Train stopped me and other BQ seekers for 6+ min at Via Marathon today

Does it matter wrote:

Right Thang? wrote:

Right thing? What about the people not affected by the train? They didn't get a 10 minute rest break?

They should NOT give anyone any time back. They will be de facto penalizing those not affected by the train.

Who does this really affect? Did the train come early enough in the race to impact the leaders or even top age group finishers? Does anyone have info regarding the actual timing?

If it only impacts people who were running 4+h or something, then who cares. Let them have their 10m back.

It was reported by spectators that apx the first 20 runners got through. 2 friends messaged me that they were running around 7:10-7:15 pace and had to wait about 3 minutes. There were already quite a few runners ahead of them stopped. The wait for the faster runners was said to be about 8-10 minutes. Do the math and the runners on a sub 3 hour pace waited the longest

warreen commission wrote:

It was reported by spectators that apx the first 20 runners got through. 2 friends messaged me that they were running around 7:10-7:15 pace and had to wait about 3 minutes. There were already quite a few runners ahead of them stopped. The wait for the faster runners was said to be about 8-10 minutes. Do the math and the runners on a sub 3 hour pace waited the longest

Thanks for filling in the blanks. I was just looking at the results and was wondering why there were so few sub 3 runners. Now it makes sense. So yeah, definitely awful timing on that thing.

Saw on one of the threads that a guy who was running low 6s was stopped and had like a 14 minute mile on mile 8 perhaps, so I think you had to be around sub 2:40 pace through that point to be safe.

somebloke wrote:

hey you! wrote:

Best get a contract next time.

I thought you said you had the time and money to put this guy down. No?

I did, and still do. Still decided to let it go after the initial anger was gone.

Really? It sounded from the thread like you were living in a boarding house. I don't know a lot of people with means that live in that type of environment.

Yeah, my official time was mid-3:06. And my running time was just barely sub-3. I came in 20th. So it affected plenty of people at the top of the heap. There was a half marathon that started half-way through the marathon course and a 4 or 5 leg marathon relay that all started at the same time as the marathon. So I suspect that most of the "20 people who made it before the train came" were not marathoners but half-marathon'ers and relay'ers. The marathon winner won by about 20 minutes which is an impressive accomplishment.

FWIW, I was either the last or next to last person to cross in front of the train, beating it by about 30 yards. I reeled in roughly 10-12 guys over the ensuing 18+ miles, meaning that somewhere around 20 people beat the train. That's the best data that I can offer.

Come On Now wrote:

somebloke wrote:

I did, and still do. Still decided to let it go after the initial anger was gone.

Really? It sounded from the thread like you were living in a boarding house. I don't know a lot of people with means that live in that type of environment.

Lemme guess. You two are rival wedding dj's/ wannabe photographers?

It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry

somebloke wrote:

hey you! wrote:

Best get a contract next time.

I thought you said you had the time and money to put this guy down. No?

I did, and still do. Still decided to let it go after the initial anger was gone.

Hi Ken!

If anyone needs some Strava, TCX or any type of GPS data manipulated, let me know.

There was a half marathon that started half-way through the marathon course and a 4 or 5 leg marathon relay that all started at the same time as the marathon. So I suspect that most of the "20 people who made it before the train came" were not marathoners but half-marathon'ers and relay'ers. I came in 20th. And the difference between my official race time and Garmin GPS time was 6:20.

I remember you, as well!!

I will vouch for you, too.

See you in Boston, my friend!

Keniel wrote:

somebloke wrote:

I did, and still do. Still decided to let it go after the initial anger was gone.

Hi Ken!

this never gets old :)

As if Ken would ever let anything go...

I was running yesterday and can confirm that only 11 runners or so in the actual marathon, plus maybe 10 or so in the relay, made it across the tracks before the train came. I was running a 6:20 pace through the 8 mile mark and the train must have come only a minute after I crossed.

I commented to the guys that I was with that I was pretty sure that the train we were hearing was about to go over the railroad we just passed, but they told me they didnt think so.

When we got to the loop section of the course near the half marathon mark there was a huge gap between our group and anyone else, probably 5 minutes or more. It just upset the whole balance of the race, even for those up front not directly affected.

Itgotuglyforme wrote:

I was running yesterday and can confirm that only 11 runners or so in the actual marathon, plus maybe 10 or so in the relay, made it across the tracks before the train came. I was running a 6:20 pace through the 8 mile mark and the train must have come only a minute after I crossed.

I commented to the guys that I was with that I was pretty sure that the train we were hearing was about to go over the railroad we just passed, but they told me they didnt think so.

When we got to the loop section of the course near the half marathon mark there was a huge gap between our group and anyone else, probably 5 minutes or more. It just upset the whole balance of the race, even for those up front not directly affected.

Email Barb and let her know that they need to subtract a minute or two from your time due to the decreased competition after the train blocked so many behind you.

I was doing consistent 6:40's pre-train and by the time I got there, there were only a small handful of people waiting so the train had apparently just arrived a short time beforehand. So somewhere around 6:30 pace seems to made it / didn't make it cutoff.

JustSomeGuyWhoRuns wrote:

I was doing consistent 6:40's pre-train and by the time I got there, there were only a small handful of people waiting so the train had apparently just arrived a short time beforehand. So somewhere around 6:30 pace seems to made it / didn't make it cutoff.

Why did you run that race in the first place? Seems like an overpriced event on a joke of a course that usually has bad weather.

WhitePony wrote:

No, just a runner that knows where my running fits in importance in the grand scheme of life.

Who are you to tell other people how important their running should be to them?