5k Banditing

Also, is it worth taking an old bib or should I just run bibless. I would feel quite silly wearing an older bib but I think coming in disguise is a good idea.

I bandited a fairly large 5K one time and it felt pretty weird. I wore an old race bib and so did a friend of mine. I kept a very low profile up until the gun. I pretty much just lingered on the sidelines near the front until the very last second. My friend and I went to the front early on. After a while I was all alone and I was feeling a bit paranoid. I was worried they would notice my bib was a fraud. Being in the front I was attracting too much attention. It was a fairly wooded course which finished near a school. With about 600 meters to go we were in a pretty secluded stretch and I just very quickly left the course, ripped off my bib and tried to get as invisible as possible. To be honest it was not a very good feeling.

f) Show up and run. Drop out at mile 3.

Steal a child's bib. You don't get caught, he gets the glory.

Just start at the starting line, drop out at mile 3. Why do you need a specific 5k time? Seems like a 3 mile time trial time would accomplish anything a 5k would.

Who cares if you look weird? Don't run through the finish line and I wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure ahead of time that any fence at the 3 mile mark is something you can hop over or pass through easily.

Option B looks like an early favorite. Any other thoughts?

The proper way to bandit a big race is to hang around the start doing a bunch of stride-outs and try to get your pic taken as much as possible by the photogs. Sometimes you can pull these off the internet for free.

Right before the race starts, jump in the front and run your race. Right when you get to the 3 mile, look at your time, jump up and grab your left calf, and start limping to the side of the street. Thank all the well wishers as you hobble over to the sidewalk before making a dash to your car and leaving. Just add :24 to your time for your official 5k because we know all of us can sprint that last part at under 4 minute pace.

Just don't push through any runners or clip them on the heel as you are running. That would be in very poor taste.

Run the race as you would normally.

Cross the finish line and run away.

Go find a cheaper race.

Learn to push yourself without a hoard of runners around you. Run elsewhere.

Pay $50 for the race day services you somehow feel entitled too that every other able bodied person is paying for.

It's hard to believe you'd rather put this kind of effort thinking/worrying/posting about it than just pay $50 or find a cheaper race.

$50 is pretty steep for a 5K, which makes me think it's primarily a charity run. If you do bandit it I'd hope you at least contribute a bit to the charity. Otherwise, it's pretty shabby.