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Entering "fun" runs
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When I enter races here in Germany there nearly always shorter "fun" runs attached to the main event - usually the "fun" run would be a 5k. The description of these events is basically that everyone can take part.
I have only ever run a 5k race once but would like to run some next year - but if I run these events I have a fair chance of winning (or at least placing in the top 3).
Questions are:
1. Is it ethical for me to enter these races and (potentially) walk off with a prize that would more rightfully be awarded to one of the more deserving participants?
2. At what point did I cease to become a fun runner and therefore exclude myself from the field? i.e. I like running and think its fun....ergo...?
3. Even if you think its unethical should I do it anyway because I'm surrounded by Germans?
I have only ever run a 5k race once but would like to run some next year - but if I run these events I have a fair chance of winning (or at least placing in the top 3).
Questions are:
1. Is it ethical for me to enter these races and (potentially) walk off with a prize that would more rightfully be awarded to one of the more deserving participants?
2. At what point did I cease to become a fun runner and therefore exclude myself from the field? i.e. I like running and think its fun....ergo...?
3. Even if you think its unethical should I do it anyway because I'm surrounded by Germans?
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Comments
P.S. it is ethical as long as you wear a replica Michael Owen shirt.
Come on mate. It's your duty to give our teutonic chums the opportunity to eat british dirt by trouncing them in whatever way you can.
Just look at it like placing your poolside towel on the winners prize.
Go for it and make sure the Germans know you're a Brit!
I finished the 10k in 39:00 minutes. In the "fun run" 5k there were about 120 runners. The winning time was actually 16:15 errrr.......so maybe I wouldn't have won. But based on my 10k I think I probably could have run about 18:30 for the 5k which would have placed me 8th overall and first in my age group.
(Read the next bit in a Winston Churchill accent with the theme from Dambusters playing in the background...)
"Never before in the field of human fun running has so much been wanted by so many by so few for so long....blah blah blah "
Who dares wins and all that..
I say stuff em.
Get a good 50m lead and then goose step over the line in a John Cleese kind of way(turn on the spot will be optional).
As the Germans are well known for their sense of humour,you will proberbly make lots of new friends.
May I suggest introducing a few strides into your training just in case.
I've never raced before, but I've been training. I hope to do reasonably well because I know I can beat those people who haven't trained at all, and in a fun run I imagine there'll be a few of them. But if I found myself leading the race I think I'd be terrified. I expect, and indeed hope, for faster runners who will win. I'm also hoping those faster runners will lure the naive untrained fun runners into starting too fast so I can puff my way past them by halfway!
I can't imagine that people will get upset at you running too fast. If there's a prize for coming first, then it's a race. It's there to be won.
BTW I'm the only marathon runner I know of in my village. Came last in the 'Ladies' 50 m sprint on village Sports Day.
Personally, I think I should do it because I want to improve my speed for other races but more importantly my kids would be thrilled to see their dad win something (after all they have little concept of the significance of speed - what matters to them is who won!).
But, DannyM (thanks for the huge laugh this morning) if it does happen and I do win then I think it might be better to exercise a little more restraint.....tempting as it might be!
In any case, I've never come across a "fun run" over here that didn't include a significant number of participants either trying to win or else finish as high up the field as possible. Witness the recent Hoylake 10K - yes, I was one of them!
By all means have a go Martin - it's a great distance to race over. The only thing I find slightly curious is that you can't find a "serious" 5K race in its own right over there. If I found myself living in Walldorf once more, the absence of a regular opportunity to race over that distance would rather p*ss me off.
Go for it Martin - and kick anyone who dares get in your way.......
There are some races (like the one in my own village) where it is specified that you shouldn't take part if you're going to run under 20 minutes - which really strikes me as bizarre as I have a vision of charging around the course, reaching the finish line and then loitering just before the line until the next person is almost at the finish before hopping (think bugs bunny in a loony toons fashion) over the line to the massed applause.
I'm probably doing the "jedermannlauf" community a big disservice as now that the idea has entered my head I've been looking at the results of races for this year and most of the 5k's seem to be won in sub 17, but sub 18:30 will generally guarantee a minimum top 10 finish and usually top 3.
I do seem to remember running a 5k some years ago (in my prime!) at about 17:30 or so - and remeber it as being one of the toughest experiences of my running life - still a good chance to perfect my anal breathing!
:-)
Just to refer to my last post.You could claim that it was a stretching exercise.
Just make sure you don't put your finger across your top lip.
Interesting point in general though. A lot of the races I’ve been to (tend to be 10ks) have fun runs which are run almost exclusively by kids and was imagining the silence and stony glares I’d get at the finish line from the parents of all the twelve year old competitors I’d beaten. I think it depends very much on the nature on the particular fun run in question.