I just lost a race because I was pointed the wrong way - How often does this happen?

Happened to me in a fair-sized half marathon. The whole middle section was on a bike path and the directions were "keep going straight on the path for our miles until it crosses XYZ Street." Well, at two points there were spots where they path went in a Y and neither had the slightest marking. First one I went the wrong way and realized it when that path ended at a nearby street. Second time I went the right way, but wasn't sure I had until two miles later when the bike path hit XYX+Z Street and there was a volunteer directing us. I only ran a few hundred meters extra, but ran a few miles confused and worried.

I ran a local 10K with some confusing criss-crossed park trails. The volunteer at a key intersection directed the first 10 or so runners the wrong way, before realizing his mistake and pointing the rest of the field correctly. The lead group unexpectedly arrived at the finish line after only about 6K, totally bewildered. The race director awarded the win and the age group awards to the members of that lead group, even though they'd only run about half the course, under the theory that they would have won anyway.

It's frustrating, but I agree with those saying that the best answer is to study the map or run the course ahead of time, since the occasional mistake is bound to happen. Some race companies are better than others about designing clear courses with well-marked turns, so choose your races accordingly.

I was out for an easy 12 miler some weekends ago and made a turn on my usual route.. and next thing I know I am in the middle of a 10k.. I hear someone in a vest going this way this way you can dooooo it. The course was barely marked at all.

Running a 5k soon and I will run the route the day before and as my warmup

I ran a 10-mile race that had a bicycle that was supposed to lead the race. Around the halfway point, the guy on the bike had some kind of problems and had to pull off and stop. Me and another runner, who were both well ahead of the next runner kept going and both missed a turn we were apparently supposed to make around mile 8. After running nearly a mile in the wrong direction, we turned back to see much of the mid pack making the turn we missed. At that point, both of us basically jogged it in to finish around 50th. We both got into it with the race director who was claiming that the turn was marked, so it was our fault for going the wrong way. Neither of us saw ANY type of marking or race official at that corner. It's still pretty annoying as there was a cash prize at that race.

Crappy situation that seems to be all too common.

It happens a lot. Don't feel bad about it. It was only a road races. Only races on the track matter.

It didn't happen on a road race yet, but in HS indoor track, it happened to my daughter in the 3200. It was on a 180m track, so imagine trying to count the laps while running the hamster wheel. The official miscounted, of course, and she was leading... ended up running an extra lap and 2-5 finished before she did. Luckily a video showed she ran the right number of laps and she was given the first place medal. Still, it was annoying because 1) she didn't get the glory of finishing first, and 2) she didn't get her PR (which she was on par for).

Definitely annoying.

You should ask for your money back. The route of a race should be clear and distinct, with signs, directions, etc.

Runners are running at an intense level, with body chemicals pumping throughout their entire body. Runners don't have time or the focus to look at streets signs to figure out if they are on course or not. It is the job of the race director to ensure that there are guide signs or route directors to make sure runners are on course.

In most races that I have competed in , there were cones set up after each long street or corner to let the runners know that they were on course....

Happened at a track meet wrote:

It didn't happen on a road race yet, but in HS indoor track, it happened to my daughter in the 3200. It was on a 180m track, so imagine trying to count the laps while running the hamster wheel. The official miscounted, of course, and she was leading... ended up running an extra lap and 2-5 finished before she did. Luckily a video showed she ran the right number of laps and she was given the first place medal. Still, it was annoying because 1) she didn't get the glory of finishing first, and 2) she didn't get her PR (which she was on par for).

Definitely annoying.

How would this prevent a PR?

Maybe she was looking back and trying to figure out what to do.

PR firm wrote:

Happened at a track meet wrote:

It didn't happen on a road race yet, but in HS indoor track, it happened to my daughter in the 3200. It was on a 180m track, so imagine trying to count the laps while running the hamster wheel. The official miscounted, of course, and she was leading... ended up running an extra lap and 2-5 finished before she did. Luckily a video showed she ran the right number of laps and she was given the first place medal. Still, it was annoying because 1) she didn't get the glory of finishing first, and 2) she didn't get her PR (which she was on par for).

Definitely annoying.

How would this prevent a PR?

Improperly timed closing kick.

Great ... and sad ... stories.

My daughter was leading a cc race for the first time, had 20 yards on 2nd, and she followed the atv right off the course with 100m to go despite flags and fans lining the course. Barely squeaked out the win.

What made it doubly entertaining is she only a month earlier had chided her younger sister who had trouble in the last 100m finding the finishing chute of a road race despite the big festooned arch. As an excuse for her, everybody seemingly stopped across the line and it just looked like a wall of people.

It happened to me just last sunday morning.

I was racing in a 15km race. About twenty minutes after the start I was leading by almost 200m, and I was running very easy and absentmindly. I was only thinking about how easy I could win that day.

Then, at a certain point of the course, after reaching a crossroad, I saw that there were no arrows indicating which direction I should have chosen. Organizers decided not to use a leading car or bike, then I was alone. I turned back and I saw another athlete yelling at me that I ought to run back and turn right instead of going straight. Meanwhile I was seeing the pack turning the right way, but they were about 300m ahead of me.

Actually there was an arrow, printed on an a4 paper sheet, attached to a tree at 3 meters in height, indicating the direction. But I missed it.

I finished in 7th place. After the race I didn't complain at all just because I was happy to be able to cover the entire distance, since I am straining a lot to get back to training after a serious injury. And moreover, it was a charity race.

navigate wrote:

Is it my fault for not knowing the course well enough?

Mostly. It would be nice if the course was marked well but that isn't always guaranteed.

Zero signs/staff/volunteers directing at a certain turn ~10 miles into the old Regina half marathon.

Went from 3rd to like 8th thanks to running the wrong way.

Emailed the RD (at the time), not to request anything, just for their information and maybe improvement for future years.

A$$hole writes back to say (1) he doesn't care and (2) everyone else among the leaders got it right. Apparently he was fine with unmarked mystery turns in his city's only semi-serious race. Guess what, jerk? I had nobody to follow and unlike 99% of the field had never been to Dumpsville, SK, Canada.

Years later, the race is now much bigger and better under a real RD.

Sorry man. That's a huge bummer. This has happened to me twice. Once was in the final mile of a 5k I was leading. A turn approached and I asked the volunteer which way to go. She told me to turn right. 50 meters later she yelled "oops I meant left. By then I had been passed, but I was able to come back and win the race. Annoying, but no big deal.

The 2nd time was a bigger deal. I was in 3rd place in a large half-marathon. The race was run concurrently w/a 10k. In mile 10, I was on pace for a huge PR and running negative splits when the course converged w/the 10k course on a long bridge. Suddenly I found myself approaching a wall of the slowest 10k runners, who of course were not running on the right side to allow for others to pass. I had to zig-zag through the best I could, covering much extra distance, but with the dense 10k crowd I still lost pace. With the density of the 10k crowd, I lost sight of the leader and the pace bike. After the bridges, apparently there was a turn for the half-marathoners, but no signage, race officials, or volunteers were there to announce the turn. So I ended up crossing the finish line with the 10k runners after having run 10.8 miles or so. Same thing happened to the other runners in 2nd-6th place at the time. So I missed out on a huge PR and a top-3 finish. Shortly thereafter I injured my knee, got old, and was never able to run that sweet PR.

Your fault. You failed to prepare. That is part of winning.

I was in the last mile of a 15mile race a month ago. I knew the route and it was marked with orange arrows.

Some local kids had spun one of the arrows round and, in my tired state, I followed it instead of sticking to the route I knew. 10sec later I turned around and got back on track but lost a place.

My fault entirely. I was tired and not concentrating properly and should not have needed the arrows.

1:39.99 wrote:

Your fault. You failed to prepare. That is part of winning.

I disagree with this logic. If the race is so poorly organized that the route can't easily be followed, or there's no people to point you in the right direction at a turn, who's to say their map is even correct? If it's that bad I'd say there's an equal chance that the race director would switch up the course to be different than the map shows, which in that case following the map would be the worst case scenario.

Reboot runner wrote:

What made it doubly entertaining is she only a month earlier had chided her younger sister who had trouble in the last 100m finding the finishing chute of a road race despite the big festooned arch.

My wife did something similar last year at a 5k. They had the timing mat in the middle of the road with a couple of small posts around it, but a big arch over the whole area. Most of the spectators were outside of the arch, so maybe it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world. She was concentrating on pushing to get a PR and ran right around the mat, then stopped running, thinking she was in the chute. And after a bunch of people yelled at her, she had to turn around, go back, and then through. She still got a timed PR by a few seconds, and I get to give her crap about it on a weekly basis, so great for both of us!