I ran a 5k today, a huge field of people sprinted at 5:10 pace the first quarter mile.. why?

How cold was it? Maybe they started fast to warm up (temperature wise) after freezing while waiting for the race to start.

Rat Race wrote:

I can completely understand what you're saying. The technical morons saying a 38 sec 200m isn't a sprint, while they may be correct by pace comparison to everyday runners, THEY ARE WRONG at the same time. Sprinting and getting on their toes at a nearly full stride for a kid certainly looks like sprinting when they're at that arbitrary 28 sec 200m mark they're referencing anyways...

Nah, they know that they are racing a 5K, which in their minds might seem pretty far at beyond 3 miles, even if they have no idea of how long they can hold a fast pace. They would go faster if they were lined for 100 meters. The evidence is that they keep going after the fast part, rather than walk or stop for a break.

The fast starters who can't hold pace aren't always non-athletes. In my first 5K road race, I saw a guy who would later become a two time Olympian in cross country skiing take off with the leaders for maybe 1/4 or 1/2 mile and then look back and slow to a jog for the rest of the race. He probably just wanted to see what it felt like.

Has anyone else been literally called out by a spectator or other runner for going fast at the start? Back in college (ancient history), I once ran the 2 mile at the intramural track meet. The field probably consisted mainly of frat bros, because the Greek system at UCLA competed among themselves over the year in all the different intramural sports, including having an overall winner for the entire year of different sports.

At the start, we were lined up at the finish line and were about to be started when I spoke up and pointed out we were supposed to be running the 2 mile, not the 3200. The starter realized his mistake and backed us up to the 2 mile start. Once the gun went off, I took off at my tempo pace, but already had a large gap going around the first curve. One guy watching from near the end of the curve commented loudly and knowingly to his buddy, "He's going too fast. He's going to die really bad." This was around the time I could run in the 29s for 6 mile tempos, so it was fun running by them every lap at the same pace with a wider and wider lead. I ended up lapping the entire field, running an easy 9:55.

I definitely would have been snickering with every lap past them lol. I've been called out mildly in local races, but it was never an issue about backing up my finishing time. Never had any thing like that in college around here.

That program sounds awesome!!! Thanks for doing what you do! You need to write a "how to" guide for implementing such a program for other communities!

What concerns me a bit more is why so many people here are concerned with how someone else (that is not us) starts. Some are more experienced, some are not. As long as someone is not getting in your way, why does it really matter how someone else experiences what should be uniquely your race?HMM.

SleepWalker wrote:

Seriously?

Why do people who are going to finish in 27 minutes sprint out the gates like that........?

Best way if the course is narrow. I see this in cross races all the time.

The first road 5K I ever ran had a load of Kenyan men and Russian women. I was a sophomore in high school and went out way too hard because I was used to being at least somewhere near the front of my races on the track. I knew I went out too fast, but wasn't going to just slow down partway through the first mile and let the Russian women on my tail pass me. (The Kenyan men were out in like 4:40). I was caught up in the moment, and was trying to convince myself that I could sustain and have a break-out performance. I imagine this happens to other people, too.

I realize this is an apples and oranges comparison (seems like little kids and non-runners sprinting out to the front is the gist of the OP's complaint) but I think it can happen to anyone.

OP better have run 16:00ish or faster or he has nothing to complain about. 99% of runners go out too fast in races. And I bet he did too

The adrenaline boost at the beginning of a race is pretty powerful. A guy who was a quality 800m in college (1:47) showed up to run with my training group. He was now over 40, but trying to get back into running. In workouts, he could barely do 3xmi at 5:45. We went to a 10k race and he blasts out with the front pack and hits the first mile in 5:10. He had never run a 10k before and had no idea what top local 10k runners normally ran. Needless to say, the rest of the race was a dismal affair for this guy.

This is how it is for many people who fly out of the gate at races. They just do not know what they are doing and get swept up in the moment. The adrenaline carries them for about a mile and then reality sets in.

Precious Roy wrote:

This is how it is for many people who fly out of the gate at races. They just do not know what they are doing and get swept up in the moment. The adrenaline carries them for about a mile and then reality sets in.

Yep. The first mile of my first 5K as a master's runner, which was my first race in 20 years, remained my mile PR for over a year after that. The rest of that 5K did not go well at all.

SleepWalker wrote:

Seriously?

Why do people who are going to finish in 27 minutes sprint out the gates like that........?

They do it in order to more easily crap their pants later in the race. (Had this happen to a non running athlete friend)