Have you ever run a race bandit .

When I was 17 I went to a big 10k right after track season that I had run the previous 2 years. I only intended to see how fast I could get to the two mile mark which was around 10 flat. Don't even remember if I jogged the rest of the course or back to the start.

A few years ago I was in a town to run the 5k the next day. The race had a one mile the evening before so I jumped in that and ran about 3/4 mile before peeling off.

The following year I went back and ran both races. Those are the only two I can remember in the last 39 years.

I unofficially rabbited a friend from miles 10-13 of a half marathon once. If he had won anything or there had been money on the line, I wouldn't have done it. But I think the harms to others were minuscule and my friend seemed to appreciate it.

oh yeah. lots of them. I'm too cheap and also have no money. but these fees are just plain ridiculous. usually step off a quarter mile from the finish. twice though, back before I knew better, I ran through the line at the Akron half. i've felt badly ever since, since they gave me a medal. i skipped the food and drinks initially b/c i knew at the very least not to do that.

I didn't 10miles of a half last year just to help a buddy finish .. rules. Don't use anything from aid stations.. gtfo before the finish line. Otherwise I just happened to be doing my Saturday long run on a city street where there happens to be a race.

Various 5K to HM along Chicage lakefront around Montrose, Soldier Field, Museum of S&I usually Saturday mornings, Not at start, not at finish, not at aid stations, run that route whether there is a race or not. I cheer on and pace mid packers and take in the eye candy in the sports bras.

Last year a guy I knew did when I was racing a 10K. He didn't seem to understand why I frowned upon that sort of thing.

If it's a charity race, that means by not paying you're not giving the charity your donation, so it's no different to me than showing up to a charity BBQ and enjoying a few freebies but not paying up. It's pretty selfish.

Piano_Man87 wrote:

Last year a guy I knew did when I was racing a 10K. He didn't seem to understand why I frowned upon that sort of thing.

If it's a charity race, that means by not paying you're not giving the charity your donation, so it's no different to me than showing up to a charity BBQ and enjoying a few freebies but not paying up. It's pretty selfish.

Not a perfect analogy. Because if u don't start or finish and don't use aid stations.. you haven't taken anything. Not giving something isn't taking something

Ok, I will give up the lakefront trail on those days and do some speedwork in Englewood or Austin instead.

electron1661 wrote:

oh yeah. lots of them. I'm too cheap and also have no money. but these fees are just plain ridiculous. usually step off a quarter mile from the finish. twice though, back before I knew better, I ran through the line at the Akron half. i've felt badly ever since, since they gave me a medal. i skipped the food and drinks initially b/c i knew at the very least not to do that.

Are you a low-income runner like me? I agree that the fees are high, but I think it's too cheesey to bandit a race. What do you do for a race bib? Make a phony one as to not draw attention? And what if the other runners at the start line detect that you are a bandit runner and collectively start chanting "Bandit..Bandit...Bandit." Even worse; someone drops a dime to the local news media and they send a chopper out to provide live reports of the "bandit runner"...following your every move 😅.

Banditing was more common back in the earlier days of the road running boom. I jumped into maybe four or five races back when I was in college or just after. The first time I did it was an accident. I got to the 10K race late and didn't have time to sign up, so just jogged a mile or so and ran thinking I'd be 5th or 6th and I'd finish out of the chute. But at the turn-around everyone fell off the pace and so I just kept going; it wasn't earth shattering 33:30 or so. As approached the finish I was going to veer off but the RD (who had been a running partner in the past) waved me in. So I "won" but 2nd place complained and they gave it to him.

Once I ran a race and the top 6 all bandited, I was 5th. It was pretty funny and even the race directors were laughing.

But I decided it was kind of dumb, sort of a college age thing, and disrespectful. It takes a lot of work to put on a race.

My dad was a runner in the 80s and would take us kids to the race with him. The race culture was as you describe. Races in the evening. Low prices. We would sometimes bandit as kids and step off right before the finish. No one cared. Everyone there was a true runner, they were there to test themselves against each other. Man, I wish road races could be that way again. Sooo much better than the over priced, overbearing production that races are now.

I realized in my young 20s that I could not bandit races anymore. The race mentality was different. When the race only cost $5, no one cared if you didn't pay. When the race was $20 or more, is suddenly felt like stealing to not pay. Ironically, the temptation to run as a bandit was higher because races were so much more expensive, but I realized I need to be a grown-up and not bandit anymore. I compensated by running fewer races....thanks "second running boom" for making things worse.

Just happened to be doing a long run...On what kind of long run can you run down the middle of the street and blow through intersections without worrying about traffic? I must find these streets where I can long run like that. Like Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky...

Never a running race. When I worked in Colorado in the 90s there was a big Sanctioned mountain bike race. I had a crappy way too big of a bike but was in great shape.

I decided to ride the course after the start went off. I gave them a couple minutes head start and set off with what i thought was an easy pace. The first 3 miles did a long climb up and I soon caught the pack. They were going so slow that I started passing all these mostly hard core female riders.

Most of them yelled for me to get off the course, so i just rode faster. How bad is it to get passed by a Hobby Rider in jean shorts?

I have probably run as a bandit in over 20 races.

I never 'won' any of those, but was well ahead of the first official entrant and (eventual official 'winner') in 5 races when I stepped off the course with 1-200 meters to go.

Never took aid, never took post race refreshments, usually started in the back or to the side so as not to impede. Most of these races were smaller and I was not benefitting from traffic control or police presence.

A couple times the event directors came up to me after the race, as I was out near the finish cheering other runners along, and offered to let me pay and enter after the fact. I declined and stated I could not afford the fee.

I normally would run as a bandit because I had little money and could not justify paying the entry fees. And/or I believed the race was charging too much money for what they was provided.

I have personally directed many races and do not get upset when I notice people banditing my races. When I notice bandits, I always try to ask them why they did not enter. They usually answer something like they did not want the pressure of actually competing, and were just running for fun. I am ok with that.

Being sensitive to high race entry fees, I always kept the fees as low as possible in the races I directed and provided enough things to make the entry fees worth it. Note I have also directed a few low key races where there was no entry fee.

I can understand why some race directors get all upset with bandits, because they believe those bandits are stealing something. Normally I do not believe banditing a race "steals" much if anything from the event, if done properly.

Banditing a race with overall runner entry limits could jeopardize that event in the future if too many people run without entering.

I would encourage those race directors that are upset about bandits to consider why they are upset, to try to modify their event so that people have no reason to bandit it, and to lighten up a bit.

Celery, I agree that it's not cool to bandit an expensive race. It is a different world now.

I also remember one time I felt guilty about a bandit move. I wanted to run the 2-mile at the Vermont indoor meet at UVM at the end of 1976 around Xmas, but I was not entered.

I got my pal Tim on the UVM team to talk to his coach about letting me run under the number of one of my UMASS team mates. My team mate was entered in the 2-mile but had not shown up.

So they reluctantly let me run under someone else's name, and I got 5th place. Damn, I was a half miler then, I had no business doing this!

Whose number did I run with from my UMASS team? It was Jay Legere, aka John Legere, now CEO of T-Mobile. Hey Jay, sorry I didn't win that one for you!

I ran the first 15.5 miles of Boston without a number back in '92 or '93. I got picked up by a friend and drove into town just in time to see Johnny Kelley the Elder finish his last full Boston Marathon.

Bandit and proud wrote:

Why and did you win?

I was finishing my training in Boston, was about a forty minute per day runner and was asked about 6 weeks before the race by my supervisor, an accomplished runner, whether I would be running the marathon.

I replied that I could never contemplate a 2:50 qualifier and was told that I would regret it if I did not just run the race while I was there for a year, that the race budgeted for bandits and nobody would care.

I stood on the lawn of a pretty church in Hopkinton until the gun and crossed the starting line at the very back of the pack of about 3000.

I had upped my running for the prior six weeks and ran a fairly leisurely 3:15 just enjoying the experience.

I've never understood how so many finishers were behind me when everyone supposedly had to qualify with a 2:50(3:10 for 40 and above).

Isn't Boston one of the few major races where bandits aren’t condemned and generally accepted? During the Boston TV coverage, I've heard the announcers comment on the large number of bandits in a non-negative way as the camera zooms in on them at the rear of pack. Correct to assume that no qualifying time and you can still run it anyway pulling off before the finish line?