Ran half today, people got mad at me for running behind them and "drafting", is there some etiquette I'm missing?

Unless you're running sub 5 pace I would think you're not getting any sort of "drafting" benefit by sitting behind someone (this isn't cycling).

That said, I've always felt there is a huge psychological benefit to letting someone else lead. And if I'm leading I do get a little annoyed if someone is sitting and not doing their share of the leading. Sometimes I'll motion for them to come up, but I'll rarely say anything. If they don't lead I'll usually slow (if I'm already pushing hard) or I'll try and catch the next group and they'll usually fall off or we'll reach the group...

But next time you catch someone remember that if you sit you're slowing down. Just go by the runner - it'll keep your momentum going. Sometimes you need to check yourself and it's fine to sit for a moment, but the longer you're tagging along the more you're probably slowing.

I've been in both situations. If you are going to draft you better be prepared to contribute your fair share of leading.

A much better one is when I was running a 10K with a guy right next to me, and when I would run the tangents, he would elbow me and tell me I'm cheating. Apparently he had no clue as to how road courses are laid out and measured. Surged past his sorry butt and ran my race.

Interesting thread. I actually prefer being the one to lead, so unless the other guy is uncomfortably close, it doesn't bother me.

I was in a Half about a year ago where three of us were leading the race in a fairly tight pack. At the third mile, the guy who was leading the pack started darting left and right super erratically. Me and the other guy just went by him and continued on our way. I ended up winning and the other guy got passed by the erratic darting guy. After the race, the erratic darting guy was complaining that we were drafting off of him. I thought it was really odd because it was the first time I have ever truly encountered someone complaining about it in over 20 years of competitive running (including D1), and it was so early in the race. The guy had only taken the pace for maybe 2 or 3 minutes when it happened.

I raced last weekend and a guy was on my shoulder for 13 of the 13.1 miles. He passed me in the last sprint and beat me. Maybe it is because he was 10 years younger than me and my competitive nature is mellowing, but it didn't bother me that much. Racing is racing and as long as it isn't illegal, I am actually fine with it. I suspected it was coming and tried to drop him a few times around mile 6 and 10 - on some hills - but he stayed put. Good for him.

To the OP, I think that maybe you are just running too close. Try pacing off of people from a similar distance that you might run if just running with friends.

Hmmm..... wrote:

I've been in both situations. If you are going to draft you better be prepared to contribute your fair share of leading.

I think this is true for guys trying to PR together in the chase packs, but if you are racing to win, I think sitting on someone's shoulder is a legitimate strategy. Not always the best idea, IMO. If you're with a group of guys and you are just trying to run as fast as possible - not necessarily win the race - everyone should help out.

KnowledgelessNewbie wrote:

Was running towards back of a group to help get carried to a faster time, group broke apart and I stayed behind a woman since she was going pace I wanted. Wind was pushing us forward and I was behind so that I could just focus on staying with her. She got mad and accused me of drafting. I said I was sorry and pushed ahead to do my share of leading for a bit in return.

Came up behind another runner and as soon as I was behind her she accused me of drafting also and yelled at me to go by already.

Is it bad etiquette to run behind someone for a little while? This was first half for me so I'm don't know any unspoken rules / codes or anything.

Not really sure how you were drafting with the wind pushing you forward . But if someone stays behind me I have no issues it just helps me push harder to try and drop your ass.

Chewbacca wrote:

What she really meant was, "Get out of my personal space, creep!"

I think this is right. And I'm now going to say something outrageous--and true: she was probably conscious of being a sweaty, smelly runner-woman, and didn't want to have to spend one moment feeling self conscious about you breathing her fumes.

There, I said it.

That's why she barked at you. It wasn't that you were drafting her, it's that (she assumed that) you were smelling her. That made her feel self-conscious.

Assuming women frequent these boards, what is their input?

Are you a loud breather or loud runner?

Ladies, need your input wrote:

Assuming women frequent these boards, what is their input?

I don't recall anyone drafting off of me because if I pass someone, I pass "with authority" as my high school coach would tell us to do, meaning create a substantial gap before backing off the surge. I do draft off of other people if it's windy because it's a race. That's always what I've been coached to do, so I never saw it as "poor etiquette." And since when has LetsRun been concerned with etiquette? If I'm running about the same pace as a competitor and they pass me, I'll tuck in behind them for a while, then ideally pass them at the finish or when I find the next target. That's what they get for passing me without creating a big enough gap.

Prefer running behind women's behinds.

Years ago I was running a half marathon and passed a guy about 10 miles. He tucked in right behind and felt too close. I was having a great race and didn't want this guy clipping a shoe so I started swerving back and forth until I dropped him. If he was a couple steps back, I wouldn't have been worried. He wasn't very happy after the race.

This is probably the problem, there are loads of weird guys out there who think running 1 foot behind a woman so that you can see their ass as close up as possible is a good thing to do.

I have run behind people in races, I have had people run behind me. I can honestly say that it has never bothered me, there would have to be body contact or shoe clipping before I would get annoyed.

No ruined races wrote:

Years ago I was running a half marathon and passed a guy about 10 miles. He tucked in right behind and felt too close. I was having a great race and didn't want this guy clipping a shoe so I started swerving back and forth until I dropped him. If he was a couple steps back, I wouldn't have been worried. He wasn't very happy after the race.

Yeah people say I have a weird leg kick, my feet come back pretty far and it's a little bit difficult to draft off of me without clipping my feet. In workouts with people I don't know I often get my feet clipped. So I do worry a bit about having people close behind me sometimes, it causes me to chop my stride a bit.

Mostly I think it's just annoying to have someone breathing down your neck for that long. It's definitely helpful to have someone in front of you (from a psychological standpoint if nothing else), but it's bad form to just stay behind them without helping out a bit.

Any of you guys saying it is not ok to draft just don't know how to race. Of course it is ok. It is part of the tactics of racing. If someone tries to draft off of you, you can employ tactics of your own. You can surge, you can slow down and try to draft off them, whatever. Or, you can take turns doing leading duties in a longer race.

All part of the sport.

I still have questions:

1) Wasn't he running with a tailwind? So is it reverse drafting AKA as blocking?

2) At what speed does drafting help in running?

3) If you are a 5'2" person, can a 6'2" person actually draft off you?

I get race tactics, but passing or running alongside would have been the considerate and respectful thing to do, especially since the other two runners were bothered. They are not obligated to shield or pace him.

I got jumped once on a trail and ever since then, the sound of footsteps behind me.. well, I just don't like it. So there you have it. Pass or run alongside.

you should avoid the draft, grow a beard and move to Canada

Additional Details:

- Woman one had been part of a pack of 5 including me where we all lead at some point which had been together from mile 2 until 6.5, when one guy surged away, other two fell off, and I tried to stayed with woman #1 since this was my first half and I was comfortable with pace. She barked at me about a mile later.

- I was running about 2 stride lengths behind her.

- After the bark from her, I led her for next 1.5 to catch up to woman 2 like she said she wanted to do.

- Woman 2 barked at me as right as I came up on her, and I slowly passed her since I had been gaining for some time. Was behind her for maybe 2 seconds.

- Woman 2 was visibly upset after race.

- Woman 1 congratulated me after race and thanked me for helping pull her to Woman 2.

- Finished in top 20, so maybe they were just uber competitive.

- I am not creepy.

What I am getting from this is to take turns in lead when running in a pack and not run behind people longer than a couple minutes.

stop_looking_at_my_butt wrote:

I still have questions:

1) Wasn't he running with a tailwind? So is it reverse drafting AKA as blocking?

2) At what speed does drafting help in running?

3) If you are a 5'2" person, can a 6'2" person actually draft off you?

I get race tactics, but passing or running alongside would have been the considerate and respectful thing to do, especially since the other two runners were bothered. They are not obligated to shield or pace him.

I got jumped once on a trail and ever since then, the sound of footsteps behind me.. well, I just don't like it. So there you have it. Pass or run alongside.

As for drafting assistance, speed makes a difference.

I think at slower speeds, it is more psychological. It can be annoying having someone run right behind you. Breathing, heavy foot falls, fear of getting clipped and going down.

No, the smaller person in front is not going to be helpful especially at speeds you hobby joggers run.