Anyone else hate the local road race scene?

There are just too many road races. That's why you can win a race with a 34 min 10k or 17+ 5k. Every little community has a 5k before every parade or community celebration, every school and civic club wants to use the 5k to raise money for X...

Used to there were about the same amount of good runners, but there was only 1 or 2 good races to run, so everyone ended up at those events.

quickndirty wrote:

There are just too many road races. That's why you can win a race with a 34 min 10k or 17+ 5k. Every little community has a 5k before every parade or community celebration, every school and civic club wants to use the 5k to raise money for X...

Used to there were about the same amount of good runners, but there was only 1 or 2 good races to run, so everyone ended up at those events.

We had someone win a 5k in my area running a 21:48 which I find incredibly slow, but no one else showed up that day that was faster. I believe 37min 10k and 17 min 5ks are competitive times depending on where someone lives. To compare a 34min 10k to being weak is absurd. How many people ran the Georgia Peach 10k under 34 mins that being the near largest 10k in the US? I believe people's expectations are way off reality.

Proud slow runner or hobby-Jogger. I guess I am a hobby-Jogger, whatever that is. I am age 50+, run about 20mpw at 8-9 minutes per mile; I don't race anymore, except an occasional turkey trot with family and friends. In my last 5K, I struggled to run 7-minute miles and don't feel bad about it. I identify myself as a runner and will continue to refer to myself as a runner even when I am running 10-minute miles. With that said, when I go to road race, I enjoy seeing lots of people in running gear, excited and lining up to do the thing I enjoy doing. I don't care if they are a fast runner, slow runner, fast walker or slow walker, I could care less because I am in the race for myself, not other people. Btw, I ran a 2:07 800m in middle school, I am not saying that to put you down...therefore, please don't put me down -or call me a hobby-jogger for running slow 5Ks.

Good post right here! This person gets it.

LOL You really focused on the wrong thing, but....

I picked 34 because it's a time any low level collegiate runner can do. So some dude that's 6th man on his team can go to a road race and look like a big winner.

Also the race is the Peachtree 10k

I think disappointed is a better word. Timely topic, check today's Run Guru Says, "22+23=22", www.rungurusays.com

quickndirty wrote:

LOL You really focused on the wrong thing, but....

I picked 34 because it's a time any low level collegiate runner can do. So some dude that's 6th man on his team can go to a road race and look like a big winner.

Also the race is the Peachtree 10k

These races are generally targeting people who are 30+ and work full time. Maybe they have kids and a spouse as well. Why in the world would you compare these people to a collegiate athlete who basically has unlimited training time and a meal plan?

Nothing wrong with the local road racing scene that drug testing the top masters runners couldn't fix!

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.

i agree. i was a mid-distance runner in high school and college, therefore a slightly different breed, but can relate.

the hobby joggers are bad, but what bothers me the most is the the 34 to 37-minute 10k guys who get so effing intense and/or blather on and on before and after the race. "i'm gonna get my PR today because i did a tempo run", or, "if was on track to get my PR but then...") The post-race cool-down conversations can get pretty bad too because people are so amped up.

i am very big in the road racing scene and love competition (the only reason i actually run) so I know the characters well. I know the same old conversations, the same guys who have been racing for 40 years. it's kind of sad and inspiring at the same time (the love/obsession with running). I try to be polite and stay with friends who are like-minded. the best running conversations aren't about running so i try to change the subject away from times people have run or goals or whatever. it's not healthy... i never hang around and never pick up race awards, even if i win

runners.

are.

obsessed.

(let the judgements flow forth....)

I live in an area ( semi small town) with a nice road racing scene ... a few of us take it seriously . We have a race point series that is fun. None of the best runners are that fast (16:30-17:30 ish range and equivalent) but we love to compete with one another.. and bring it...

We only have three options:

1. Run unattached in college track and XC meets if you're still reasonably fast

2. Do masters track if you're fast for your age

3. Do crazy ultras like Badwater. No crowds of hobby joggers there.

Sit and kick wrote:

I love it, the bunch of kids and strollers in the front row help keep me from going out too fast in my quarterly attempt at just sneaking under 20 in the 5k

I've waited for years someone to launch pacman-races where the slower runners are in front and the fast ones start behind them. The slow ones never get better if they hang out with as slow people as they are and don't see any fast running in their lives.

Honestly, local running scene sucks here in Finland and I'm not even an elite athlete. I'm just a middle-aged guy who started from zero but want to qualify for the national championships in marathon. There aren't any running clubs or actually there are some but they organize group runs where people are jogging slowly and nothing else. In addition to that people are jealous. If someone improves his PBs, it becomes a problem for a lot of people. There aren't a lof of races and unless you paid the registration fee something like 12 months before the race, the price gets ridiculously high. So I do all my training alone and don't race. :)

BTBAM391 wrote:

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.

World needs more people who willing to give everything they got. That means that no matter how well trained they are, they give 110% every single time when they enter a race. I don't care if someone ran 5K in 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 25 minutes or 30 minutes. What counts is that the person gave his or her best that day. That means that the individual left everything on that route. I hate the "not trying" attitude. It's the everywhere. In schools, colleges, army, work places... Some ppl are just don't willing to try. Especially those ppl who "run" marathons in 5 hours or slower. When I ran my first marathon, it took 4 hours but I had never run a longer distance than 6 miles in my life and my training was totally something like 25 miles before the race and I didn't do any others sports. I was in bad shape but I was willing to suffer. I went there to fight and did as well as I was capable of doing that day. Later on when I started to run I improved quickly. A lof of runners could do much better if he/she cared about the sports.

AndyDufresne2 wrote:

quickndirty wrote:

LOL You really focused on the wrong thing, but....

I picked 34 because it's a time any low level collegiate runner can do. So some dude that's 6th man on his team can go to a road race and look like a big winner.

Also the race is the Peachtree 10k

These races are generally targeting people who are 30+ and work full time. Maybe they have kids and a spouse as well. Why in the world would you compare these people to a collegiate athlete who basically has unlimited training time and a meal plan?

What??

We're talking about the WINNING time of 34 min 10k, any decent HS kid can do that. I'm NOT the person ragging on the road racers. I know, the races are focusing on joggers, soccer moms, fund raising, etc.. The context was that I was saying that because of this, a pedestrian time like a 34 min 10k can win. There are so many races now that the few decent runners out there are spread all over the place, so you might get 1-2 at here or there, whereas in the past there are were only 1-2 decent races, and all the decent runners were in the same place.

A 17 min 5k would get you an age group award but nothing overall.

vivalarepublica wrote:

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.

Paris (France, not Texas).

I ran 1:15 for a HM a couple weeks ago and I wasn't even in the top 100.

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 might be surprised how fast "jogging" feels when you're a middle aged dork - if you're even still running then.

I ran in college some two decades ago, but age and several severe injuries mean that I now run 5ks a full minute a mile slower than I used to. Yes, I once would have deemed this pace jogging. Now I call it racing. Guess what? It still FEELS exactly the same.

And I still love it.

And my running friends are nothing like what describe. Lots of "normal" (whatever that means) people with regular jobs and good families, and full lives outside of running.

Road racing can be a great sport for us middle aged dorks. It does require some humility for those of us with a competitive background. If you're too arrogant, you won't understand the appeal.

Hate it...I am LOVING IT. I am a race director and making $%@ you money. I put on 2 -5ks a weekend and make mid 6 figures.

I can pull in $75K for a turkey trot. I have sponsors throwing $$$ at me. I can pull in $20K for a charity fun run after donating $750.00 to the charity. The key is to actually donate $.05 for every dollar AFTER my salary and expenses and I don't have staff to pay, I just utilize volunteers

This is very true,

I noticed a local 5k that I was thinking about in April that had an entry fee of $35 plus the sign up online convenience fee.

It is mind boggling that people throw their money away like this. Somebody is making a mint and loving the fact that many have so much disposable income.

I don't call them road races, they are parades.