overtaking etiquette

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  • I also have a running etiquette question. is it ever considered rude to overtake someone? A while back I was in a trail race that had no distance markers and I had no Garmin. As a result, I had no idea how far I had gone, or how far I had left to go. As I'd had about two hours sleep the night before, thanks to a poorly child, I was going very slowly, just trying to make it to the end. I spent most of the race in a daze really. Rounding a corner, the finish line appeared, way sooner than I was expecting. Having loads left in the tank I immediately sped up considerably and started chasing down a group of runners in front of me. Rather embarassingly, most of the group were considerably older than me. As I got near to them, just metres from the finish line, I suddenly felt embarassed about trying to overtake them and slowed down to finish just behind them.

    Am I an idiot? It just felt really churlish to try and gain a few places right at the end like that, especially when we were all so far down the field.

  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭
    MattDA wrote (see)

    I also have a running etiquette question. is it ever considered rude to overtake someone?

    On the face of it, that looks like a really silly question - it is a RACE after all - but I sort of see where you're coming from.  But still, do you think a mid- to back-packer will be that bothered by a fast finisher pushing them down into 845th place?

    I suppose etiquette does come into it in certain situations - if I caught myself catching up a 10 year old near the end of a parkrun, I might just back off a bit with my sprint finish! image

  • PhilPub wrote (see)

    I suppose etiquette does come into it in certain situations - if I caught myself catching up a 10 year old near the end of a parkrun, I might just back off a bit with my sprint finish! image

    image

    And it was Christmas eve image

    And I was wearing the Santa outfit image

    Santa was a bad bad man that year imageimage

  • it's not always about barging or even overtaking just because you can.

    all you ipod haters need to chill out a bit.

    it's not ok to wear an ipod but it's ok to barge past runners because

    they happen to be a bit slower than you at the start?

    eh? what's that all about.

    some of you guys need to come off the meat if it's making you all aggressive.

    we're only taking about running.

    Tomorrow i think i'll wear two ipods

    and a garmin on my head.

    with a flashing red light on top.image

    oh look, he's wearing bad grammer on

    his sleeve.

  • If i'm passing a gentleman, I think the etiquette is to shout "keep moving, old boy, you can do better than that", whilst if it's a pretty, young lady, then a tap on the behind and a cheeky "see you at the finish line" is appropriate.

    I was at a 10k race a couple of weeks ago and before the race the organiser told everyone that "priority should be given to faster runners", so it was expected to move aside for people lapping you (it was a 4lap course).

    I'm slightly concerned about the Manchester marathon in a few weeks time as the first 4 miles look pretty tight, and the field won't have thinned out enough to avoid being caught behind someone.

    my own personal pet hate is runners or walkers, in races or otherwise clogging up the path by walking/running 3-4 abreast, leaving no space for people to pass in either direction. If i'm running towards a pack of people and they're just staring at me, i'll either pile through or stop dead in front of them until someone moves.

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Nicky McNamerson wrote (see)

    Does anyone think Gareth Edwards 21 is an alt of DF3?

     

    I'm always a little suspicious of real names with a number after. You wonder if they've just set loads of accounts up, after previously being banned image

     

    Ultra waccyracer wrote (see)

    it's not always about barging or even overtaking just because you can.

    all you ipod haters need to chill out a bit.

    it's not ok to wear an ipod but it's ok to barge past runners because

    they happen to be a bit slower than you at the start?

    eh? what's that all about.

    some of you guys need to come off the meat if it's making you all aggressive.

    we're only taking about running.

    Tomorrow i think i'll wear two ipods

    and a garmin on my head.

    with a flashing red light on top.image

    oh look, he's wearing bad grammer on

    his sleeve.

     

    Hippy alert. You write like you're composing a poem. You and Seren would get on great.......

     

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    I think you have to run defensively when it's packed in races. After all, if you try and barge your way through you might well get tripped, or smack into some big lumbering oaf.

    If your route is blocked by a couple of runners, that's hard luck, it's up to you to get past.

     

    If you're blocked by 3 or 4 people running together, all with headfones on though, and they don't acknowledge you behind them, I then think you have the right to OAF your way through image

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    AgentGinger wrote (see)

     

    my own personal pet hate is runners or walkers, in races or otherwise clogging up the path by walking/running 3-4 abreast, leaving no space for people to pass in either direction. If i'm running towards a pack of people and they're just staring at me, i'll either pile through or stop dead in front of them until someone moves.

     

     

    People's brains go into slow mo don't they. It seems to take them until you're an inch from their snout before they'll think about moving.

     

  • annajoannajo ✭✭✭
    PhilPub wrote (see)
    MattDA wrote (see)

    I also have a running etiquette question. is it ever considered rude to overtake someone?

     

    I suppose etiquette does come into it in certain situations - if I caught myself catching up a 10 year old near the end of a parkrun, I might just back off a bit with my sprint finish! image

    image been in this scenario... and hey the challenge of trying to outsprint a kid less than a third of my age... it was too tempting!

  • I am very very slow but am quite good at running consistent pace, with even or occasionally negative splits.

    I like to start right at the back and then overtake the overambitious who've gone out at six minute pace when they shoulda aimed for 12, just at the point they are weeping blood.

    Mr Chloella tells me sportives are exactly the same, loads of fat middle aged blokes in lycra go out on a massive testosterone surge which doesn't last very long so they all start looking like they're having heart attacks on the first hill.

     

    It's funny though isn't it, when I've not heard somone/not moved out of the way quick enough for an overtaker I've always been embarassed by my divviness and apologised sharpish. I can't imagine being rude and aggressive towards someone just because they're faster than me. At parkrun the other day i was overtaken by a bloke with a cast on his foot! That made me chortle. Perhaps i should've pushed him over and nicked his jelly babies.

  • Mr PuffyMr Puffy ✭✭✭
    I know the OP is long gone but when I read about people jumping up verges etc I always wonder why they didn't start further up anyway. I join the start of a race based on my finish time, not my pace. I am going to start a little slowly, speed up gradually and will be running fastest as I cross the line. So if you have a different pacing strategy and try to push me out of the way or impede me as you go off like a bottle of pop then you'll be the one getting a nudge or a gentle steer. There are other runners in races, that is in fact the point!
  • Mr Puffy, most people would try to roughly gauge where they need to start based on their planned pace but it will never be completely right, plus you'll get latecomers and over ambitious slowcoaches. There'll always be a need to overtake in a race.

    When I did my last 10K I had to run back to my car just before the start, meaning I started the race right at the back. The first mile was disastrously slow as I was stuck behind all the really slow people for whom a 10k is an epic endurance event. I wanted to record a decentish time so I was basically overtaking people all the way - which was actually quite fun. In normal circumstances, if I know I'm going quite slow, or am matching some other runners for pace, I'll always make sure I slot in in front of or behind the group, rather than next to them, so that there's always room for overtakers. You run your own race but when you're in an event, you have to be aware that there are other people around you who will be running it differently to you.

  • roebyroeby ✭✭✭

    Hi Puffy ........I started in the correct pen to finish around 1 hr 50  running av 8 min miles , if I,d put my self forward in the 1 hr 30 pen  I would have ended up doing the exact thing I,m moaning about others doing.There were 11 min milers running in the 8 min mile pen..........it was up the grass verge or trample on them

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    The chap who starts on the very front line of the Wokingham half each year could do with reading this thread and sorting himself out.

     

    When you're running halves in 1hr 50, and you line up at the very front of the narrow start line (say 10-12runners wide) of a quality local half, alongside sub 1hr 10 guys, then you're asking to be blasted by about 500 people before 1/2mile is reached!

  • I'm now not looking forward to the Manc 10k as I've put myself in a far slower band (mates pace) than my actual pace image

  • Pacing groups can be a problem, had to make an early pit stop at London once then had to fight my way through the 3:30 pace group on my way to a 3:15. image

    As to wether you "should" overtake the answer is yes, I ran the Youths National XC at Parliament Hill many, many years ago. At the top of the first climb there were about 10 runners behind me and during the race I must have passed another 20+ catching the last one 10 meters from the finish.....my final position....530th out of 531.image

  •    Power to the ultra hippys!image

    be they fast or be they slow

    pretty ladies or  lardy 

    blokes. 

    Give them a smile and plenty of space

    after all are we not  

    first and foremost in the human

    race?image

     

    I'm more Paganish than Hippy. 

    ( i'm not Wacky.)

     

     

     

  • Look at race map,study it on google earth to plan your attack,.i did Salisbury half a couple of years ago,and we over took loads on the hills as we knew where they were..



    Iam not a fast runner but it was fun over taking peeps that blew all thier energy in first few miles.before hill



    One thing I hate is where some one pulls in front of you as they just wanted to get past you to prove some point,then won't get out the way when they hold you up!
  • If someone is ever rude or obnoxious enough to literally barge past me because l have the audacity to run with 2 or 3 others just to shave 5 seconds off their finishing time then i'll kick their legs clean away from them.

    This is supposed to be a social/enjoyable activity but some of the behaviour advocated in this thread id be pretty surprised to see in a bar full of drunks.

    Also interesting to see it's those on here who are clearly a damn sight faster than average that are displaying this sort of arrogance.

  • DeanR7DeanR7 ✭✭✭

    works both ways Gareth.  You are showing the same rudeness and being obnoxious by not allowing others to pass just because you want to trot along at your pace because you started too far forward on the start line.

     

  • Gareth Edwards 21 wrote (see)

    ..... the behaviour advocated in this thread id be pretty surprised to see in a bar full of drunks.

    Gareth Edwards 21 wrote (see)

     ....i'll kick their legs clean away from them.


    Good to see you joining in the spirit of the thread Gareth image 

  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭
    Gareth Edwards 21 wrote (see)

    If someone is ever rude or obnoxious enough to literally barge past me because l have the audacity to run with 2 or 3 others just to shave 5 seconds off their finishing time then i'll kick their legs clean away from them.

     

    You'll have to catch me first.

  • An eye for an eye and all that. Might teach them some manners in the future.

    l find it impossible to believe that there is never enough room to overtake someone in a safe and polite manner.

    God forbid those overtaking should ever have to move over 5 yards to help save a 1/3rd of a second on their time.

  • literatin wrote (see)
    Gareth Edwards 21 wrote (see)

    If someone is ever rude or obnoxious enough to literally barge past me because l have the audacity to run with 2 or 3 others just to shave 5 seconds off their finishing time then i'll kick their legs clean away from them.

     

    You'll have to catch me first.

    id make a mental note of your race numberimage

  • Mr BoatMr Boat ✭✭✭

    How will you see his number?

     

  • Stevie G . wrote (see)

    The chap who starts on the very front line of the Wokingham half each year could do with reading this thread and sorting himself out.

     

    As could the school girls who ignored the race director's advice at parkrun the other week, started at the front and were suprised to be knocked over by the scrum coming past them (who admittedly should have been more careful!).

  • cos he's one of those vain types that puts in on the back of his bib to reduce the drag and as it annoys him flapping in the wind as he's running so quickly.

     

    Swoooooooooooooooosh!

  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭

    Ahem. I think you mean she's one of those vain types... etc.

  • Nope - still visualising Gareth attacking David - it's like some sort of unholy cross between "Equus", "Caligula" and pantomime .... image

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