Has anyone ever said anything to you during a race that actually helped you?

It's usually my coach/teammates telling me to wake up that I hear. As anyone that's run an 8k knows, it's all too easy to think seriously about mailing it in during the middle miles of the race. When I hear my coach, whom I greatly respect, tell me to "wake up and fvcking race these guys, come on" it usually snaps me right out of it.

The other one is with like 800 to go in an XC race, coaches/teammates saying "eyes up, run tall. Quick turnover, quick turnover!!!!!" really does help. Everything else is pretty much a blur that I don't hear at all.

At about mile 23 of a small marathon where I was hurting but trying to catch the guy a ways in front of me, I saw a cute girl standing by the course by herself, so I asked her "how did that guy in front of me look?" She said, "Oh, he looked worse than you do." Not much of a ringing endorsement but enough to let me know I'd probably get him if I kept pushing, and she was right because I did.

I had trained with a friend to break 60 min for a Ten Mile Race. This race gave out special sub sixty shirts.

We ran together. We hit 5 miles at 29:35. I felt like I'd had it. (my PR for 10K was only 36:25) I said to my friend that I wasn't going to be able to maintain the pace.

He looked at me and said, "Ken, you knew it wasn't going to be easy!"

At that point I told myself that I would maintain a sub 6 pace til I dropped. It was hell from 5-7 miles, but just past 7 miles I started to feel strong.

We ran 59:28.

Look at my cool clock!

Ooh that's a good one

My answer is a rhetorical question:

Has any NHL player ever given an interview worth listening to and not full of cliches?

On the final 1000 of a 5k, I was dying badly, but so were the two runners in front of me. My teammates yelled "get him get him", I threw everything I had into it, passed both runners, almost caught another guy at the finish and promptly collapsed. A terrible terrible race was made less disastrous by my teammates. If not for them, I would have finished dead last.

I was at mile 25 of the Dallas White Rock marathon having a really tough time when I came across this African American guy on a corner enthusiastically cheering every single runner that came along. It wouldn't matter that he was black except that he was built like a tight end and, I would guess, knew nothing about distance running. But he knew enough to know that with enough enthusiasm I could close this marathon out.

I remember that he called me by my bib number "4-8-9-2"'or whatever the number was and gave me 15 seconds of over the top enthusiasm. I remember that interaction whenever I'm watching a marathon and try to pass it on.

This one's for 2Pac usually helps me

"Time to get tough"

Screamed right into my ear by my coach with 300 to go in an 800. I'm longer distance oriented (this was a 4x8 in HS), that was a real wakeup call for that race. Ran 2 seconds faster than I ever had before.

Coming into the finish at XC. Guy behind me has his coach screaming "you've got him"

It was a nice warning and there was no way he was outkicking me after that.

My place or distance to the leader/ guy ahead of me. These help in xc, esp if it could mean team points

Just today in a XC race, with about 1000m to go, someone yells "Don't be afraid" (and some other stuff) at the person next to me. It really stuck in my mind and really pushed those final 1000 meters.

Although it was intended for the other person, it really helped me.

French Dawg wrote:

My friend is an 800 runner and he just kind of does cross country. The end of their league championships finished on a track this year and my mom yelled at him to "show us the 800" and he sped up immediately and caught 2 or 3 people in the last 200 meters. His kick normally isn't that good.

Egli?

I was running in a high school state Q 3200. With three laps to go there was a pack of 4-5 runners 15m ahead of the pack I was in. On the back stretch with a 1000m to go I heard my coach hollering my name and screaming at me that if I wanted to go to state I needed to be with the lead pack. I'd never been very good at surging during races, but coach lit a fire in me and before we reached the curve I was with the lead pack. Over the next 4/500m guys started falling back until it was the fasted seeded guy in the race and me. Passed him at the bell and beat him by 25m.

I'll remember his few choice words and the outcome they produced 'til the day I die!

Mile 25 wrote:

try to pass it on.

+1

There was this 5 mile race which started at the same time as a Half-Marathon. I was running the shorter race but because the courses only parted 5k in, I had no idea about what place I was in (and I was aiming for a top 10 finish).

Someone shouted "Eighth!" as I went through 5k.

Soon I got passed by two other runners and with about 400m to go I was hurting a lot, looked back and saw the guy behind was too far to catch me and the guys ahead were moving away from me. I relaxed and settled for a nice 10th place finish.

Not even 5 seconds later someone shouted "Well done! You're 12th!"

WHAT?

That did it, I started a sprint, passed three runners and then got passed by one of them with 50m to go.

I got my 10th place. I would have been 12th had it not been for that spectator.

In my last XC race, I started to tie up pretty bad in the last mile and dropped towards the back of the pack. With 200m to go, there was another guy about 20m ahead of me. My coach was standing beside the course, and he yelled "if you catch that guy, you'll PR!" That really fired me up because I had been racing poorly all season and wasn't anywhere near the times I was expected to run. There was no excuse not to PR, so I had to make sure that happened. I immediately launched into a savage kick and blew past the other runner, and I heard him cussing under his breath. My form fell apart about 5m from the line and I came close to falling down after finishing, but I got the PR. Never kicked so hard. My only regret is that I didn't take the effort I used in the sprint and spread it out over the last mile to run a faster time.

I had told my coach that I used to be a sprinter in middle school. My sophomore season of XC in high school, I had made the goal to be "Honorable Mention" in my League race (given to 11th through 20th place in our League). In the final 400 or so of my league race, I was absolutely dead and getting passed and was about to drop out of the top 20. Then I heard my coach yelling "you told me you used to be a sprinter - show me!" I really doubt I was able to do any "real" sprinting, but hearing that made me give it every ounce of energy I had and I avoided getting passed again and took 20th place and got my Honorable Mention.

Generally though, hearing things during a race does absolutely nothing for me. My college coach(es) never really said things to us during races, and so I guess over time I learned to race without hearing things and found my own ways to motivate myself and race intelligently and to the best of my ability, including Half-Marathons and Marathons lately.

Youuuuu loooook relaxxxxeeddd !!!!!!!!!