why do slow people line up front of road races

Ah, one of lifes enduring mysteries.

But everyone is a winner, right?

I think this thread throws a lot of promise. I will check back later to give a more in depth analysis if it begins to reach its potential.

Cuz dey do

"why do slow people line up in the front rows of a road races with so many people behind them?"

I DON'T KNOW. WHY DO YOU?

They have their Vibrams, their gels/fannypacks (for a 5k), they've done all the useless exercises in Runner's World, how could they lose? Oh wait because they forgot to actually RUN

depends on the race. for a local race, that happens sometimes

I remember at a local 'turkey trot' race, some slow people where lined up too close to the start line and as I established where I wanted to be on the line, some fatty pointed out to their equally fat kid, (both of whom I assumed did all the appropriate crossfit training to be where they were in relation to the start line) that I was wearing shorts, and I was 'probably really cold' (I think it was like 18 degrees out that day). "Hey, aren't you cold?" So I don't respond, which means of course I get another chorus of "aren't you cold? It's cold out!" They seemed kinda annoyed that I never responded to them. Whoops.

Those people don't know what they don't know.

Or you could have handled it like a human being instead of a running robot and laughed and said "no, not really."

The New York Road Runners races used to be plagued by this problem when people could line up at their own discretion.

Since April 2008, all races have had seeded corrals based on one's best race pace in the last couple years. Problem solved!

It's too bad that this solution is unfeasible for the majority of road races that cannot easily access a historical database of each runner's performances.

they're going for masters or age groups awards?

If it happens at almost every race you run, next time you should ask them.

Please report back what their answer is.

well I am a master runner but I end up finishing in the top 5% of the race.

Why do white people wear duck boots in the winter and pop the collars on their polo shirts in the summer?

Inexperience?

bowserr2011 wrote:

why do slow people line up in the front rows of a road races with so many people behind them? Almost every race I run in, has a couple of people always lining up in the front couple of rows and once the gun goes off, it causes other people to almost knock them over. I have seen in a couple of races where people have been knocked over because they go out so slow with masses of people trying hard to get out at the start of the race. At most races the coordinators make an announcement for runners to line up at the markers set up as pacers

because most slow runners are new to races and have no idea that the start of a road race is like being in Pamplona, Spain.

Because they didn't get knocked to the ground the last time they did it.