When did "just finishing" become a big accomplishment?

rojo wrote:

Let's don't over think this.

When you are a virgin right?

?

even if i flog the old dolphin earlier that day wrote:

I don't get it, my wife gets annoyed when I finish too quickly, but you're saying that's a good thing?

And you are admitting in public that you are horrible in bed.

Oops, look what I just picked up from the floor: the little dignity you had left and just dropped.

When did some shorter races such as 5K and 10K road races to give out finisher medals? I don't recall my small, local road races were giving out finisher medals back in the 80's when I ran a few while I was in high school. Didn't one need to be a age group winner at least to get something more than the race shirt? When I restarted running about 5 years ago I don't recall any medals for anything shorter than HM. Is it only common with races with larger fields of runners to give out out finisher medals for 5K and 10K? I almost laughed at the 5K medals when I saw them a few weeks ago at a race due to the size. They were not much bigger than a quarter coin. At least the size fit the length of the race while the longer races had bigger medals. The quarter sized medals I am familiar with are the ones given out to the top 10 to 20 runners in large cross country invitations when I was in high school.

I was not interested in even running my first marathon until I noticed that the online race time predictors indicated I could possibly quality for Boston. I guess I needed something more than a finisher medal to work for before I was willing to go through the pain of running a marathon.

A small, local HM and marathon event that I ran a few years ago in the fall is no longer being held. There were only 50 to 60 in the marathon a few years ago. I assume the race died due to insufficient participation by runners and maybe volunteers. It gave proceeds to a local charity. The group still had their spring HM and 10K scheduled this past spring but canceled the event. As someone else said here in the thread, those who think "just finishing" is a big accomplishment for them is what is keeping other races still going. I assume expenses such as police support and insurance may be contributing to demise of smaller races. Many races would likely disappear if only the sub 3 hours marathon runners entered the race.

doctorj wrote:

even if i flog the old dolphin earlier that day wrote:

I don't get it, my wife gets annoyed when I finish too quickly, but you're saying that's a good thing?

And you are admitting in public that you are horrible in bed.

Oops, look what I just picked up from the floor: the little dignity you had left and just dropped.

Do you often wonder why everyone is laughing except you?

rojo wrote:

Let's don't over think this.

When you are a virgin right?

I think Rojo had an aneurysm

I'm not saying 3 hrs needs to be a cut off, but something reasonable. Nobody should be out there walking the whole thing.

rojo wrote:

Let's don't over think this.

When you are a virgin right?

So true.

Why not?

Seriously, why do you care if someone wants to walk a marathon?

It's always been that way. Our conference meet was at altitude and I was the only runner in the 10000 who didn't live at altitude and finished dead last. I was getting cheered on , but I felt like flipping them off.

I was at the 1984 Olympics when Gabriela Andersen staggered into the stadium at the end of the marathon. The cheer for her was as loud as it had been Joan Benoit. For me, it was horrible to watch and I wanted someone tackle her before she suffered brain damage.

I'm sure you got pretty excited the first time you bench pressed the bar. If you can even do that, skinny runner boy.

Relativity my man. Everything is relative.

"When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time."

-Haile Gebrselassie

It would make sense to have cutoffs! I dont know much about ultras, but i’ve heard cutoffs are just an accepted thing. (I listen to too many running podcasts, but am only paying half attention, so i honestly dont know what distances, or what races, have cutoffs.)

Anyways, i know that race directors probably dont want to turn away any entry fees, but dont cutoffs make sense for revenues AND safety?

Like, 12:30 minute pace seems reasonable. You have to be in SOME kind of shape, to maintain 12:30 pace. And if you’re not able to do the first 5 miles in 12:30 pace, then you try again next time.

A finishers medal means something when there is a standard of performance attached. Like, if someone says theyve run the Boston Marathon several times, one assumes they met the qualifying times, so being a finisher implies they are a pretty strong runner.

The first marathon I ran one was a US championship and of my best friends also debuted there. With about 2 miles left he was in the top ten when his body basically gave out on him and he couldn't physically run anymore and the medical had to pick him up and give him an IV.

He and I were at another marathon together the following year where they had a large pre race pasta dinner the night before where the elite field was intermingled with many of the regular runners. We were sitting with a group of ladies who were looking to run in the 4 hr range. They were asking us about our times and were essentially uncomprehending of my PR or the times we were looking to run. But when it came to his marathon debut they basically acted towards him with this attitude of superiority well we've finished all the marathons we've started. Nevermind the fact that he was in the top group at a US championship running a time basically half of what they can run with 2 miles to go. He was very polite about it and didn't mention that he's run marathons as long runs or anything to try and diminish them.

But that was the first time I realized just how little most of the people in marathon care about peak performance. It's stunning to me that in literally the only sport in the world where you get to step on the same exact course at the same time as world class athletes there is absolutely no effort by most to compare their performance to the pros. I'm sure pretty much every golfer who plays Augusta compares their score to Tigers. I'm not sure when this shift happened because it seemed like 20 years ago most runners were at least aware of the top end of the race and appreciated what they accomplished. Even 6 or 7 years ago when I started road racing there was at least a minor interest in the elites. Now I feel that 90% of runners in most races are oblivious to this. I think about 25% of runners care about their time, mostly in does it qualify for Boston, and the rest are focused on finishing and getting in the office brag the next day.

Dropping out of a race is nothing to brag about.

Why bother showing up if you haven’t trained properly enough to even finish?

Why do most elites even race since it is improbable that they are going to win?

Facts is that humans wake up every day and most of us do something. Finishing is an accomplishment. Doing nothing is just that. Nothing.

Everyone has limitations and we all try to push our personal limits. Running is something that is easy to measure and compare. That’s why.

Flounder wrote:

Dropping out of a race is nothing to brag about.

Why bother showing up if you haven’t trained properly enough to even finish?

Why do most elites even race since it is improbable that they are going to win?

Facts is that humans wake up every day and most of us do something. Finishing is an accomplishment. Doing nothing is just that. Nothing.

Everyone has limitations and we all try to push our personal limits. Running is something that is easy to measure and compare. That’s why.

Ugh, I can't believe I'm even responding to this atrocity.

No one is celebrating dropping out, but when raced, the marathon is an event where if you are pushing yourself to try and get your best performance it is very easy to push too hard and blow up to the point of dropping out or jogging it in. It's not like a 10K and even someone who has prepared properly can have a day not go right for any number of reasons.

Most of the people running a marathon do not push themselves much beyond a conversation pace and never get anywhere close to their personal limits. Sorry to rain on your parade but what most of the people running marathons are doing when they're just finishing without attempting to push their limit is not impressive and it is not something that a large percentage of the population could do.

I'm not against mass participation in road races, I think it is a good thing for the sport. But just "being there" is not an accomplishment and it is ridiculous to me that people are forking over hundreds of dollars to go out and do something they could do for free. If you are trying to reach your limit that is near impossible to do outside of a race so you should go for it in an actual event. Otherwise, in my mind you're paying for the ability to say to other people, look what I did. You could do the same thing for free any day you want on your local bike trail or whatever, but you wouldn't get your finishers medal to show off or your name in the results page.

Unless you’re one of those losers who tries to excuse a bad time by saying it was just a tempo/training run, people who finish a marathon in a “slow” time aren’t just finishing. That is the fastest they could have run it, or they would have finished sooner. Just because you think it’s a slow time doesn’t mean they weren’t running it as fast as they could. Could they have trained harder for the event? Maybe, but not everyone has the free time to run a sufficient number of miles per week to eliminate any carping about only running a race if you’re fit enough to finish within some arbitrary time of fast enough that the OP has in his head.

Different things are a big deal to different people.

I recently started playing the guitar. Performing for even a small audience would be a big deal for me. My friends who have been serious musicians since high school, OTOH, would think nothing of playing for a few dozen people on the spur of the moment with no specific preparation.

Having been a serious runner since high school myself, running a local 5K is obviously not a big deal to me. But a person who isn't a serious runner might not feel so comfortable with it in the same way that I wouldn't feel comfortable playing some open-mic night that a semi-serious musician would find to be a joke.

With the majority of the country being fat and lazy, encouraging people to "just finish" probably isn't the worst thing in the world.

this sums it up perfectly. plus, at the end of the day, unless this person who finished dead last is offending you or personally attacking you somehow, who gives a sh!t?

You sound like a total stick in the mud, just be happy for people enjoying our sport and giving it a go. Why does this even bother you so much? I’m sure the people who are pissed that the roads are closed during races and just as pissed during the three hours while you’re running your marathon.