Children on the Front Line at the Start of Races

The MacPass mile in Halifax shortened the kids mile to about 1500 to save them from themselves. The first part of the mile is quite sharply downhill and the kids all sprinted out and slammed on the brakes and wiped each other out.

The wise decision was made to start them on the uphill.

A wiser decision was to give them a separate race.

When I ran a local 5K with my daughter, there were around 250 runners. Looking at previous results, I knew I would probably finish in the top 10, and she would be around the middle of the pack. I found a place for her about 10 rows back, then I took a place near the front. I did not want her near the front because it would have been dangerous to her. Adults are large and moving fast, and if she shot off the start line and then slowed down suddenly, there was a real risk of injury. The first turn was right around 75 meters out, so that the little kid slowdown spot was exactly where the front back was bunching up and visibility was lower. Dealing with the wonky pacing of other runners at the start is annoying, but part of racing. I'll minimize the annoyance to others if I can. But I don't want my kid near the starting line because there's a risk of injury to her, and it's in everyone's interest to eliminate that risk, offended parents be damned.

Bring Back the 880 wrote:

The Troll Whisperer wrote:

Don't confuse the point, 880. Any experienced race director can create an orderly start. Even at a local 5k.

That was my point. This is either a problem with race organization, or with the OP taking a fun run too seriously.

There was a goddamn fun run for little kids- who are these a-hole parents who can't differentiate between kid and adult activities and behavior?

Randy Wholeway wrote:

I am not for over-serious hobby runners acting like donkeys because a kid added a couple of seconds to the first mile of their joggerville 5k.

This thread is all about runner safety -- kids' safety especially. Adults who get miffed -- or act "like donkeys" (your words) -- do so because a race director has done a pretty lousy job of managing the event. They certainly don't hate on the children.

Some observations of kids less than 10 years old who lined up in front during the first 50m of some crowed races I've been in:

Stop in middle of trail / street and tie shoe

Stop in middle of trail to look at crayfish

Stop in middle and start fighting their friend

Pick up gravel and throw it at their friend.

Stop in middle and turn around and look for their mom

Zig-zag while chasing a butterfly

Start stripping off hat, gloves, sweatshirt because they've discovered its too hot.

Stop to pick up dropped cell phone.

Stop to put sandal back on.

Stop and admire a horses's road apple.

One thing RD can do better, especially if the start does not have a chip mat, is not force the whole field through a 8 - 10 foot wide decorative start arch opening.

880 is a witless turd wrote:

[quote]Bring Back the 880 wrote:

There was a goddamn fun run for little kids- who are these a-hole parents who can't differentiate between kid and adult activities and behavior?

I think there is a little miscommunication here since we probably agree about 99% of this argument.

I don't think kids should line up ahead of large adults that are going to start fast out of the blocks. I agree that race staff should manage the start line for safety, and gently (or more firmly, if needed) oversee any self seeding that looks scary.

That said, participants have to take responsibility for safety as well. If you want to be in the first row, line up there. Often kids are in front because the spots are open. If you're running for fun, or don't want to start with the leaders, you need to take stock of the field in front of you.

Even at the highest levels, you can't escape this problem. Jenny Simpson was challenged by an erratic youngster at the start of the '13 WC final, but responded like the professional she is and won a silver.

Ran a race Thanksgiving morning. Fairly competitive 5 mile run. Race Director actually had a group of young girls line up the whole way across the starting line on top of the timing mat so no one could start in front of them. At first I thought it was just for a photo and they would move but nope that as how she thought best to start the race.

I was in a 5k when I was 12. I was a fairly good runner. I lined up at the front since I really wanted to win my age group. The starter insisted that I move back and after I told him the time I thought I could run, he grabbed me by the arm and moved me back about 10 rows. I was extremely embarrassed.

I ended up getting 2nd overall in the race, dropped about 30 secs off my PR, and really think I could've won. At the awards the guy was just gushing over me and my age/time When he announced me as 2nd place. In my first ever act of defiance, I didn't shake his hand and just dropped the little plastic trophy on the ground and walked away. My parents were VERY upset even after I told them what happened at the start.

.

Kid once wrote:

I was in a 5k when I was 12. I was a fairly good runner. I lined up at the front since I really wanted to win my age group. The starter insisted that I move back and after I told him the time I thought I could run, he grabbed me by the arm and moved me back about 10 rows. I was extremely embarrassed.

I ended up getting 2nd overall in the race, dropped about 30 secs off my PR, and really think I could've won. At the awards the guy was just gushing over me and my age/time When he announced me as 2nd place. In my first ever act of defiance, I didn't shake his hand and just dropped the little plastic trophy on the ground and walked away. My parents were VERY upset even after I told them what happened at the start.

I hope as an adult your thinking has matured to the point where you might see how that race director may have been a responsible race director.

Seems doubtful, however.

I fault Kid Once's parents, to a great extent, for what happened in that race when he was 12.

He was obviously an excellent runner who could keep up with the adults, and should have been allowed on the front line.

Most kids are not.

So, yes, it is understandable that the RD would assume that this boy didn't belong on the front line, and would move him. And since children generally overestimate their skill level, it makes sense that the RD would not take Kid Once's word for it, when he tried to tell the RD that he could do the race as fast as he claimed he could do it.

But where was Kid Once's parents in all of this?

Whereas the RD would have a hard time taking a 12 year old boy's word for it, the RD probably WOULD have listened to his parents - especially if his parents approached the RD BEFORE the runners stepped up to the mat.

I saw this happen in the same race I wrote about on page 1. We had a nine year old boy who is generally regarded as one of the top -- if not the top -- elementary school runner in the state of Tennessee. That kid is FAST! He outran almost every adult out there.

But the RD knew about him ahead of time.

In this elementary school 5k (Running of the Rams, Bartlett, TN, 2016) they actually put the children in their own separate corral, and started the kids after the adult corral was well on their way.

But not this speedy 9 year old. HE was placed on the front row by the RD himself.

RDs can do this, if they are made aware of the special skills that a child might bring to the race.

It would have been a good thing for Kid Once's parents to talk to the RD beforehand, and let him/her know what Kid Once's average 5K time ran.

In all probability, he would have been welcomed on the front line, if somebody (other than Kid Once himself) had told the RD about the child running prodigy.

pop_pop!_v2.2.1 wrote:

Sigh. Why do you hate children? Why do you feel so insecure you must beat them?

Let them have their 1K or whatever while you satisfy the urge to hobbyjob a little later.

I concur...just let them be and go around them. No big deal...

Maybe 10 years ago, a local 7th grade girl ran a 5k with maybe a thousand runners---not an elite field but fairly big. Anyway, she went near to the front for the start (on a wide downtown street) where two adult males told her she didn't belong there. She ignored their advice. She ended up winning the women's open division in 18:50 and beat the two men.

Not saying this happens often, but it would've been embarrassing to be one of those men. Maybe ask the kid what her PR is before saying anything else is the way to go.

it can happen wrote:

Maybe 10 years ago, a local 7th grade girl ran a 5k with maybe a thousand runners---not an elite field but fairly big. Anyway, she went near to the front for the start (on a wide downtown street) where two adult males told her she didn't belong there. She ignored their advice. She ended up winning the women's open division in 18:50 and beat the two men.

Not saying this happens often, but it would've been embarrassing to be one of those men. Maybe ask the kid what her PR is before saying anything else is the way to go.

Knucklehead, we're not talking about adolescents-- 12, 13, maybe a mature 11 year old-- or very rarely so.

Do you actually go to races or just comment upon them Where Dreams Become Reality?

Bad races are rife with 8-9-10 year olds +/0-, who have ZERO chance (or interest) in sustaining any kind of pace. Their parents are jerking themselves off for unknown reasons by allowing this nonsense, especially when there's often a "fun run" or space a bit back for a young / little kid who actually has plans to finish.

Find another ridiculous non-example to muddy the waters, it's helpful.

tyty87 wrote:

"Yes, it was competitive but I finished 3rd....Again, I did not average sub 5 minute pace...".

You do see the contraction here, OP?