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Walkers In Running Races
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Bit like a motorway, really - nobody minds someone trundling along at 55mph in the slow lane, it's when they do it in the faster ones that it becomes a problem. And everyone knows that lorries go slowly uphill and people accept that fact and give them room to move over - but we would be pretty peed off to find a lorry in the outside lane struggling to do 45mph (the fact it's illegal probably tells us something!).
As many others have said I have no problem with people combining walking when running in races, either as a walk/run strategy or when they have simply exhausted their ability to run any further. Indeed in my primitive racing years I used to walk at drinks stations to avoid Airplane! style drinking problems...
(Now I still have Airplane! style drinking problems when running through drinks stations - I have just learnt to live with it!)
My issue is with those who turn up at Running races with no intention of actually doing any running. On the one hand I side with those who say it could be a stepping stone to running or we all have our own abilities etc. and it is true that as long as they all considerate (love the motorway analogy) they shouldn't pose a problem to those wishing to run.
On the other hand part of me believes that if you take part in a running race, you should at least make some effort to actualy run it. This is because - powerwalking and 'Olympic' walking aside (I accept that this can be as challenging as running), if you turn up to say, a half marathon, and stroll it like a Sunday afternoon walk in the park, it isn't embracing the essence of taking part in a distance running event, and that is the challenge of pushing your body to the limits of your endurance. It makes me think of someone turning up to a book review club and asking if they could turn on the DVD of the book they are reviewing. Yes they are participating, and it may be argured that it is better to have an interest than none at all, but it removes the core reason of the pastime.
Moreover as someone earlier has pointed out if you have, say 200 walkers with entries, that possibly denies 200 runners the opportunity to run in a race if that event is oversubscribed. Here you fall into the moral argument of who is more deserving of a place, the runner or the walker, or whether they both have an equal right.
I'm sure plenty of orgnaisations have a sponsored walk now and again that walkers could do! (Agree with race walking - b@stard hard from what I've seen. All that distance AND heel-toe-heel-toe stuff to keep up!)
I am not a fast runner and doubt if i will be i did GNR in 2:23 real time.
people were stood in 1:30 markers and was clearthey could not do that time......
when i first started i run/wlaked and made sure i stayed over and this was without being told the etiquette it just seemed polite.....maybe an idea if this was publisised for 2004 hand book issued to all participants
a man i met at GNR did it for charity wearing an elephan suit he knew it would take 3+ hours and started at the back......
at the end of the day the GNR is about taking part not getting PB's except if your elite like Paula Radcliffe.........WHAT AN INSPIRATION.she is
I have two comments to make:
1) Be honest about your own abilities - if you're fast, go with the faster runners. If you're not, don't.
2) Be considerate of others - move to the side of the path/road if you need to stop and walk, and don't just stop dead directly in front of someone, nearly causing them an injury!
They seemed to have got it right with some lass called Paula tho :-)
If there had been a incident with a faster runner they would probably have expired before the Red Cross sweep vehicle arrived.
It was damn inconsiderate and we have had to subsequently introduce a cut off time.
Anyone can go for a walk (or come to that exercise a dog!) any day of the week in any of our wonderful countryside. Why insist on doing it in the middle of a 'road running race'?
and
should people only enter running races if they intend (injuries/illness) permitting to RUN the WHOLE race - as that would discourage a lot of beginner or slow runners from entering and is that what peeps would want in mass participation events
just being d3evils advocate !!
and who says what a 'slow runner' is - someone whose faster than me or someone whose slower than Paula ?
1. It is not whether you are running or walking that counts. It is what pace you are moving at and are you considering other participants.
2. People should enter races intending to get from start to finish as quickly as they can, be it 5 min miling, run/walk, run/blow up/walk or trot. The basic principle is some intense physical effort should be involved.
I would not do the GNR as a training run as I would feel I hadn't earned my momento. I would have to do my best. That should apply to everyone or else you are denying someone more committed (not necessarily faster) a place.
I don't class myself as a front runner so I certanily wouldn't line up alongside those runners as I know I'd get in their way. So why should someone who intends to walk most of the way line up in front of runners who intend to run all the way.
As far as I'm concerned a running race is for running and if people want to walk then there are walking races! I'm not talking about people who end up walking for some reason or other I'm talking about people who enter with the intention of walking most or all of it and that's irrelevant to what speed they walk. Afterall you wouldn't see someone enter a track running race and walk it, so why in road race.
If running races are now to include walkers, which the bigger events obviously do then there should be a designated area at the rear of the running field for these participants to start at and it should be made clear in all information sent out and at the registration that if you intend to walk this is where you MUST start. Maybe then everyone could be included and enjoy taking part in the big events without people saying if you want a pb or to run all the way without being prevented to by inconsiderate runners/walkers choose another race.
Obviously pace is relative, but when there are boards with start times on and your get into a start zone that says sub 1.30 yet you plan to run 1.40 then you're in the wrong zone and then you are a slower runner for that start!
But that said the same goes for those that run
maybe races like GNR and FLM do give peeps the chance the stay the distance in a way a local lower key race wouldnt because they would be so far behind the field
there are very few events for walkers who want to walk fast - not race walkers but not ramblers - and maybe 10ks halfs and maras are theonly places they can participate in an event where they can push themselves against the clock relative to ability
start at the back... walk on the left
I agree with `push themselves against the clock relative to ability'. How far would you go in this? Would a 90 year old who could walk 100 metres then have to sit down for 5 mins be entitled to a place? An extreme argument I know, but you have to cut it off somewhere.
It is a RUNNING race and people should run as much of it as possible unless on a specific race walking pace.
After all, people know far enough in advance if they've got a place. If they can't be bothered doing the training to run around then don't enter.
So should Michael Watson not have been allowed to do the FLM then ?? It took him a week, and I guess relative to the rest of us he worked as hard if not harder to achieve what he did. But like your theoretical 90 year old he probably had to sit down every 100 metres.
As I said earlier a lot of people enter the GNR and the FLM because they have a personal mountain to climb, be that to overcome disablity or raise money or just to put a stake in the ground to say - hey I can do this. Some will never do it again, but some will go on to take the sport up. If out of those 42,000 you get 1,000 people who decide that they're going to take this running thing up and really get in shape, then everyones a winner - thats 1000 people leading a healthier lifestyle, joining running clubs and gyms, buying Runners World, and so on.
C'mon guys lighten up - there'll always be people who are only in it for the beer (so to speak)and yes it can be annoying - but I think the majority enter these things in the right spirit and with the best of motives. Lets cut 'em a bit of slack.
well that's me had my say if i've offended anyone "hay-hoo that's life get on with it"
Consideration and respect - I believe both are critical in our sport.
safc: I meet quite a lot of walkers when I'm out on the fells and in my workaday life In the main I've never found them to be anything but pleasant polite people.
However your experience appears to be somewhat different - and thats a shame.
I guess there are bad eggs in every basket
What I don't understand, though, is why anyone would want to walk 13 miles on roads in Newcastle. I'm happy to run on roads but I hate walking on them for any distance! I'd far rather be walking across fields or hills - places where I wouldn't run cos I'm a wuss and afraid of spraining my ankle. If I was going to walk to raise money, I'd walk from one pub to another with some interesting scenery on the way and soft ground underfoot if possible. Walking on roads in walking boots is agony on the ankles...
As a result people who were going to end up walking or had dreams above their current fitness didnt cause any problems. The 3 start pens had a start time 5 mins apart which helped thin out the field making passing easier.
I cant say if they checked any of the times or just took peoples word for it but it seemed to work. Walkers were not a problem, only a few motorist who didnt seem to have noticed their was a running race going on!
I had a great time in the end but the first twenty minutes or so was hell as faster runners, who had clearly arrived late for their allocated start time - as you could see from the coloured swoosh on their t-shirts - kept overtaking, and one particular girl literally elbowed me out of the way - I was on the left side of the road, and yes the road was crowded but I was being as considerate as I could be... I felt much better when I passed her about half an hour later!
Staggered starts are a good solution, as long as people are honest to themselves & they arrive on time!
I usually place myself, specially on crowded events, according to my expected time, and it's annoying to see very slow people (including walkers) trying to start from the front line.