Hardest you've ever "tanked" in a race?

I was running the 800 at an indoor college race where there were like 10 heats, so everyone's PR was nearly identical. We start the race and I'm in the middle of the pack. I start getting pushed around a lot. I get tired of it. I didn't want to go wide because that would put me in like lane 4. and I didn't want to go into DFL either, because you generally don't want to be DFL. So I just took the lead and had to push the pace to stay in front and out of all the pushing that was going on.

Well, I took it way too fast for myself. The last lap was sloppy, especially the last 100m. I locked up and was getting passed by most of the other guys. I felt like I couldn't even move my limbs. I was telling my body to move, but it had nothing to give.

Three years later, my teammates laugh about how horrible I looked trying to finish that race.

I'm gonna go with my Jr. year in HS. New school, new coach, new training--all that good stuff. Anyway, it all came together magically on a fall mornign in late October (or maybe november---anyway this was quite a few years ago) morning on a sopping wet course. I was stoked. Weather was cooler now, I liked the strange conditions, and with my newly minted and awesome PR of 16:40 something (cough, sarcasm, cough) earlier in the year I was ready to lead my team and try to qualify for states as an individual....

Yeah--epic fail on my part. Clipped off a first mile of 5:0something, then crawled home in 18:31 (numbers forever etched into my mind by that clock...) It was such a beautiful failure which was made better only by the fact that my friend who is extremly religious and extremly optimistic/perky/loud was along the course at what seemed like every 200m screaming hor heart out about how "Awesome" I was doing. I almost killed that b*tch.

Didn't turn out too bad though, as I can see my national championship and confrence championship rings from where I sit writing this.

In high school I ran 17:25 for a 5k as a senior in cross country. I ran a little better during track with bests of 10:05 and 4:40. I graduated and didn't do much running for two months. I then decided to start training on my own, just to see if I could improve at all. I ran for two months, just putting in miles, never running anything fast, and then entered a 5k road race. I ran the first mile in 4:45 and was like 40 seconds ahead of second place. I didn't plan on going out this hard, but I did and I paid the price. I went through 2 miles in 10:20 and finished the race in 17:30. I still won, but it wasn't pretty. Second place nearly nipped me and this is after having a 40 second lead at the mile. If I had taken it out slower, like 5:05 or so, I probably would have went low 16's, but taking it out only 2 seconds slower than my 1600 p.r. made me pay the price. I remember feeling like hell after that race.

I have run 29:20 for 10k on the track. In a 10k cross country meet my last mile was over 7 minutes and I crawled in around 33:15. I stopped and walked for a little while as well, which was a first.

I cant explain what happened. It made no sense. I didnt go out hard. I actually went out too slow.

In HS in a 1600 towards the end of the season, a week after a workout that had convinced me I was in 4:23 shape, I completely 100% died after going through 1200 in 3:20. I finished in something like 4:46 or so, maybe slower. I still don't know what happened. It felt like the energy completely cut out in my legs after I made a move from 1200-1300.

Came through the mile in the steeple my senior year of college in 4:47, finished race in 10:39. Nuff said.

My senior year of HS...

I was always a 3200 runner, but we had 3 other really fast guys and I was put on our 4x800 team. I had only run the 3200 and the 1600 before that (on the track) and never an 800. The first 4x8 of the season, coach puts me as the anchor and I come through 400 in a (then) PR of 58 low, hit the 600 in 1:27, and finish the last 200 in 37 to finish in 2:04 high. I only improved to 2:01 that year in the 4x8 (but it was run much smarter), but did run 9:46 in the 3200. I'll never forget that helpless feeling of trying so hard and going absolutely nowhere.

Oh and by the way, we were in the lead at the last exchange and I blew it and got 2nd.

10 mile road race:

First mile in 4:48. Finished in 65 minutes. Fun times.

marathon, went out in 1:10, came back in 1:20. that was no fun.

In my last Ironman (out of 7) I got off the bike and was flying on the run, going through 6 miles in under 40 minutes and feeling pretty good, when the wheels fell off. It took me nearly 5 hours to do the rest. I finished in about 12:30. I was deliriously singing Van Halen with my buddy, who bonked as well, by the time we finished.

Marathon: Came through the half in 1:21, finished in 5:25. Yes, that is 4 hours and 4 minutes for the second half. I had a single mile that took 80 minutes, although 60 of those minutes were spent in a medical station.

Had run a half marathon in 1:30 two weeks before (I am a female and not that good so I was proud of that!) I figured I could probably run a 1:28 since I was now such an excellent half marathoner. We started out doing the first 800 of this half marathon on a track which caused me to go insane. I ran my first mile at about 6:15. I finished the race in 1:43. My worst half marathon ever. I had to walk off and on for the six miles. It was humiliating.

Epic Failure:

My first trip to NCAA regionals for track was a disaster... it was about 95 degrees out with crazy humidity. Unbeknownst to me, I had a pretty high fever at the time (peaked at 104 later, I don't know what it was during my race.) I really wanted to go to nationals so I got right in there and ran my heart out until... I ended up passed out somewhere around 4k, crawling on the track. I was forcefully removed (I am told I fought off my would-be rescuers) from the track and placed in the medical tent. I have to look at my my roster profile every year with the caption "NCAA regional qualifier: DNF." Ah timing... Come to find out, I had pneumonia and spent the better part of my summer coughing up a lung.

I'm a 400 meter runner so I don't have quite the same stories. However when I was a kid I pushed a 400 so hard for the first 320 meters that the last 80 meters was like running through jello. My teammates said it looked like someone had tied a rope around me and was hauling me backwards as I was attempting to run the last meters of the race. I don't know what was worse --the pain, the bewilderment, or the embarrassment. The first 300 meters was in 40 seconds. I finished in 58.3.

This past winter I overestimated by abilities while running a 90 mile week...my first at that high of mileage. I thought, "Well, I'm at this high mileage, then a 5k should be a piece of cake!"

I lead from the front and came in the 2 mile at 10:15, which would be my all-time 2-mile PR. Just before the 2.25 mile mark, or near that distance, the engine just just blew up. I mean the pistons were through the hood (in car terms).

I ended up jogging the last mile or so, still coming in 4th in the mid-18s. It was pretty horrible.

First 5k EVER at 40yrs old, goal was to break 25:00. I had never ran around people...the first 1.75 miles were mostly downhill...sweltering summer conditions...went through the first 2miles in ~13:40, I was completely jacked. Then reality hit, I bonked on the long uphill finish and ended up walking twice. I felt horrible, heck I felt guilty. To this day I don't consider it "running by first 5k". The good news is I motored home in 23:19 well below my goal!

e2 wrote:

Marathon: Came through the half in 1:21, finished in 5:25. Yes, that is 4 hours and 4 minutes for the second half. I had a single mile that took 80 minutes, although 60 of those minutes were spent in a medical station.

After reading every post so far I believe this is the winner. That sounds awful.

2007 USATF Club XC.

I couldn't handle the mud to save my life. As much as I tried, I still missed being DFL.

I have my bib framed in my bedroom to remind me (every day), that I will never let that happen again.

Never on the track. But I recently did my first Tri, a kind of entry Tri, 400m swim, 8mile bike, 5k run. I ran the 800 in college and just graduated so am in ~17 5k shape after only running a handful of times between graduation and now.

Turns out not swimming in 4-5 months kills. Started in the front and slowly dropped back in swim, was sidestroking to keep afloat at times. Anyway I get out of the water barely able to move, by the time the run comes around I still haven't recovered, and run a 23:14. I think a mixture of me finally catching my breath from swimming and my hurt pride, from being sorely beaten by 50 year olds and females, fighting back propelled me to perhaps a 70 second last quarter(felt blazing)

It hurt so much. So very much