enter the chute and screw things up.

That's the least you can do.

There was a time where a friend entered me with him in his company's 5K and I won that.

Since I didn't work there, first prize (whatever that was) when to the guy who finished second.

I once showed up at a race 30 minutes before the start but they had closed registration. I had not planned to push my son in the jogger but since I was not fully racing, I decided to. I won in 16:45 and I was upset and the race director was upset at me. I legitimately won a few races pushing the jogger. Fastest was 16:15.

I was a bib mule for someone that couldn’t make it to a race. I was running that loop anyway so figured I could make it a fun competition. I placed second. I could have contended for 1st but sorta backed off because I thought it would be weird to “win” with someone else’s bib. Would have been tight to the finish. Luckily I did. They interviewed the winner for local tv. I don’t know what prizes were because they were mailed to winners.

I also ran the first 15 miles of the Marine Corps marathon in 1998 with Weldon. The guys on the car said I was fine when they asked if I had a number.

Once a friend asked me to pace him in a small marathon and gave me the bib of a lady that was injured and could not run. Looking at past results, we realized that the pace we were planning to run would have probably won the age-group and possibly placed top 3, so I ripped off the magnetic timing band from the bib. Indeed, we did finish right after the first woman.

I did it back in the 80s once as well when I actually won by over a minute and it was videotaped. I felt bad as I cut to the side last several meters before the finish. I don’t suggest doing that

Was a bandit at a local marathon many years ago. I did it with sole purpose of practicing taking water while preparing for a marathon a month later. I knew the volunteers at several of the water stops and only took water at those stops, not gatorade or whatever the sports drink was. I ran right behind what I thought was the 1st marathoner. Unfortunately, it was the 1st half-marathoner on a 2 loop course... The race timer (he knew me well) was not happy to see me keep going once the other guy stopped when he realized i did not have a chip. I stopped at the water stop just passed 17 miles where some friend were volunteering. when I dropped out I had 7minute lead over the 1st marathoner. I was jogging cool down with the timing guy at a race a year or two later...He did not have too many kind words for me.

In the late 1970s, a couple of my running buddies stopped by and invited me to go with them to a local race in DC. It was the National Jewish 10K. My buddies were both Jewish; I'm an evangelical Presbyterian (but my surname can be mistaken for Jewish). Anyway, we arrived at the race too late to register. We just jumped in. I finished 3rd and sprinted to the registration table; they let me sign up late (a whopping $5, incl t-shirt). When my friends finished, they both said, "mazel tov!"

I won an 8k as a bandit once in Atlanta. I was in pretty good shape and looking to test my fitness on a hilly course in South Atlanta and expected there to be some tough competition. Turned out to be a weak field and managed to put a good gap between myself and second place. The finish line was a long downhill straightaway probably a half-mile long so everybody could see the finish. My race position was un-anticipated so I didn't have an exit route planned and decided that I'd just crush it through the finish line.

I took off and just kept running straight into a "cool" down. But my bike and bag were at the start line which was near the finish and I had to return. When I got back the officials and timers were perplexed and didn't know what to do when I said I wasn't the "real" winner and that I bandited the race.

The kicker was, the next week the race organizer rented the conference room and event space in my office ( a small office space that I was guaranteed to run into the race organizers in). I told some co-worker friends about the situation so I got to hide in a secluded office for most of the day and work there.

Early in high school I'd bandit races in-season, both for financial reasons, and also so nobody would notice I was running road races when I wasn't supposed to. Is that still a thing, or was that just in my state?

After college, I'd bandit now and then because I was short on funds, I'd just walk off a few hundred yards before the chute. Once or twice I did the old folded number trick.

Not too many years back I ran a 5K that was part of a two-loop 10K course. I hobbled, injured, to a mid-30s finish, then was surprised at the awards later that I'd won the 10K. I accepted, rather than make more work for anyone ...

I did in college. It was a half marathon, my first time doing one, and I wanted to get a good workout in. Halfway through, I found myself in first place, and just went with it. I won by about 30 seconds and they handed me a large trophy when I came through. I just handed it back to them. Hilariously enough, my teammate who was banditting with me came in second so the same thing happened. The third place guy got the first place trophy.

in the 70's I "won" a local 10k road race as a bandit.

I was in college and could not afford the entry fee. I ran without a number. Did not use the aid stations. I started relatively slow and passed some people, but did not fully realize I was winning until a police escort appeared in the last mile.

I ran off to the side of the road and stopped a hundred yards or so before the finish line. Spectators were confused and tried to get me back on the road to finish. I explained I did not enter the race.

Eventually someone involved with the race told me they would still let me enter, but I declined.

I "Won" a rather large hill climb as a bandit once. Had officially won the event before as a paid official entrant but did not have much money and decided not to enter the year I "won" as a bandit. Having officially paid and entered the race before, I did not believe what was being provided to the runners was worth the entry fee (race was not a good value,..). I have directed races before and know what is involved.

Did not take aid or refreshments, cross the finish line, or use any race facilities or amenities as a bandit.

A reporter from the local paper wanted to interview me after the races. I told him he should not talk to me but instead talk to the official race winners and participants because I did not enter. He asked why I did not enter. I explained lack of money/belief that race was not a good 'value' and encouraged him to not mention me in the story but instead talk about the official race participants

He mentioned me in the story anyway, which I did not like because it took attention away from the deserving official winner.

I used to pace friends as a bandit back in the 80's. I'd usually drop out way before the finish. In one 10k, I felt so good that 1/2 way in I asked my buddy if I could take off. I was about 25 yards off the front. I caught up in about a 1/4 mile and just kept going.

I wasn't quite sure what to do at the finish. I ran up until 3-5 yards from the finish, stopped and walked off while everyone pointed to where the finish was. I gave an "I'm sorry" shrug and just kept wandering off.