You Know You're at a Local Fun Run When....

when you run on a stress fracture and still win

When late in the race you hear people approaching you on your heels and you run faster because you don't want to be passed by anyone near the finish and you then you hear people saying, "He's a 10k racer! He's a 10k racer!" and realize you have out kicked the 5k.

... a thirteen year old kid decides he wants to go out with you at 5 minute pace and manages to actually hang on for the first half mile before loudly declaring "F___ this!!!" and stopping.

... your grandmother starts yelling at you to run slower because you look like you are in pain.

when you start the race late and still win

... you wear jingle bells on your shoes at the Christmas 5K because you don't want to hurt the feelings of the volunteer who gives them out at the registration table.

NizzleD wrote:

When 3rd place in the women's 5k finishes with a purse on.

When the race director calls the runners crazy for getting up so early to run a 5k in what's considered cold for floridians

When there is a guy with no legs pushing off on a skateboard with his hands and actually competing with 3/4 of the field

There was a guy with no legs on a skateboard that competed in races in the Portland, OR area in the 1980s. He was pretty good, finishing with times of 26:40 for 8K and 33:30 for 10K.

Holy crap, I can't even imagine how hard it is to push yourself like that on a skateboard for 5-6 miles. That's awesome.

At the awards ceremony you get to choose your prize from the table.

However, the order to choose your prize is:

3rd Female

2nd Female

1st Female

3rd Male

2nd Male

1st Male

So for winning the race you get to pick the last prize which is a large container of Watermelon-flavored Heed.

Duh.

When the race t-shirt says "Fun Run."

When no one wants to be the first person on the starting line and you start to wonder if you signed up for a race.

You have to give an embarrassing acceptance speech to a crowd of people standing next to a guy in a Falcon costume.

or being in the lead and consantly having to stop to ask volunteers which way the course goes, and getting outkicked by some kid at the end who should have been way behind you.

If this link works, it says it all.

http://captivatingphotos.smugmug.com/2013ModestoMarathon/Gallery-3-of-3/28608845_MCb3md#

!i=2426410639&k=cws6gfS&lb=1&s=X3

If not, it is worth copying it and pasteing. Guy on the left is finishing half-marathon, women a 5k

...when the lead cyclist is not a cyclist but a fat guy on a scooter so you're inhaling exhaust fumes for the entire race.

...when you win the 10K in 33 or 34 minutes and people come up to ask if you're a professional runner.

...when you return to cherry pick the uncharacteristically valuable first prize for the 3rd year in a row and find out that this year it's awarded by lottery.

...when you win the 10K but the race results show a 54-year-old who ran the 5K with a 10K bib in 27 minutes as the winner.

...when 3rd place wins a Fuel Belt.

Doesn't quite work, but just go to page 82 of the gallery.

ScottDye wrote:

If this link works, it says it all.

http://captivatingphotos.smugmug.com/2013ModestoMarathon/Gallery-3-of-3/28608845_MCb3md#

!i=2426410639&k=cws6gfS&lb=1&s=X3

If not, it is worth copying it and pasteing. Guy on the left is finishing half-marathon, women a 5k

Sorry, go to page 82 of gallery

When you get your age group medal, get home, chuck it in the drawer, go to look for it later and realize IT’S THE EXACT SAME GENERIC MEDAL YOU HAVE BEEN GETTING FOR YEARS AND YEARS at EVERY “fun run” and you have no idea which one is which. Then you realize: it does not matter.

When a guy is trying to run the 5K while dribbling 3 basketballs at the same time and holds up the 10K locals. By no means am I fast by this board's standards, but that basketball guy is my nemesis!

I've been racing for about 40 years, and for about 17 in the U.S. often in fun runs. In the area I live, I've seen nearly all of these mentioned above, including getting a Pecan Pie for winning a x-country race, and having a newspaper interview after winning a 5k in about 18:30 (which when printed had me, an Englishman, saying "I'm sure mighty glad to win").

I'll add; anytime you win outright at 55 years old; anytime you win while limping because you trod on a nail that went right through the bottom of your shoe and 1/2 inch into your foot two days earlier; anytime you win a 5k after being outside the top 20 after a the first 1/2 mile (it was 91f., and all the high-schoolers died); anytime you have to weave through lapped runners on a 2 lap course in a 5k (which means they must be doing about 12 min. miling).

All of the above actually happened in the last 5 years or so.

When they draw for door prizes and a 12 year old girl gets the donated bottl of Makers Mark