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Last finisher's lounge
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Having come LAST in a race yesterday (my first foray into cross country) I thought it would be cool to have a place for peeps to chat about races they have come last in, and any other aspects of being a slow runner. The only criteria is that you need to have come last in at least one race. Full gory details optional 
. So, pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and a choccie biscuit and away we go!
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Comments
Think I qualify as Ive come last in 2 races. First was a 5k with a 10k starting about 15 mins after. The 5k was billed as a 'fun run' so lots of kids ran it. Little did I know they were all children of the serious club runners going in the 10k!
Was at the back of the field when i started off & never moved up - even got lost at one point with another couple which took a few mins trying to find the route! Continued on leaving said couple behind ( thinking they would be last) & got clapped & cheered home only a few mins before the first 10k runners. When I asked about the other couple one had hurt her ankle & had withdrawn- so was last after all!
Second was a short 3k with an huge hill at the end- legged it up with lungs bursting to find I was last one home-I even got overtaken by a 3 yr old in that race.
Apart from the embarassment everywhere has been very supportive. I know I'm old and very slow but hey- someone has to be last.
As long as its not me next time!
My first ever venture into running a race, the Bampton 10k in 2005 with no real training and 104kg to lug around the course, i finished last! My time - 1 hour 17 mins
I collected a HUGE basket of fruit for finishing last and there was still a large number of runners there to cheer me home (until the chap on the tannoy told them i was a Chelsea fan and it turned to boo's!).
I only took part as my friend and work colleague organises the run every year.
This year i took up running properly, put in some training and finished in.....54 mins 34 secs....and i wasn't last!
Theres nothing embaressing about finishing last, somebody has to!
I've been dead last in several track races, one notable one where I was lapped by the leaders in a 1500m race
Other than that I was second to last in a 6 mile race when I just started running, but have finished reasonably far up the field in distances over 3k recently.
I generally hang about to cheer in the folks nearer the back when I can, and there's no shame in being the last to finish - you're still fitter than 80% of the population who couldn't run for the bus, let alone enter a race.
I think theres no shame in coming last or near to that, I consider running to be a self-gain and motivated sport, like above said 'someone has to come last', although I've personally never experienced it in any race , I believe they are more of the winner for competiting for themselves for different goals, and without them the races of the U.k and beyond would lack the all important extra money required to keep these races going in the future.
Thats a lovely thing to do!
You don't fancy entering my next race,do you?!!
I was hanging onto the coat tails of a woman who seemed to know the way and all was going swimmingly when we fetched up by the transmitter, only to be told we'd missed out a 3-mile section with some hairy hills to boot
Off we toddled but my 'pal' left me behind and I made at least 3 bad choices of direction before stomping over the tussocks towards the tower at Rivington Pike. Even there, the satnav let me down, as I shambled through the country park, frightening children & pets alike with my wild-eyed appearance and barked requests of, "Any runners come this way?"
Having put 20 minutes on my journey, at last I saw the cafe and car park at the Top Barn, where 2 stalwarts were just packing away the drinks table. Well, reflecting on the day, I wasn't timed out, there were several DNFs behind me and I've run Winter Hill
Runningtams - I was last in the school races too! Bullied into taking part because nobody else would and then laughed at and heckled for coming in last on the track. Put me off running until I got to 44 - still can't believe I now run for fun! And thankfully I'm no longer heckled - so thanks to all the supportive people out there!
School has a lot to answer for! 
I came last in a race last year so I'll pass some choccie biccies round now! I was preggie but would still have been last so a nice reason to be at the back!
SL, how goes training for Hastings??
Soup Dragon - that sums up runners in general - we are willing to do something that others refuse to do, and then they tease us for doing it....
BTW love your soup dragon picture. We got the DVD's for my 3 yr old and he's addicted. Can you believe there are people out there who have never heard of the clangers!
Nice that children are still watching the Clangers. I have to confess that I was an adult when I started watching!
Ooo... chocolate - thanks Cinders.
I've seen a few clangers programmes but not many - I was too old when they first appeared and they'd fizzled out by the time the kids were old enough
.
Thanks for the biccys Cinders - got any custard creams???? I'm still going for Hastings but it will be BAD..... and it's gonna hurt.... Too much partying, not enough training and months of recurring infections kinda nobbled me but I've got to give it a bash, there wont be another one in our lifetimes.
I was technically last in my 1st ever race. A 3.5 mile trail run.
I say technically, as even though I came home in a pretty respectable 35 mins (at least 5 mins behind the previous runner(it was a major club run
)) there were 3 people behind me. A guy in a fat suit and his 2 minders 
. The field consisted of 49 runners, 5 or which weren't in a club so I was up against the odds having only started running 2 months prior to the race.
Needless to say, I picked myself up and continued to run despte the embarassment but make sure I read all the details of races properly now. Including previuos entrant numbers & result times!
needless to say I decided to accept it and carried on plodding round
the good thing about being last in a duathlon as that it's easy to find your bike.... it's the only one left!
I over took someone on the bike and then didn't see her again so presumed she'd stopped (it was multiple laps of a race track)
when I was running my final lap I couldn't see anyone behind me and even the marshals had scarpered so decided to revel in being last
so I was slightly disgruntled then when she came in 10 mins after me .....
While certainly not fast, I've never been last in a race since I took up running again as an adult. But I have massive respect for people who do, and always cheer them on!
But I did finish an entire 400 metres behind everyone else in an 800m race at a school sports day - usual story, no-one wants to enter any of the events so shy, bookish, rubbish-at-all-sports chubby kid gets bullied into doing it to get the class 'a point for entering'...
Great stories - keep 'em coming folks
Important to remember that in the small races there is a lot more chance of coming last if you're an 'OK but not very good' runner - simply because it tends to be the racing whippets that enter these. The 'ordinary' runners don't usuall dare! So if you did enter one and came last, it's nothing to be ashamed of! The one in which I was last was a cross country with on 90-odd runners.
Having said that, those who enter the big races and still come last are still to be applauded! Often they will have raised lots of money for charity as well. Better to have completed a race (in whatever time) than been sat on your backside doing nothing
.
I was joint last in a race a few years ago.
My friend and I had entered, and went for a run the day before with our club (d'oh).
We held hands as we crossed the line together - with the sweeper van right behind.
Note to sweepers in vehicles - please could you keep a little more distance from the runners!
No shame in being last - and not just because "someone has to be". You're out there running rather than lying on the sofa!
I was always last when forced to run in primary school. The headmaster was a sports fanatic and made us all run 100 yards trials on a regular basis so as to be able to pick out the elite for more targetted training. As an obese child with glasses, who had the further misfortune of being top in class, I too was subject to much heckling and derision. I then spent the next 40 years avoiding all sport as much as possible, and only took up running at the age of 50, four years ago.
My subsequent running career has not been glorious. I was last by a lot in a 10k where I was plagued by breathing problems. My main memory is the kindness of the lady who had noticed me struggling during the race and after finising ran back to accompany me for the last mile or so. This brought me to tears.
After that race, I did not run for a couple of years. Now I've restarted and am slower than ever, so I expect to be last or near last in the Nos Galan 5k that I hope to run on Dec 31.
I've been joint last in three races where I've run with friends who were 'afraid of being last'. I have to say, the amount of people who waited for us to stumble in and gave us a massive cheer brought tears to my eyes every time. My quiet support all the way round the course plus some yelling and bullying on the final straight also meant my pals got much better times than they expected.
I was completely last in a 1500m race at high school. By about 5 minutes I think. I believe I actually walked some of it.
And they couldn't start the next race until I finished so the whole entire school saw my shameful performance.
But, in my defence, I don't remember ever being taught to run at school. We just got sent out to do some laps of the football pitch with no advice about breathing or keeping your shoulders down or anything. That's my excuse anyway...
Tehuti - Lovely story.
Our local primary school has given up competitive sports days where individuals can win. They now have a carousel of team events. I have to say that it is now quite boring to watch. I have some sympathies for kids who struggle in sports but one of our slowest (also obese) lads has such a fantastic smiley personality that he would always get huge cheers when coming horrendously last. He always enjoyed taking part and wasn't put off by not being a speedy person.
In some ways I think that non-competitive stuff prevents our kids from learning that you cannot always be a winner, but that doesn't make you a loser! Perhaps we are all putting far to much into allowing people to feel bad about not winning rather than showing people how to feel good at being part of that event and giving them a positive experience. Tehuti - you clearly had another string to your bow, although, as you imply, being clever in school can have its own problems. But there will be a niche in life for everyone (mine's at the back of the field too btw
- though not actually last - yet )