Firsthand experience of poor tactics by elite marathoners

"These findings suggest that unaccomplished individuals do not possess the degree of metacognitive skills necessary for accurate self-assessment that their more accomplished counterparts possess."

This study explains the "TTC Syndrome."

http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf

[quote]adgsdfagd wrote:

Additionally (and I've noticed regular runners having the following problem as well), some of them had trouble running the tangents. Here's a hint: On flat ground, a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. Just because the road is *about* to turn to the right in 50 meters doesn't mean you need to tear off to the ride side of the road IMMEDIATELY after the previous left hand turn so that they can get the inside lane on the next turn.

[quote]

I've noticed people seem to do this all the time in races. This seems to create a nice little bunch up on the inside and slows your own pace, especially if you get caught behind someone slower. Just hanging to the outside of the pack you're with seems to be the best, you might run a little further, but you won't get impeded by anyone in front of you and won't have to deal with the pushing and shoving in the inside, wasting energy.

Yes, if there's a big pack I could maybe understand it, but I'm talking about watching two people running twenty meters in front of me.

Yeah... I'm not exactly unaware of it... but I also know how to run in a straight line.

adgsdfagd wrote:

All in all, I think this behavior cost some of the women actual prize money. Does anyone have an explanation for this, or has anyone else noticed this kind of thing happening themselves?

I see it all the time. Runners that would never think about weaving back and forth on a track manage a race course like Lindsay Lohan coming home from a bender.

I remember the commentators for the Olympics in Atlanta talking about the leader in the women's marathon not bothering to follow the blue line. Some runners just don't think about the tangents. I've talked to a few good (not elite) runners about it, pointing out that a few yards here and there can add up over 26.2 miles, and they hadn't thought about it. One, who missed a trials qualifier by a few seconds likely started to think about it.