10 mile madness - 9 guys fighting for prize money positions miss turn, DQed

Since I've actually lead this race I'd say the markings, volunteer support, and communication beforehand were sufficient.

The blue line is not well communicated? It's almost ever present for ten miles! Being an old-timer, 2:30 fitness got you nothing but a jealous nod from those that finished behind you at this race. Has it fallen off that much these last few decades? World records have been set on that course.

my 2c wrote:

CRIMinal minds wrote:

- "my 2c" - look at the course map for the Crim then let me know if you still feel confident about knowing exactly where every turn on the course would be.

I did look up the course map. Nothing about it struck me as a challenge to memorize, but maybe I'm odd. For a goal race that's not local, I'll study the course map until I can completely recreate it from memory using onthegomap.com or mappedometer.com, usually both. Then I'll go over the course several times virtually using Google Maps's Street View and Bing Maps's Streetside feature so I know what all the turns look like, where the mile markers are, and how far from the finish I am over the last 1-2 miles.

.

I ran Crim the one and only time a few years ago. (Great race!)

I drove the course the night before. Studied the elevation profile. Planned out all my splits. Didn't have any trouble navigating the course. Definitely doing your homework before the race will help.

On a different subject, they had pacers for my goal pace. Didn't plan on running with them, but we were leapfrogging the first 5 miles. Knowing the "big" hills were coming up, I asked them what pace they were shooting for the 6th mile. They (two college age guys) said they were going to keep the exact pace. I knew I was projected to run about 20 seconds slower which I did and make it up over the last 4 miles. The pacers dropped everybody that was running with them. I ended up running 40 seconds faster than goal pace but never saw the pacers again.

They've been running the same course for years. How do you turn the wrong way?

Not well communicated as in it is not mentioned in race correspondence or at the start line. Of course it is ever present. I knew about it and always have. The guy I responded to was a first time Crim runner and had no idea there was a blue line.

Yes, it has fallen off as have all road races i the US. Amenities have also improved as race fees have gone up. Do you follow the sport at all or just come to Letsrun to criticize and dream about your glory days?

I would return the entry fee to all runners effected. If they received entry waivers then they need to keep quiet as they were considered elite and need to be aware of the BLUE LINE. Comp'd entries means that you add something to the race. Not knowing the course is bad but not knowing there is a blue line is ridiculous. This is why many races want to eliminate prize money. These athletes demand the most from the race and provide very little.

runner isn't supposed to know the course. How can you if you're from out of town? Most the times course maps aren' t even exactly right. The course should have been blocked off making the turn these guys missed obvious.

Mistakes happen wrote:

I would return the entry fee to all runners effected. If they received entry waivers then they need to keep quiet as they were considered elite and need to be aware of the BLUE LINE. Comp'd entries means that you add something to the race. Not knowing the course is bad but not knowing there is a blue line is ridiculous. This is why many races want to eliminate prize money. These athletes demand the most from the race and provide very little.

But how were we supposed to know about the blue line if no one told us about it?

Also to respond to both you and others that have said this - yes, those of us that went the wrong way also studied the course. I drove it the day before and diligently studied the elevation profile. I know at least one other person who turned the wrong way drove it as well.

Has happened to me before. I was leading a race at night, and someone had the bright idea to change the route markers. I went the wrong way, but so did the top 6 runners. When I got to the finish line I was the first the, although we ran a harder (uphill) route and longer than the correct course.

I still had some hobby joggers complaining and saying I hadn't run the right course.

As many people followed me and someone had altered the route, I was able to keep the prize money.

Did I read this correctly?

You drove the course?

You never noticed the 5 inch wide continuous line that covers the entire 10miles?

WE HAVE FOUND THE PROBLEM.

No one is ever willing to accept responsibility.

This is a perfect example.

Solid blue line that runners didn't follow.

DQ

Hard to know what it would have looked like with people watching maybe (although it's a pretty quiet neighborhood), maybe puddles from the rain (did it rain?). But on Google maps you can see the blue line really clearly. Of course, if you're running along with a guy or two or three ahead of you who go straight through the intersection, it takes a lot of confidence and quick thinking to ignore them and turn right along a road that will certainly mean a longer distance. If you're wrong, you've ruined your race.

running commenter wrote:

They've been running the same course for years. How do you turn the wrong way?

If it’s the first time someone has run the course how can it matter how many years the course has been the same?

While your comment was stupid even if the course hadn’t been changed, they also changed the course in 2017 making you just an all around idiot.

Blue Line. Done and over.

This sounds like a good amount of sour grapes. This is a race that literally is marked the entire length by a solid blue line. Most races have nothing of the sort and there's complaints that you weren't told directly? Course maps are also widely available - really no excuse.

Although it sounds like you were a first-timer, it should also be noted that at least 2 of the runners in that string of runners had done this race, with that turn, at least 3-4 times before, including the eventual leader of the group who has made that turn for at least the last 4 years. They really should have been more aware.

As for communication during the delay, i'd definitely contend this. I was a couple blocks away from the start but heard many updates, including that each lightning strike was a delay of 30 minutes, and was warned in plenty of time for the re-start. I actually left with the opposite impression - I've been to races that were canceled unnecessarily, or should have been stopped. I thought the organizers made the best of a poor situation - they even released their action plan beforehand. At a race where they are overly generous with lodging, entry, and accommodations, you still should take a modicum of responsibility for knowing what the hell is going on. No one's going to hold your hand throughout, especially with that many "elites" to keep tabs on.

Ha! Those were actually my "volunteers" out on the course. I had them strategically placed there to direct them off the course. Unfortunately not everyone followed my "volunteers" instructions, most notably numbers 1-4 which ended up placing me further down on the finisher list. I vow to win next year!

Curses!! Foiled again!

Hi mom! I'm on TV! wrote:

The blue line is not well communicated? It's almost ever present for ten miles! Being an old-timer, 2:30 fitness got you nothing but a jealous nod from those that finished behind you at this race. Has it fallen off that much these last few decades? World records have been set on that course.

They did away with prize money in 2016 to provide scholarships for the Flint water crisis. Last year they brought them back, but top prize money was lowered in order to provide a second tier of "Top Michigan Runner" prize money.

Talent and results follow money, so Crim doesn't quite bring in the same talent it used to. (In 2016 Ritz won it by a long shot as a 'tempo training run' for NYC marathon).

Memorize the route? Doesn't everyone just follow the motorcycles like I do? WTF?

Bingo. Especially when those guys were 50 meters ahead of you and the volunteers didn't stop them or make any indication to you that you should go a different direction.

Their action plan was to make announcements over the loud speaker, which isn't a good place for a weather event that requires people to be indoors. Having some kind of text alert system or even posting frequent updates to Facebook (key word being "frequent") would have been a much better plan.