Is it lame to win a half marathon by 10 minutes?

if there's a prize go for it.

otherwise pace a friend

Why can't you run 1:20 and win and then run a more competitive half to run 1:10?

If other people want to win, they should run faster.

Are you running this race because of a lack of options in your area?

Why don't you just go with the leading pack? Then at mile 12.5 just drop them.

Why don't you just run it as a tempo run?

Up And Running wrote:

If other people want to win, they should run faster.

Are you running this race because of a lack of options in your area?

Yeah the area I live in only has a few local 5ks per year and this is the one half marathon within an hour drive.

I do like the idea of just running it as a tempo, however this is just one of two half marathons I'll be doing this year and I feel like I'm in good enough shape to get a good sized PR

NewEnglandite wrote:

Up And Running wrote:

If other people want to win, they should run faster.

Are you running this race because of a lack of options in your area?

Yeah the area I live in only has a few local 5ks per year and this is the one half marathon within an hour drive.

I do like the idea of just running it as a tempo, however this is just one of two half marathons I'll be doing this year and I feel like I'm in good enough shape to get a good sized PR

Then go get it. Jesus H Christ this isn't hard people.

Not lame. Run a PR, you can "tempo" any other day.

Yeah race it. Do what's best for you and who cares what other people think.

Yes, please go into that race thinking you'll win by 10 minutes. I'll be there to take you down a notch when I out kick you in the last mile. Mentally you won't be on your A game thinking a win is a given, meanwhile I'll be there ready to battle all the way to the end. Just don't complain about getting 2nd place on here after the race.

New 1:10 guy wrote:

Yes, please go into that race thinking you'll win by 10 minutes. I'll be there to take you down a notch when I out kick you in the last mile. Mentally you won't be on your A game thinking a win is a given, meanwhile I'll be there ready to battle all the way to the end. Just don't complain about getting 2nd place on here after the race.

Alright sweet please show up, I'd love to not run alone this year. A 1:10 finish in 2nd place sounds much better than another 1:17 win

Oh good lord. Races are for racing, not for getting in tempo runs. If you are going to spend the money to enter, why on Earth, barring injury, would you not give it an all out effort?

Lurker wrote:

Oh good lord. Races are for racing, not for getting in tempo runs. If you are going to spend the money to enter, why on Earth, barring injury, would you not give it an all out effort?

Because there is no competition and he doesn't want to appear to be 'showing off'.

I would tempo it and save an all out effort for a higher quality race that has some competition to help push you.

If you win by that much, you're probably doping.

http://www.racecenter.com/results/2015/res_f215.htm

Dream2Meme wrote:

Last year I ran a small half marathon in it's first annual year and won by two minutes despite taking a bathroom pit stop. This year I'm in exponentially better shape and feel like I could win by nearly ten minutes if I reach my goal time of 1:10 and the competition is just as sparse as it was last year. Is that lame of me to run that race? Should I just look for a more competitive race? Annoying thing is that I already paid for my bib

When you are in shape, go for it!!

Is it lame to win a half marathon by 10 minutes?

Not if you finish in under 50 minutes.

Not as lame as jogging the race well below your fitness and winning by 10 seconds. That was known as "doing the Ted" once upon a time.

fastland wrote:

Not as lame as jogging the race well below your fitness and winning by 10 seconds. That was known as "doing the Ted" once upon a time.

Mentally I don't know if I could even pull this off. Not to sound all Prefontaine or anything, but I've only ever raced all out (not that this has taken me anyway far in life) and not running a PR would feel like a pretty big disappointment

Showing off? Good lord, is everyone in America entitled to be offended by everything these days?

You don't want someone to beat you by 10 minutes? The train harder or get over it.

I've never been offended by someone beating me thoroughly when I've given it my all. I'd be more offended by someone dogging it and then taking off at the end.

Life isn't as complicated as we try to make it. If you enter a race, race it to the best of your ability. No one will have a reasonable basis for being offended. And if they decide to be unreasonable and take offense, who cares.

Keep it real, kee it simple.