hucklebarra wrote:
Wow. Showed the wife the vid: She totally sides with the "what kind of person (man) hits someone (woman) like that because of a race?"
Must reassess my humanity, apparently...
While she doesn't necessarily think he shoulda been DQ'ed, her take is "don't do the crime if you can't do the time."
Is your wife a runner or triathlete? The reason I ask, and would make this point in general, is that people who don't participate in these events (and apparently some that do) don't seem to understand the dynamics involved. And it's not that complicated.
Assuming the RD is correct in his description of how the run course was supposed to be approached, the reality is that the outgoing runners were using the right lane. From Blair's perspective it's only logical to run in the center as there were two runners to his left and a stroller and Alison to his right.
Now, the point I was getting at earlier. In approximately two seconds, Alison shifts from the shoulder of the lane to the center of it. Anyone who's a runner knows the difficulty of making a sharp pivot, particularly when you're not consciously expecting to. Thus it seems only logical that Blair, not expecting her to encroach upon him, used his forearm to block her from stepping in front of him. And given the pace at which he was moving toward her and she toward him, the actual impact seems minimal.
After reading both Alison and her friends blog post, the RD's account of events, and watching the video, I find it even more laughable that this reached the level it has. I still don't know how the RD can claim he punched her in the face or that if he'd been in his lane this wouldn't have happened. No! If she was paying attention this wouldn't have happened. If I were Blair, I'd be quite upset with how the three aforementioned individuals have presented and perpetuated this incident.