Mayors Cup - Wrong way, what happened?

Paddy McMurphy wrote:

Wrong way Corrigan wrote:

Yes, they did get prize money and teams too.

The rules require that runners who go the wrong way be disqualified, but they weren't. One official said that it is the runner's responsibility to know the course so those BAA runners who new the course and ran the right way should have won instead of the runners who went the wrong way, but the BAA was the sponsor so that would not look good. So what to do?

This seems so strange, has there ever been precedence where a race has upheld results when the winners went the wrong way? I understand it wouldn't look good to DQ the top finishers but it almost seems worse to keep the results as is.

It would have been impossible to DQ everyone who went the wrong way. Unless they asked everyone individually and everyone was honest there was no way to be sure who went which way.

It's interesting to see all the people chiming in who have literally ZERO specific knowledge of the facts or course.

Everyone ran the same distance.

Some of the runners who went the wrong way eventually won or finished in the money so none of them we harmed.

I think there were like 2 guys who went the wrong way and then turned around to get back on the course. Well it sucks for those two, but that's about it.

Lastly, maybe you could argue the BAA runners were at a disadvantage since they unknowingly went from 1st to 10th BUT they lost by 45 seconds so it probably wasn't a factor.

THE WHOLE THING IS A WASH.

If they were in the same race, would Cameron Bean have beaten Ed Cheserk?

People come on LR and bash tough mudders, yet when a usatf sanctioned race sends people the wrong way people act like its no big deal.

I find the staff at tough mudder type events to be vastly superior to anything involving usatf.

Maybe instead of bashing the tough mudder we can learn how to run a quality race. It's the small things...like directing people the correct way on the course....

Wow. "Everyone ran the same distance so it all evened out"

So now the order in which you run the course doesn't matter, as long as you run the same distance as everyone else. Unreal.

well matters but not to the extent of people getting refunds. get over it and grow a pair.

I think if this had been a collegiate meet or something of that nature then guys would have been disqualified. But since it's really a community cross country event and they did run the entire course I'm fine with no DQs.

I went the wrong way, became extremely confused, then stopped because where were we even going at that point? It's merely coincidental that the distance still added up to 8k, and I definitely didn't realize this during the race. I just assumed we were all DQed, because how could we not be??

Typical, the officials in Boston will never take the blame. The good ole boy network here is alive and well. In all honesty there are too many incompetent officials here, but no one else wants the job. They will not hesitate to point the finger, they should take a look in the mirror first though.

bean town... wrote:

Typical, the officials in Boston will never take the blame. The good ole boy network here is alive and well. In all honesty there are too many incompetent officials here, but no one else wants the job. They will not hesitate to point the finger, they should take a look in the mirror first though.

^^bingo, although I would add there is a large amount of apathy mixed in with the incompetence.

I'm pretty sure the official's "took the blame", whatever that vague statement means. Are people seriously looking for their money back?? The race cost like $18 and the mix-up literally only affects a handful of people, who were caught in the middle of the confusion (Some of whom stopped running apparently...). The guys in the front got their money, the guys from about 20th raced the same race they would have raced.

So, what's better.. Bearcage hill for a 2nd time at around 5k or at around 7k?

Paddy McMurphy wrote:

Wrong way Corrigan wrote:

Yes, they did get prize money and teams too.

The rules require that runners who go the wrong way be disqualified, but they weren't. One official said that it is the runner's responsibility to know the course so those BAA runners who new the course and ran the right way should have won instead of the runners who went the wrong way, but the BAA was the sponsor so that would not look good. So what to do?

This seems so strange, has there ever been precedence where a race has upheld results when the winners went the wrong way? I understand it wouldn't look good to DQ the top finishers but it almost seems worse to keep the results as is.

At the 2002 SF Marathon, a male runner who was in about tenth place, and who had been gapped by the runners ahead of him, cut the course. A large number of runners behind followed him, honestly misled I'm sure.

The short cut took at least a half mile off in distance before it rejoined the true course. Those following included Magdalena Lewy. She won the women's race by such a large margin that the race kept her as the first place finisher on the theory that she would have won anyway.

Isn't. This why you get the course map to know where The f you are supposed to run? Anyone running off couse had no one to blame but themselves for not reading a map.

5k for sure. I much prefer the 10k finish. And I assume I'd prefer the 8k with bear cage 2x back to back rather than interrupting a kick at 800m out.

Anyone who says they ran the same distance so what does it matter, in what other sport is it okay to run out of bounds? This is one of the top meets in New England. Yes, the officials should have been there to direct them, but if a player runs out of bounds/off course, is it the officials fault? Aren't the players supposed to know where they can and can't go?

And how can you say it affected a handful of guys... it affected at least the top 30... that's 20% of the field as well as a $600 swing for someone.

If you are in the lead pack, and the lead pack is being led by a cyclist who goes the wrong way, and everyone else in the lead pack follows, it's going to take some balls to hop out and go a different direction. Granted you could make some sort of commotion, but still... this was basically the Asch conformity experiment playing out in real time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments

The reason this wasn't a big deal regarding giving the wrong way people the $$ wasn't just that they ran the same distance. The entire front 10 or so went the wrong way. Those were the guys who were going to win anyway so anyone else's claim that they were going to close up a minute or so on the lead pack would be awful dubious.

Duhhhhh wrote:

Isn't. This why you get the course map to know where The f you are supposed to run? Anyone running off couse had no one to blame but themselves for not reading a map.

I agree to an extent. The problem is there was a bike leading the race and the bike went the wrong way. It was a split second choice they had to make and in the heat of the battle I could see why guys would follow the bicycle that was responsible for nothing more than riding over the course in the correct order.

I see the point of the guys who would have won did win or whatever but if this was a college race, I would have to call be on the entire race. A do over race would be the ONLY fair way to settle it.

As someone above points out, is bear cage hill different at 5k then at 7k?

You're misunderstanding. The official TOLD them to go that way. Doesn't matter how well you think you know the course, you're going to go the way the official tells you to.

Being in the back of the race, when I got to the turn, there wasn't an official there. There were spectators telling me the whole race went the wrong way and to turn right instead. People who were at the turn told me there was no official there at all. Did the bike turn the wrong way and lead them?

I guess best case scenario, once the mistake was made, was to have that official tell the whole race to make that turn early and cut it off at the end.

Ultimately, poor poor race management.