That is ridiculous.
That is ridiculous.
I should expect nothing less from LR posters. I think anyone who was not there and making judgement calls on the fly should not judge her actions and character after the fact.
How do you know she has a history of going off course? I have raced against her a few times and never has she gone off course.
I was just past the missed turn and when I went to figure out why she had not run past me I found the turn completely unmarked - I found a few cones to mark it and help the other runners.
Durham and Raleigh are close to eachother but would not say she 'is from the area' - do you know all bike paths in towns 30 - 45 minutes away from your house? Also, the part of lake Johnson she ran by mistake are very hilly so your comment about skipping hills is pointless.
Moving forward let's work to support fellow runners instead of smacking them down.
Honestly, why should anyone care that she got an official time? It wasn't a PB for her. It didn't affect the outcome of the race. It wasn't even particularly fast. Sure the time is totally arbitrary, but I don't think this girl is going to be going around bragging about this race anyway. Give her a break.
road rashed wrote:
This girl has a history of going off courses and blaming others for her misfortunes. Course was plainly marked. Bikers screwed up, but not 100% on them. She is from the area and should have known the course. DQ may be excessive, but... She skipped the toughest section of the course (20 to 21 hills) where the leaders of the men's race severely slowed
Can you elaborate please on her history of going off course. Does she do this on purpose as a strategy to pickup winnings or are you saying she is just very unaware and incapable of staying on the course.
Rockgip wrote:
Honestly, why should anyone care that she got an official time?
Perhaps since she cut 3.5 miles off the course??
More evidence of why RnR sucks. Shows how not competitive these are to have a runner with a 30 MINUTE lead at mile 19.
i've got to give it to Competitor for getting in front of this with that article. They seem to have the runner's support, and they paint her as the victim here. No mention of how it effected the next runners in the money.
Reading the winner's quotes, she seems a bit naive. For some reason, the "I passed several males in the last few miles" quote gets under my skin. If she's running with a group of people with PRs 30 minutes slower than yours, you'll probably be blowing by them. Why the need to belittle other people who are out there giving an honest effort?
I don't buy the 30 minute car ride as reason for pity either. I would imagine 30+ minutes of running at 6:50 mile pace would leave your legs more tired than sitting for 30.
Actions and responses by race and runner not brilliant.
Should call it 1st for both the woman who went off course and the "2nd place" runner. RnR has to suck it up for their poor logistics and the "2nd placer" gets credit for running the race as marked. The off-courser shouldn't be abused for a mistake late in a marathon -- mind fog anyway...
Agree with most of this.
Don't abuse the runner. Hard to predict how one would respond when tired and frustrated, and she didn't try to mislead anyone.
However, the correct decision is a DQ. If she went back to the point she went off course, then all is good. But you can't decide how much of the real course you'll skip to make up for being off course.
Again, I don't want to fault her or in any way question her integrity, but she made the wrong decision to not go back to point she went off course.
She should have Dq'd herself.
I've gone off course in a trail race. When I returned to the finish line, everyone got excited and said here comes the winner. I stopped and announced that I missed the course and needed to be DQed. The thought of accepting the win never even crossed my mind. But, then again, I was never leading which makes her situation different. Still, she should have DQed herself, and chalked it up to crappy course management by RnR.
Amen Brutha/Sista wrote:
I've gone off course in a trail race. When I returned to the finish line, everyone got excited and said here comes the winner. I stopped and announced that I missed the course and needed to be DQed. The thought of accepting the win never even crossed my mind. But, then again, I was never leading which makes her situation different. Still, she should have DQed herself, and chalked it up to crappy course management by RnR.
^^^^this. Thank you. My thoughts exactly. I've gone off course accidentally once in a local 10K, did not return to the point I went off, ended up running over 7 miles by the finish and had a terrible finish time, but told them to DQ me because I did not run the real course.
Once in a half, some guys went on an accidental extra out and back, but returned to the course at the point they left it, ended up running 14+ miles, but because they covered ALL of the legit course, did not need to be DQ'ed.
It is hard to believe that a runner at her level would not insist that the race DQ her, even if the organizers were too clueless, ashamed, etc. to do it themselves. I don't care if she ran 23, 26.2, or 32 miles -- if she did not step foot over every inch of the official course, SORRY, IT JUST DON'T COUNT.
road rashed wrote:
This girl has a history of going off courses and blaming others for her misfortunes. Course was plainly marked. Bikers screwed up, but not 100% on them. She is from the area and should have known the course. DQ may be excessive, but... She skipped the toughest section of the course (20 to 21 hills) where the leaders of the men's race severely slowed
I hope you are joking. I guess you have never lead a race. She was leading the race following bikers and they led her off course.
She should be DQd and given the prize money.
she should be DQd but she AND the second place finisher should get the prize money for winning. RnR can afford it, and they were the ones that screwed up...
She should have DQd herself. No doubt about it.
I did a similar thing once. Leading a local 10K. Misdirected off course by race marshal, and jumped back on course somewhere down the course. I ended up running a little more than 10K according to my pace on the course and eventual finish time. I explained what happened and told the RD to DQ me. He didn't want to, bu I insisted that since I didn't run the full course I should not be the winner.
RnR (lead runner bikers) is mostly to blame. They should comp her travel and entry to any RnR race she wants to run, but they needed to DQ her for skipping 3+ miles of the course.
I can't believe she didn't double back or insist on getting a ride (which should be a DQ) back to the spot she went off course. So that part is on her.
I say bring in a new rule stating that anyone who uses a motorized vehicle during a marathon should be DQed.
Does that sound excessive?
Why are so many people so anxious to have the best runner of the day DQed?
Give her the win she earned.
Who cares about the time if it wasn't a PR or a great mark?
List her as the winner with no time listed.
A DQ is for someone intentionally trying to get an unfair edge on the competition.
Star wrote:
Why are so many people so anxious to have the best runner of the day DQed?
Give her the win she earned.
Who cares about the time if it wasn't a PR or a great mark?
List her as the winner with no time listed.
A DQ is for someone intentionally trying to get an unfair edge on the competition.
So cutting the course accidentally is OK?
I am with Wejo here. I have won several Halfs and two full Marathons and there is no way in hell I would take the win in this situation.
I am not blaming the woman; I feel bad for her. They ought to DQ her and pay her the $500. 2nd place gets bumped to winner and gets $500 as well. They don't need to bump everyone else up. Just end it there. No 2nd place award.
If you've led a race and it isn't one that you do every year, you are going to follow the bikers, especially when your brain is fried at the 17 mile mark. In fact, I have followed bikes the wrong way around a traffic circle, resulting in the field doubling back on itself. I should have said something to the biker but was focused on race.
Totally not on the runner, which is why she needs to get her cash. Glad they will pay for her next race. She needs to be DQed here, though.
Riding in cars? WTF? You cannot do that, come on. I don't care if you're driven the wrong way and have to run back. Just no. Just because it might be a disadvantage doesn't mean it is should be allowed.
I don't think anyone is "anxious to have the best runner DQed". Though it doesn't appear to be her fault because you should be able to count on the lead bike to lead you on the correct route, she should be disqualifed because she didn't run the race. She ran a different race - one that included a car ride and skipped part of the course. Give her $500 to make up for lousy course marking and leadership, but don't call her the winner.