Have you ever been LOST in a race

Four mile fell race last Saturday, very misty, 8 of us all following each other , we end up off course, turn round and go back the way we had come only to be laughed at by the runners that had gone the right way. Bottle of beer and a plate of chips included in the entry price post race. Fantastic day out.

Comments

  • did a trail race in Red Rock Canyon desert in Vegas only about 70 runners in the half marathon following little pink ribbons every 200m where some tourists seem to take off for fun... got lost 3 times and ran over 15 miles in total not ideal in 40 degrees!!! No beer or chips and the end of this race thou

  • Box hill knacker cracker a couple of years ago on new year's day. Horrendous rain and wind. Marshall directed us the wrong way so we ended up running 4.5 miles instead of 10k, nobody cared, since we were soaked to the skin and covered in mud by the end, great t shirt, woolly hat and soup at the end… fab day out!

  • I was marshalling at a Wakefield triathlon a couple of years ago, at a roundabout. Sat down for a coffee break, but then the guy who took over from me (member of the local triathlon club!) started throwing both arms up when the cyclists arrived, instead of directing with his left arm, causing one chap to cycle off in completely the wrong direction. There was no way I could have run after him.

    I took back over pretty quick, as there was carnage on the roundabout as others were stopping in confusion. About 10 minutes later this poor cyclist found his way back, and yes, I got his thoughts full on. I was mortified by the mistake, it would have ruined his day.

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    when you say throwing both arms up, what, outstretched, as if pointing both directions at once?

    Why did the cyclist choose one route over the other?Especially when presumably being at a roundabout, there would be a natural way to go?

  • Yep, both arms fully outstretched. Big roundabout, they had to take the third right, and he stood by the 2nd right. Really badly signed away, the organisers said that everyone on the course should know the route which I thought was a bit harsh. Only realised what the marshall was really doing when two cyclists stopped on roundabout and asked where to go! Sure they thought I was shite also, but did enjoy helping out!

  • I was once taking part in a marathon on a path I knew well, and crossed a main road using a subway half a mile away rather than just crossing the road as we were supposed to.

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    I've done some real bootleg level races where I've been leading. And it's a horrible stressy feeling, as you have to have full attention on directions, whereas every other race you are pretty much on autopilot, as there's either runners ahead, or plenty of marshalls.

    I've followed a main road, and carried on as you do without any other direction, and been lucky to catch sight of a marshall hidden behind a bush who should have been flagging a different direction!

    I've smugly followed what I knew was the correct way in a 10k whilst others went the wrong way, only to not be laughing when they arrived at the finish via a short cut!(marshall hadn't got to the key junction quick enough!)

    I've had to jump over a fence mid race because the direction took us through some random field (still don't know where the real route was, but in a 4.7miler you're never getting Olympic style organisation)

     

    good fun all!

  • Twenty + years ago ran a long fell race in North Wales.  Another misty race day, at the first check point I was in 44th place, never saw another runner after that, eventually finishing in 7th place, weird, what happened to the 37 other runners I have no idea ! image

  • I got caught short at the start of the Littleport 10k this year. After 800 meters you pass the clubhouse, so I thought I'd nip in for a toilet stop and catch up. 

    Unfortunately the back of the pack had left the playing field when I emerged and the marshal wasn't clear on which way to go, neither was the next marshal I saw sometime later.

    In the end I ran along the A10 for a few hundred meters and clocked up 6km. I found a crossroads with plenty of runners who were on the course so waited for my girlfriend and ran the remaining 2km with her.

  • I did a small field marathon with a friend a few years ago, only about 50 runners in the pack, towards the end after about 25 miles we were running down this farm track and a big group of walkers were coming the other way, they stepped to one side to let us passed and we carried on. About 2 miles later we knew something wasn't right and stopped to ask some locals for directions to the local sports club where the finish line was. We ended up crossing the finish line from the wrong direction having clocked up 28.5 miles on my garmin.

    We did the course again the following day, the walkers having been kind enough to let us passed had stood in front of a small gate and a sign to go that way!

  • Nice little night race run by Goldbeetle last year. Blindly following the front runner who went the wrong way, everyone went the wrong way. Only about 100yds into the race. 

     

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