Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race?

ChristmasTiramisu wrote:

But I don't think this has ever happened before because it wouldn't be possible unless the event was on a track and was really long like a marathon

If it happened, I bet the crowd would be so shocked they would Gebrhiwet themselves.

It happened to me at a 5k indoor race.

A pack started like nuts, then dropped together :)

New to the forum wrote:

I'm new to letsrun.com and haven't read the whole thread, but I just wanted to chime in and say that this could probably happen in a marathon on a track.

Yes, it happened during a Marathon on the track.

Cheslagatelimo passed bekelgebrastergatramala in the Olympic indoor track marathon of 94

Check results for the indoor 42200, maybe.

I think in a marathon on a track you would see a lapped runner win

10 pages and no one has suggested the obvious -what about a marathon on the track?

Indoor track season, 1996:

I was a distance guy. Typically ran the 3,200m or, as we used to call it, the "32". My best time of the season had been a 9:30.2 and I was really looking to break that elusive 9:30.0 barrier at my next race.

After my warmup, Coach pulls me aside to give a quick heads-up. "Just FYI you're going to be running the 105 today instead of the 32," he says.

"105? That's weird," I thought to myself, "10k is a little long for an indoor meet. And why did Coach call it the 105 instead to 102. I must have just heard wrong..."

A few minutes later the gun goes off. I start ticking off 5:10 miles and have a massive lead right from the start. Lapped runners are piling up in my wake. I cross the finish line in triumph after almost 25 torrid laps.

When I come to a halt, arms raised in triumph, something is...off. No one has come buy to congratulate me. Instead one of the officials turns to me and says, "Son, are you dropping out?"

"Dropping out? I just demolished the field," I reply.

"Indeed you have..." the official responds, "...so far. But the race isn't over yet."

"Not over?"

"Not even close. You still have 80 laps to go."

I wonder if there's been or will ever be a marathon on a track? Ponder that for a second, folks.

Dang it, I lapped some guy but he came back to beat me and win. It was a marathon, on a track.

Not only has a lapped runner gone on to win a race, but the SAME runner, Greg Thomas, achieved this feat on FOUR different occasions.

Greg, a devout Canova follower, first achieved this in a 26.2 Mile race on a 400m oval in Iowa. The second time was actually live on Flotrack. However, during the 42.2km race, the feed went to a T-Mobile commercial when Greg was supposedly lapped in some indoor venue in Seattle...

The 3rd time was in a race called “The Double Half on Mondo” in Portland and the 4th time was actually in a workout, (with his training partner on some track in the woods) 30 minutes after the “Double Half”.. Although there is some controversy on this since it wasn’t technically a race, no witnesses besides his training partner and coach, and his Strava data is a little odd...Further controversy surrounds Grant due to the use of a certain amino acid and special shoes.

Regardless, the mental strength to come back and win 4 different times after being lapped is amazing. Grant attributes his mental fortitude to an enlightening article he read on Runner’s World. He supposedly started reading the magazine after getting a great deal-$9.99 for a one-year subscription. Although the magazine “took his running to another level” he cites Letsrun.com for introducing him to his favorite and most successful event: “a marathon on a track”.

SMJO wrote:Seb Coe speaks of being 300m down with two laps to go in a junior 3000m and winning.

Where or when did Coe say this?

300m down in the last two laps? Does this mean Coe ran 800m quicker than someone else ran 500m? Or does it mean he ran 1100m quicker than someone else ran 800m?

she'd run a marathon on a track - in a thong!

Got lapped 4 times but I somehow won the race.... It was of course, a marathon, on a track.