Revenge of the hobby jogger

In my book, the hobby-jogger won. He won at being an obnoxious douche. Just like me. I can relate.

the victory celebration was a douche move but other than that i dont see what the problem is.

Cosens has ran an OTQ. These people are in completely different sports. Back in my day we respected the faster runners and worked hard to get faster, this guy (and the behavior of most hobbyjoggers) is why competitive runners don't show up to road races anymore.

Douche nozzle to the extreme. "or I was just overcome with some deep-seeded instinct runners are probably familiar with". No, you idiot, no one else has any deep-seeded instincts to act like a jerk.

OTQ^2 wrote:

Cosens has ran an OTQ. These people are in completely different sports. Back in my day we respected the faster runners and worked hard to get faster, this guy (and the behavior of most hobbyjoggers) is why competitive runners don't show up to road races anymore.

For any race with $ prizes, the hobbyjoggers subsidize the winners. The behavior of hobbyjoggers has nothing to do with participation by competitive runners.

1) Somehow a 32m 5k runner outkicked a 32m 10k runner. However obnoxious the finger waving, the hobbyjogger found himself a race within a race that helped him finish as fast as he could.

2) Could the race director do something to preserve the 10k winner's glory? Even without the Ben Johnson victory wag, the 10k winner in a 5k/10k race with the same start/finish may be photobombed by other 5k stragglers. Why not have finishing tape, at least, or cones designating a separate finish for the 10k winner?

3) The photo captured the absurdity of the story. What are the classic running photo posterizations? Nike loves its Farah/Rupp gold/silver shot, but they were both happy.

lmaoooooo

zeus2011 wrote:

2) Could the race director do something to preserve the 10k winner's glory? Even without the Ben Johnson victory wag, the 10k winner in a 5k/10k race with the same start/finish may be photobombed by other 5k stragglers. Why not have finishing tape, at least, or cones designating a separate finish for the 10k winner?

this.

blame the RD wrote:

zeus2011 wrote:

2) Could the race director do something to preserve the 10k winner's glory? Even without the Ben Johnson victory wag, the 10k winner in a 5k/10k race with the same start/finish may be photobombed by other 5k stragglers. Why not have finishing tape, at least, or cones designating a separate finish for the 10k winner?

this.

I don't the the RDs typically care.

OTQ^2 wrote:

Cosens has ran an OTQ...

Hopefully he doesn't care then. He could probably run a 10k at least 2 minutes faster.

Sara Palin wrote:

OTQ^2 wrote:

Cosens has ran an OTQ...

Hopefully he doesn't care then. He could probably run a 10k at least 2 minutes faster.

He purposely slowed down so he wouldn't get outsprinted by the hobbyjogger's wife.

This is a hilarious story. I doubt Mr 10k winner cares. Hopefully he has a sense of humor and further hopefully he’s won several races in his life so getting a winning picture at a local Christmas race in a slow time shouldn’t mean much to him.

Anyways the best line of the story is this:

“There were also a number of steely-faced serious “runners” around. Stretching, hopping, running little sprints and looking altogether unfriendly in their specialty running gear.”

I don't know - how are you supposed to celebrate when you win a race? People make all kinds of wild gesticulations when crossing the line.

I like the reference to Ben Johnson, suggests a certain self-depreciating irony in the victory.

I feel very sad for this man. He doesn't look grossly out of shape and yet can only muster a 32 minute 5K. I'm glad he can find a ray of happiness in what is otherwise a tragic situation for him.

The hobby jogger deserves some props for at least having a self-deprecating take on his slowness. And if I were about to be effectively lapped by the 10K winner, I'd haul ass as well to try to salvage what little pride I had left at that point. I agree with one of the other posters above that the 10K winner was probably more amused than annoyed. When you know you're literally twice as fast as someone else, I would think your ego would be hard to bruise.

I don’t feel sad for the man at all. He seems to be comfortable and self aware - and clearly enjoyed his finish. Enough to write about it anyway. Kind of a victory for the “Everyman”.

As a slow runner myself I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Maybe the 10k winner didn’t notice, or maybe he mis-timed his kick, got taken down, and felt crushed.

Before the race, did he walk up to the eventual 10k winner and say "Gobble Gobble..."?

The most striking part of this is the poor form of the 10k winner at the end. Keep it together, man!

Best line of the story wrote:

This is a hilarious story. I doubt Mr 10k winner cares. Hopefully he has a sense of humor and further hopefully he’s won several races in his life so getting a winning picture at a local Christmas race in a slow time shouldn’t mean much to him.

This. Here's how it works for the fast guys:

1. Pick up comfortable win in local race you did as a workout.

2. Collect whatever winnings you might have coming your way.

3. Talk to whoever seems interesting at the finish line/postrace party while swigging the free beer.

At no point does an OTQ guy care about the finish line photo, unless it's part of his contract. Nor does he care that a 40-year-old guy outsprinted him to the line. Maybe he has a laugh about it on his cooldown, but it's more than likely that this doesn't even enter his consciousness.