That seems like a pretty poorly managed race. They screwed up the lead runners of both the 10k and half marathon. I know which event to add to my "do not run here" list.
That seems like a pretty poorly managed race. They screwed up the lead runners of both the 10k and half marathon. I know which event to add to my "do not run here" list.
Wow - after seeing that video, I will NOT be running Fargo at any time. What a debacle. The race director should be really embarrassed.
Attention RDs everywhere: if you really feel like you need to have a 10K to accompany your Marathon and HM events, run it on a different course, have it finish at a different time, or better yet, run it the day before. Your desire to collect $50 entry fees from a bunch of overweight walkers should not interfere with runners' ability to race at the finish.
What is the combined weight of the two finishers in the half marathon chute right in front of Moore and Carlson?
The women's half 'thon was won by a woman named LABIA ALBERTSON
L-a-d-i-a Albertson!
Andrew is a sponsorship nightmare. Whether he is right or wrong doesn't matter. How you handle the situation does matter. His temper tantrum is the news.
These races have a lot of positive things going for them despite this fiasco. On the other-hand, this is truly a black eye for the event. I agree with the above poster that finishing in the dome is really not that special. It gives a small number of family/friends a place to sit and watch the finish - but it does nothing for the runners. They should have distinct finishes for the 10K, HM, and marathon course in the parking lot and then funnel the runners inside for food (which IS abundant).
If you truly believe Andrew to be a "sponsorship nightmare," you've obviously never interacted with him before. He is one of the most kind and most giving athletes in US running today. Nevermind the fact he's twice been a US champion and finished 6th in the fastest/deepest USOT marathon ever (in his debut, no less).
It is hard for me to judge him, never having been screwed in my profession before. Running is what these guys do, and its who they are. The reaction was over the top, but he showed his true character by immediately apologizing and by being civil to the media post-race.
Its lucky this happened in Fargo, ND of all places, and not NYC marathon or Boston, etc., where at the end of the day nobody cares. Then again, NYC/Boston know how to coordinate a professional event so I doubt this scenario would've manifested itself.
15 year olds are tod not to act that way and forced to apologize. 20 year olds sometimes loose their head and overreact and will then have head over and apologize without being told. 30 year olds should NEVER be in that situation. It is a maturity issue. If you haven't grown up yet at that age, IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.
I do NOT condone this, but I can certainly understand it. I also give him a thumbs up for correcting his outburst with an apology. The heat of the moment with a race taken from you by a non-competitor is something most of us (especially Brooks Beast) will never encounter.
This was his home town race. He loves being from Fargo and representing ND. He runs this race out of his appreciation for Fargo. It's too bad that had to happen. The Fargo Marathon is a great event that has changed that community. I hope the black eye doesn't carry over. Andrew is a great guy and he will bounce back. But he may take some jokes from friends for a while.
I was wondering if this was going to make it onto these forums. Very sad.
Fargo (no thanks) wrote:
The race director and finish line coordinator should be canned. Embarrassing.
This is indeed more of an error by the race organizer than the athlete. Way more. That incident was completely avoidable with better planning.
David Monti, Race Results Weekly
But Andrew made the choice to return to the event where the finish line was handled in the exact same way in his previous appearance. He acted horribly.
When I run I will frequently come across two women walking side-by-side taking up the entire walkway. They see me coming from a long way off yet wait until the last second to try to move out of the way. In this case they didn't see him coming, but it probably would not have made any difference.
Wow! That was crazy! Why didn't the rabbit scream at the ladies to get the f out of the way?
That was awesome! wrote:
Wow! That was crazy! Why didn't the rabbit scream at the ladies to get the f out of the way?
In the video at 27 seconds, it does look like the pacer did say something which made the women move straight in front of Carlson. There were the walkers on one side and the group of 2 or 3 on the other.
How on earth would one expect the SAME mess at the finish line 5 years later? I doubt the last 100m was a consideration when deciding to compete in this race.
I'm wondering how his post-race reaction would've been perceived had he not fist-pumped prior to running into those ladies. Might've lessened the heat coming down by armchair commentators on these boards, but maybe not. Regardless, the reaction, however severe, is understandable.
That looks like a terribly managed race. The RD should be ashamed. Bad management likely affected the outcome of the race and those walkers could easily have gotten injured.
A common finish line is stupid, but at a minimum there should have been separate chutes and marshals directing traffic.
sickman wrote:
Though they weren't the ones involved, seeing people walking with race numbers on makes my blood boil...every single time.
Don't think of it as a race. It is a charity event. Races aren't geared toward runners. They are geared toward charities now. It's replaced the golf event.