Anyone else hate the local road race scene?

Yesterday I ran a local 5k that cost $40. I almost wasn't able to run because, despite arriving 45 minutes before the start, the packet pickup line was hundreds long and moving at a snail's pace because of the fact that they have to look at your shirt size on the registration list and then walk back and reach into a box for your matching size. Luckily, while standing in line, I found some lady with a clipboard who said that anyone who is willing to get their race shirt after the race and immediately get a bib from her. I jumped on that offer and didn't bother getting a stupid shirt after the race. I would've missed the race if I had to wait in line. What a joke.

Even the large races with large prize money and world class runners are having quality control problems. I guess you just have to assume the worst so that you can be happy for anything that goes well.

I'm not sure what miserable part of this country you haters are living in. The last road race I did was a low key charity 5k. I was a cold, very cold morning (15F). Couple hundred runners. I thought I might be competing for the win. It turned out, Tim Ritchie showed up and jogged it in for the winner's gift basket. Meanwhile, the sub sub sub elite runners stayed at home, bitching about the local road race scene at letsrun.com.

I'm glad you're still into it.

I don't get any satisfaction out of training hard and falling way short of where I was. It just doesn't do it for me. I would rather focus my efforts on something like coaching in which I can continue to improve through hard work.

No.

Stoppit smith the dumb one wrote:

Dude, for the love of god. PLEASE stop posting here.

I don’t know how aware some of you sound. It is like you were a decent high school baseball player getting mad that people get together for softball leagues.

Let it Rupp wrote:

I'm gonna guess you're in the 15-16 minute range for a 5k. You train almost as if you're a professional athlete, you do all the right workouts, high mileage, you take the sport very seriously just to run better-than-average but still mediocre times. You see all these stupid idiots running 25 minutes or so and feel very accomplished, probably more fulfilled and happy with their times even though guys like you are running 10 minutes faster than them. You probably feel a little resentment that these types of people enjoy the sport that you put so much time and effort into.

That's my guess as to why you would make such a pathetic post like this.

Nailed it. And honestly, I can sort of see why it's so frustrating for them. You have this one amazing gift, but it's not nearly enough to go pro or impress the elite/sub elite folks. Meanwhile, to the hoards of runners at these local road races, your 16 minute 5k is no different than my 20 minute 5k, because they are both orders of magnitude beyond what your average 30 minute hobby jogger can comprehend. And so you occupy this unsatisfying middle ground where you can't compete with the best and there isn't much competition elsewhere. And no one seems to give you the validation you desperately want for gift.

Where I live the slowest time I remember winning a 10k was 34 flat, and that was because there was another big "classic" race going on at the same time.

Normally you'd have to run somewhere between mid 29 and high 31 to win a 10k around here.

jamin wrote:

Yesterday I ran a local 5k that cost $40. I almost wasn't able to run because, despite arriving 45 minutes before the start, the packet pickup line was hundreds long and moving at a snail's pace because of the fact that they have to look at your shirt size on the registration list and then walk back and reach into a box for your matching size. Luckily, while standing in line, I found some lady with a clipboard who said that anyone who is willing to get their race shirt after the race and immediately get a bib from her. I jumped on that offer and didn't bother getting a stupid shirt after the race. I would've missed the race if I had to wait in line. What a joke.

How did you do? Break 15?

Kvothe wrote:

Jimmy 8 wrote:

Doesn't really matter where you live. It's all the same. Lots of dorky middle aged people paying $25 for a T-shirt that says they were a participant in some meaningless road race where they jogged (they made no attempt at running hard) a 30 minute 5k mixed with hobby jogger weirdos who see running as a core part of their identity even though they only run 10mpw yet still boast about how they completed a marathon once 10 years ago. Zero normal people. Little humility. Rarely anyone with any real competitive background.

I don't understand the appeal.

Local 5/10ks are a waste of my time, except for a few races we have that do have some competition. You're better off running college meets unattached or just running the biggest local races and travelling for other races.

I'm betting Jimmy 8 would RATHER run the local "crappy" 5k and bag on the lack of competition than go run some college race unattached.

Lots of cities are forcing road races to be corporate by now charging for police fees, mandating only a few course options, and not allowing night-time road races. All of this means the race has fewer means to spend on prize money, athlete recruitment, etc. Ever notice that most road races apply for a "parade" permit? That's what they have become.

Pretty pathetic post, which shows off your age (teens I'm assuming). If higher, pretty embarrassing for you. Regardless, if you truly love this sport, you should appreciate the other people that enjoy it too, even if they don't run or train as hard as you. The fact that so many people on here constantly bring this issue up and demean hobby joggers is still funny to me. It's funny because it shows how truly insecure many people still are but it's unfortunate because your insecurity is manifested towards belittling others who are just trying to enjoy themselves. Shame on them for running? No, shame on you and others who are like this. The world needs less people like you if it ever has any hope of becoming better.

DietBacon wrote:

Where I live the slowest time I remember winning a 10k was 34 flat, and that was because there was another big "classic" race going on at the same time.

Normally you'd have to run somewhere between mid 29 and high 31 to win a 10k around here.

Where the heck do you live, bud? Nee England in the 1980s? 34 flat would win almost any 10k around here except for the most competitive. And I consider anyone running sub 5 pace for a 10k at a local road race to be very impressive.

Jimmy 8 wrote:

Doesn't really matter where you live. It's all the same. Lots of dorky middle aged people paying $25 for a T-shirt that says they were a participant in some meaningless road race where they jogged (they made no attempt at running hard) a 30 minute 5k mixed with hobby jogger weirdos who see running as a core part of their identity even though they only run 10mpw yet still boast about how they completed a marathon once 10 years ago. Zero normal people. Little humility. Rarely anyone with any real competitive background.

I don't understand the appeal.

Will you idiots just leave people alone..I mean really..it's the attitudes on this site that really make me question the whole "the running community is amazing" song and dance we hear so much about. Not everybody was blessed with aerobic development from the ages of 13 onwards. Look around, our society as a whole is very unhealthy, and if a local 5k is what gets people out and about and inspired to give running a try, let them be. They're not threatening your coveted spot, so go run and do your own thing. Running is more than time splits, but apparently a lot of you lost that connection. Go to some local special need camps and see how bad off some people truly are, with little to no life function and then try and justify in your mind ripping on somebody who isn't at least a 15 5k guy. I'd venture to say a large majority of these boards are filled with insecure runners who feel jaded because the hope and dream of OTQ is far fetched, so they bash an individual running a 22 min 5k as if they're Galen Rupp or Ryan Hall.

Bingo. At the core of this thread and others like it is OP's disappointment that nobody is impressed by his 16ish minute 5K.

The reality is that its no different than any other sport. Every Saturday at my local Y, there are ~20 former college basketball players (mostly former D1) who get together for a weekly pick-up game. No fans in the stands, no cheerleaders, and no expectation of such. Must be quite a letdown from their college days, but they seem happy enough just to be able to continue to play there sport at a reasonably high level, and to be in better shape than 99.9% of the population. Pretty sure they don't expect to be welcomed as hero's at the local charity free throw contest.

As formerly competitive college/high school runners, we need to adopt the same mindset. The weekly track workouts with our running clubs, or all comers XC and track meets where they exist, are our the pick-up games. Local road races are the charity free throw contest. Don't expect them to be anything more. Just be glad that there are a few places (marathon majors, USATF road championships) where has-beens like us can still line up against the real elites, and give it our best shot - albeit a few minutes back in most cases. Those former D1 basketball players don't even have that.

Jimmy 8 wrote:

Doesn't really matter where you live. It's all the same. Lots of dorky middle aged people paying $25 for a T-shirt that says they were a participant in some meaningless road race where they jogged (they made no attempt at running hard) a 30 minute 5k mixed with hobby jogger weirdos who see running as a core part of their identity even though they only run 10mpw yet still boast about how they completed a marathon once 10 years ago. Zero normal people. Little humility. Rarely anyone with any real competitive background.

I don't understand the appeal.

You do realize that because that hobby jogger is willing to pay for the race that that is why the race exists?

You should put on a race just for competitive people sometime. Let us know how it goes.

What recreational runners are offended by losing to someone who trains more?

Hardloper wrote:

The road race scene seems to have gotten worse in recent years. So many "races" are either untimed, or 4.5 km, or held in a tiny park full of sharp turns where half the course is on grass. Apparently organizers figured out that you don't need timing or a good, properly measured course to attract enough hobbyjoggers. In Seattle there's maybe one good road race per month where you can really chase a fast time with some competition, the other 90% fit the previous description.

Being a free market kind of guy and more interested in people being fit, I say if that race that is untimed draws people then good for them. If you do not want to participate, then do not participate.

They showed up.

You did not.