Haveyou ever been at a race where, at some point, you thought that that guy there, yes, that very guy who’s been running at you ten feet for an hour, you wish you never met him again in your life? Eh, it’s a difficult world that racing is, you meet a lot of people with whom you make strong friendships and you meet a lot of others with whom, on the other hand, you wouldn’t want to have that much to do, even in a race. Among the many things that may bother other runners, here are a couple of suggestions from someone who has done a few races over the years.
Pushing others
This is never done. Neither at the start, nor during the race, nor even at the finish. It is not just a matter of politeness and respect for other runners, it is really the basis of sportsmanship, of sharing that there is (or should be) in running races. If agonism leads you to contact with another runner during a turn or while perhaps overtaking him or her in a small space it may be okay, but in these cases-which are really exceptions-you apologize and make it clear that there was no intention. Nudging on purpose, on the other hand, is not good. Professional athletes don’t do that, let alone you. Even if I gained us a position at the finish line, would it really be worth being considered by everyone as the one to avoid? I really think not.
Screaming every mile
Unless you are a pacer and someone is following you just because of that, don’t stand around communicating at every kilometer that another five or six or four minutes have passed and you have covered another thousand meters. The Garmin, by now, we all have it on our wrists, and if someone is not wearing it, they are obviously not interested in knowing how many kilometers they have already done and at what pace. Not to mention that the vast majority of GPS watches beep at every kilometer (or mile, if you set miles), so really, you don’t need to be a public crier.
Spit
Okay, let’s just say that this is something that happens, even if it is ugly to see. A few gnats or excessive sweating sometimes make us salivate more than we should, and it is almost inevitable to do so, but it is one thing to have a real need, and quite another to be an obsessive salivator who floods the course (or worse yet, hits some other runner) with his drool. If you’re really one of those who can’t contain yourself, move to one side of the course and avoid doing so toward the part run by other runners.
Listening to loud music
Are you a pacer or someone else authorized to run with a group of the present runners and some entertainment? If yes, you can skip this point, because here we are talking about the person who, with his bluetooth speaker blaring, plays pseudo music to all the other runners keeping up with him. It is not done, come on. Music is a universal thing, but during a run-I repeat, unless it is something organized on purpose and one wants to participate-you have to leave it to those who wish to remain isolated. There is already the guy from the second point disturbing enough!
Setting off at a cannonball
This is the point at which we all falter. The temptation to do as Richard Lee-Wright did at the last London Marathon, starting ahead of everyone and leading the race for half a mile or so, is always there. Then again, an old amateur runner’s saying goes “
start strong and then manage the degradation
” but there is a limit to everything. You can do it once, maybe a second time if you feel that at the first you were just unlucky, but at the third time if I were you I would think about it and rethink, before you act up and leave everyone behind you at the start, only to have them catch you not even a third of the way through the race and make everyone think you are just a fool.
At the next opportunity look around and see if there is one of these runners near you. If it’s not there, well then really pay attention, because it could be you!