What is THE WORST race day scenario you have encountered?

Was running a 6 mile cross country race in Quebec in about 1973 or 74. You had to jump natural barriers (hedges) along the course. Not being very tall, I couldn't make it over the first one. I ended up running around (or through) all of them.

Ran a 20k race and was stupid enough to wear the free white shirt you get for registering for the race. Nipples started bleeding like faucets at around 15k. The last mile is entirely uphill, and very steep a that -- making the pace very slow. People were looking at me going "eww!" as I climbed the hill with dripping blood nipples.

You win the thread. Your story made me cry.

Got a pair of racing shorts with the elastic completely worn out. Had to run while making sure my pecker didn't jump out.

Not strictly running, but triathlon....

Race in France in the early 90s. Start in the water. Starter calls out that race will begin in 5 minutes, so I paddle away from the start line to keep loose. As I am about 50 meters behind the line, the gun goes off....I am dead last.

Bike ride goes over 2 mountain passes. I am trying to make up time on the descents so taking some risks. Slide out on a turn and go over the bars. Lose some skin, but more importantly I bend the frame such that the front wheel now rubs the downtube (Steel tube Eddy Merckx). Cautiously limp in the rest of the descent and begin the run.

Manage to put together the fastest run split and end up 5th....about 2 minutes down on the winner.

Ran an out and back 5k one year for St Pattys Day. I was running with 5 other guys up front and we were following 3 police motorcycles. A few blocks before the turn around, we came to a water table in the middle of the road and a guys yells "Run under the banner, and then turn around." I had no idea why he said that, but the police brigade turned literally directly under the banner I assumed he meant. I followed with the other leaders. 5 steps later, some girl at the water table says "That wasn't the turn around." I looked back to see the next guy (previous year's defending champ" running past where we turned. The motorcycles turned early to not run over the timing mat at the real turn around. I went to correct my mistake, but one of the other runners shoved me on and said "Forget about it, they won't DQ all of us."

We all got DQ'd.

bump

Dual meet, UMass vs. Northeastern in April '77.

We line up for the 880 and the steady cold rain turns to big pelting hail. The wind is just whipping. The gun goes off and we flail into the elements, literally getting strafed with the blast of horizontal hail and wind.

Mark Lech (lifetime best 1:45 800) wins in 1:58. I give it what I got and get 4th in 2:05. Actually it was quite fun.

Over in Birmingham for an indoor track meet a couple of years ago warming up for the 5k. As I'm doing my strides around the outside of the track I look up to see who is winning and witness the 2nd place female poop all down the back of her leg out of her tights, she then leaves a trail all the way to the bathroom. 2 hours later I warm up again since the hazmat crew was called in to clean the track and I run a pretty crappy time, but not because of the delay...but because of the emotional scar that girl left me by crapping her pants in front of me!!!!

Reading some of these I don't feel so bad now!

I was defending champ at a marathon. The starter announced 2 min to start. It was 35 and drizzle/light rain so I was still wearing my warm-up pants. Waiting for the 2min warning I jogged like 30m over and slip off my shoe and start taking off my pants (one leg at a time)...literally 20 seconds after the warning the gun went off while I sat there one shoe off and the pants half off. I tried to quickly get them off and started probably 20 seconds late after adjusting my laces. Hit the first mile at 5:15 (so 4:55) which was a slight uphill split...WHY did I feel like I had to catch the lead Kenyan in 1 mile I don't know. Cratered and finished 4th.

Back in 87 I was running a local 10k. I had been wanting to beat a friend of mine for a while and was getting closer with every race. It was a hot and muggy morning in June. I took off fast to get a lead on my buddy. I was feeling strong for a while but feeling the effort. The pace and heat was quickly taking a toll. I guess I was mid heat stroke stage, and with about a half mile to go I veered off the course. It was a bike path. The path I took had me running right in front of a golf practice range. Avoiding getting nailed by a golf ball, I ended up facing a 10 foot high fence. I started climbing the fence. As I pulled myself over the top of the fence my running shorts got caught, and I punctured my hand. I still have a scar. After finally ripping the shorts off the sharp part of the fence, I scaled the other side. I finally got back on the course. I just about collapsed at the finish line. I was not mentally there as I checked off I was in the womans division. In the end my buddy beat me. But I finally beat him two weeks later at a fourth of July 10k.

man, it was back in '68, and I was in mexico city for some races. everyone was already all freaked out about the altitude, but it was no big deal for me. anyway, I had planned on running the 10k, but dangit, I got the worst gutache of my life. ended up dnf'ing around 8k, and went to the hospital. thought it might have been monetzuma's revenge, being in mexico and all. ended up being gallstones. go figure. anyway, come back to the meet to run a 5k heat, then a 5k final. I'm pretty confident in my kick, but that same joker that elbowed mills in a race in Tokyo outlasted my kick. needless to say, I was pretty bummed. so, really, the meet hadn't been going as great as I'd expected. I ended up deciding to run the 15, and after the prelims, I still felt pretty good. on the way to the track for the final, I got stuck in a traffic jam about a mile from the stadium. I almost missed my race. had to jog to the track. had my buddy Ben running with me in the race, so that was even better. was a bit nervous before the race, as there was this tall white dude in the final that absolutely roasted me the last time we raced. guy had a blistering kick. anyway, I ended up winning by a long shot. so, it all ended up pretty well. funny thing is, I never ran as fast as I did that day in the 15 again- even at a lower altitude!

Vegas marathon, 2003

Around 7pm the night before the fire alarm went off and a check out the door showed the hallway full of smoke. The intercom kept shrieking but the announcements said stay in your room. It turned out a kid across the hall had incinerated some Microwave popcorn and opened the door to air out the room, setting off the hallway alarm. OK, by 8 I was back in bed attempting to sleep.

Then the conventioneers came home around midnight. And they had company. And boy did she have a set of lungs on her. Needless to say the gals in the old stag movies couldn’t end put a candle to our next door visitor. She certainly earned her keep that night. Our neighbors finally exhausted themselves after several shifts around 2 am. Only 2 hours left to sleep.

The alarms went off and I started my pre-race ritual. I slipped on my shorts and headed outside. It was WINDY. Very windy. And from the wrong direction. I got my various preparations out of the way and caught a ride with some fellow marathoners down to the bus pickup. Much trepidation was in the air. The long ride to the start was ripe with speculation about the weather.

Our arrival at the start ended the speculation. Whatever we thought the wind would be like, it was worse. It was blowing over the portajons. I had purchased a Tyvek shell to wear at the start and I was happy to have it. The wind made things very cold so I was happy for the gun. As first things went well, after 3 miles I was slightly ahead of planned pace despite the wind, which had now mostly a cross wind. Some sun once we were out of the mountains made things feel warmer and I tied my shell around my waist.

Through 5 miles I was on pace and looking forward to the downhill portion of the course. Then we came up over a rise and made a slight turn to the left. That meant we were going into the wind. Once we were no longer behind the mountain rise, the wind grew stronger and by 10 miles I dropped the Tyvek because it kept catching the wind. My planned 6:50 pace dropped to 7:20—7:30 pace as I fought in headwind. I still had hopes for a 3:15 and I hadn’t seen any other potential Clydesdales pass me. There was still hope. By the half marathon point I was only a minute off pace but we had turned more into the wind and now it was gusting badly. I met up with an Aggie brother and we were running together trying to stay with various packs that would form and disintegrate with each big gust of wind.

By 15 I was thinking heck, it can’t get any worse so I might as well hang on and just get a Boston qualifier. I was wrong. Very Wrong. The gusts picked up to what I later learned was 40-50 miles per hour. I kept getting blown off the road or into other runners as we tried in vain to break the wind in packs. Another Aggie caught up and I ran with him and his friend he was pacing. By 18 8:30 to 9 minute miles were hard and any hope at consistent pacing had gone by the wayside. I decided then that at the next bus I was stopping.

Not as good as some of these, but I was in a huge hurry to get to the start of the Cooper River Bridge Run about 6 years ago. I was hoping to run sub 34 minutes, which is decent for the new bridge (at least for me). I had trained pretty hard for the race and was ready to mix it up as best I could.

So my girlfriend and I jump out of a friend's car near that Wendy's on Coleman, I kiss her goodbye (she's in corral C) and I head to the front. I hide my bag in a bush and go to warm up with a nice, slow 20-minute jog around Shem Creek and the Old Village. Timed it to get back with about 15 minutes before the start. It was humid that year, so I was sweating pretty hard when I got back to my bag. Grabbed it and headed for the port-o-john to take a quick #2. Hear the 10-minute call but I'm fine b/c all I need to do is throw on a singlet, take off the long pants and put on my flats. Elite corral is easy to jump into right at the last minute in this race. Open the bag and it only has my girlfriend's change of clothes for after the race... This means that she checked my bag to retrieve after the race, and I am now holding all of her crap that she needs once we get into F.M. Square. Crap. So I ditch my pants and run the whole damn race in my trainers, sweaty cotton shirt and a stupid bag in my hand. Didn't even have an official time b/c I had no bib number. Ran 38-something.

Always, always, always double check EVERYTHING.

Worst race day for me was in college. Heading down to a meet somewhere in Virginia (8 hour drive) and slated to run the 1500. Crazy coach isn't with us thank god but assistant coach insists on driving straight through. P*ssing in gatorade bottles in the back of the van the whole way down. Finally arrive like 4 hours before race time. Hanging out in 100 degree weather because yea lets run a 1500 at 4pm in May. 4pm rolls around still no sign of the meet starting, timing system is broken or something. Warm up totally screwed when we realized meet wasn't on yet (1500 first event). Slowly watch this mass of clouds roll in and they start dumping on us. Never seen so much rain so fast in my life. Winds are going crazy, everyone hiding underneath the stands. Distance team 100% convinced the meet is totally cancelled, not understanding the nature of a southern thunder storm. Start joking around running into the rain cheering because the meet is over and we can leave this sh*t hole. Rain and lightning abruptly stop 30 minutes later. Meet director announces 1500 is starting in 5 minutes. Head to the line 1 hour late with no warm up anymore, soaking wet, completely not ready to race. End up running okay probably because everyone else was just as fcked up. Still have no clue why the director started the meet immediately after the storm. Pretty sure there should be lightning checks or something. Got back to school and told coach I was never running that terrible meet ever again. He agreed after looking at the performances. Some girl ran 12 minutes in the 3k steeple that night. Truly a special day.

I was running a marathon relay with my friend running the first half and me finishing. The race started at 8:00. I woke up at 8:01 and was about 20 minutes away. The race was downtown and I was driving a big van which made finding a parking space more difficult. Got to the registration and was told my teammate had picked up our packet with both numbers. The relay also had a handoff at 10 miles which was only a few blocks from the half handoff so I jogged over to wait for my teammate. He comes through right on his projected split and I start running beside him. He pulls mynumber out of one pocket and hands it too me. Pulls my race shirt out of the other pocket and asks if I need pins. I let him go and head to the handoff and a little more warmup. I pass 2 runners in the last mile and we win by about 20 seconds so the day ended much better than it started.

Running the Lehigh Valley Marathon. Good start. But then I realized I was parked in. But yada yada yada traffic was light yada yada yada I PR'd.

3:11:45

Regional 2-mile senior year of high school. It's a Saturday regional featuring 12 kids who have run the state qualifying time. By the time we hit the track in the early afternoon it's 90 degrees out on an all black track. Needless to say only 2 kids got through.

This is pretty much the opposite of what this thread is about. There's nothing bad in this scenario, oooh, my teammate had to carry my number ten miles for me, oooh, hard to find a parking spot. If this is your worst race day ever, cheers to you!