The main question I want addresses is whether I raced dirty in this half marathon.
I have a PR of 1:10 in the half and show up to a well-attended but not overly competitive half thinking there won’t be much competition. I ran an all-out competitive half two weeks prior, but I’m also doing this one due to family tradition. At the starting line a buddy of mine points out a guy that has run 1:09. For this race I don’t care about my time because the course is hilly and because I raced all out two weeks ago—I just want to win.
Side note—The half marathon starts at the same time as the full. There is prize money in the full but not the half. So there are some true studs in the full. The full guys run with the half guys for the first 3 miles then turn a different direction.
I’ve been doing a good amount of v02 mile repeat workouts, so I’m confident in my speed and rarely get outkicked. I rationalize that my best chance of winning is to avoid going toe to toe with this 1:09 guy from the start. I would much rather keep my distance and give him a false sense of security, hoping that prevents him from pushing the pace. Then I would try to take the lead around mile 10 and not look back.
Here is how the race played out:
Mile 1 went out conservatively. The 1:09 Guy guy led the lead group of marathoners who were just taking it easy. I clocked in at 5:42, probably 5-7 seconds off the lead and purposely behind the lead marathon pack. I could see 1:09 guy checking their bibs to see which race they were in. I didn’t want him to see my bib, so I stayed back.
The pace picked up to sub 530 the next couple miles, but I continued to keep my distance. At the mile 3 marker the marathoners veered off to the right. At this point I was in 3rd for the half, 7-10 seconds off the lead.
1:09 guy did a good job pacing us at 5:30 for miles 4 and 5. He got tired of leading and let the 2nd place guy lead mile 6, as I continued to keep my distance. With the new guy leading mile 6, we slowed to a 546 mile. After that mile, that guy faded, leaving only me and 1:09 Guy.
1:09 guy pushes the pace back to 5:30 for miles 7 and 8, with me literally running right behind him. At this point there was no reason to hide. He would throw in a surge here and there, and I would respond immediately, but parked right behind him. During this stretch I purposely started breathing hard. I wasn’t actually tired, but I wanted to give him the appearance I was tired because I didn’t want him to take off. There was still a good stretch of race left. He must have been so confused with hearing me huff and puff and then he throws in a surge and I immediately respond.
At mile 9 he was fed up with my games. He abruptly stopped running so he could get behind me and draft off me like I was doing to him. We literally ran a 6 min mile on that mile lol. We were jogging. After that mile he turns to me and says, “We can play this game all you want, but I’m a 1:09 half guy and will outkick you.” I’ll admit that this did scare me. I responded immediately with, “Don’t worry about me man. I’m just trying to run under 1:13.” He thought I was being genuine so he said, “Oh, well you got this no problem then.”
We ran ANOTHER 6 min mile for mile 10. During this mile I ran beside him instead of behind him. This part was VERY hilly, so neither one of us was trying to open up a lead.
After the 10 mile mark, the course flattened out. I was pissed at his comment about outkicking me. I thought to myself that I’m in great shape and might actually be able to outkick this guy. Very rarely do I ever get outkicked. Honestly I can’t remember the last time I got outkicked.
So I just went for it. I took the lead and dropped a 5:25. Surprisingly, I couldn’t sense him by me, but I suspected he was close enough to make a move.
In my mind I always tell myself to run the second to last mile hard knowing that my willpower will get me through the last mile. I ran 5 flat on mile 12, which is a huge change of pace compared to 6 flat on mile 10. I had gapped him big time, and I felt great. I was afraid to look back and give him confidence, so I asked the lead biker how much of a lead I had. He told me about 20-30 seconds.
I finished strong in 5:11, winning by a full 50 seconds. That means I put 50 seconds on him in the last 5k because we were tied at the 10 mile mark.
After the race I could sense he did not want to talk to me. Was I a jerk for racing the way I did? Yes—for sure. But in my defense that strategy gave me the best shot of winning. Also, 1:09 Guy was a jerk for saying he could outkick me. He also has no excuse for me busting his butt by 50 seconds in the last 5k.
Thoughts? Did I race dirty or is this just part of the sport?