Continuing my unplugged week with more great guest posts, this one comes to you from PavementRunner.com, one of the nicest guys you’ll come across in the blogosphere. He’s also quite funny, which is always a bonus. Enjoy:
Pavement Runner meeting Dean Karnazes
Hello there MissZippy readers. My name is Brian and I blog over at PavementRunner.com. I, like you, enjoy reading everything that the “zipster” has to share and hope that I can meet the expectations that guest posting on this blog requires. Many of my posts and light and humorous, so let’s keep with that theme as I share:
Five rules for race day:
1. You’re gonna wear that?
Did you know you are not supposed to wear the event’s shirt until AFTER you have run the race? Yep. First sign of a newbie on race day is wearing the event’s shirt at the start line. First, you shouldn’t be trying anything new on race day and that shirt is about as new as it gets. Plus, you should rock the shirt after you have successfully conquered the race. Take some pride in what you just accomplished.
2. It’s a PAPER cup.
If you are going to take advantage of water stations, please don’t grab the cup out of the volunteer’s hand mid sprint. It’s a paper cup and if you squeeze too hard, it’s TLC Waterfalls all over the volunteer. They are there to HELP you– let’s not soak them in luke-warm water. It’s okay to slow down for three seconds to successfully exchange. If you find the need to keep your U.S. record pace, make advance eye contact before you get to them and try to keep both of you dry.
3. I’m not Sigourney Weaver.
Corrals are there for a reason. If you are excited and want to start with your faster friend, that’s wonderful. Ask him/her to meet up in YOUR corral. When you start in a corral set to go at a faster pace then you are comfortable with, you are asking everyone behind you to run around you. Weaving through slower traffic can burn a lot of energy in the early miles and it’s not fair to others trying to accomplish the same goals as you. If you find yourself slowing early, simply move to the right. It happens, just try to be considerate.
4. We really should have a turn signal.
When you are racing, you go forward. Seems simple, but on occasion you may need to make an immediate left or right. Please, please glance behind you or over your shoulder. The person a step behind you and to your right is not expecting you to dart right in front of them. Yes, I know you saw a porta-potty, a friend, a water station, a squirrel, but like in a car, you just can’t jerk in front of other runners. A two-second glance is all it takes to avoid a mid-run collision. You’ll both be better off.
5. You just ran for hours; a few more steps are just as important.
Yes! You finished the race you trained so hard for. But don’t forget to take a few more steps. When you cross that finish line, do not immediately stop, check your Garmin or pull out your phone to tweet. There are hundreds behind you about to be in the exact same spot. And they are going to (literally) run right into you. Move to the right (after you glance, right?) and do what you gotta do. Just don’t stand in the middle of the finishers chute two steps after the timing mat. It’s an accident waiting to happen, plus you are blocking my finish line photo! Smile, you’re about to be on my blog!
Thanks for enjoying some of my race day tips. I share these tongue-in-cheek and I know most of these unwritten rules because I have broken ALL of them. I’ve been running too long for me not to embarrass myself by doing these at one time or another. There are more, but I have too much pride to admit all my race day mistakes. Cheers.
Have you done any of the above? Do you have any unwritten race day tips to share?
Feel free to make fun of me over at:
Blog: http://pavementrunner.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/pavementrunner
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/runpavementrunner
Brian, Thanks for the good laugh this morning. The tip I’ll add is if you are going to blow your nose on the race course without a tissue handy (if you know what I mean), please check around and behind you to not inadvertently hit a fellow runner with the “goods”. I had this happen to me by a runner who was in front of me at a marathon last year. So gross!
Beth @ Miles and Trials recently posted..July Highlights
So true. I’ve been guilty of and/or experienced many of those myself when I started running races. I’m cracking up at the “smile! you’re about to be on my blog!”
Laura recently posted..Olympic highlights
I have never run in a race, but I thoroughly enjoyed your tips. Educational and entertaining. If I ever enter a race I promise to put on my blinkers, but not blinders. And I might also start calling Miss Zippy “the Zipster.”
KymberlyFunFit recently posted..5 Phrases to Think and Train Like an Olympian
GREAT list! I especially agree with that first one…it makes me cringe…hahha…and as a volunteer as well, that second one is totally golden.
I can’t think of an eloquent way to say it, but I’d also add – DON’T SPIT to the side unless you know no one /nothing is there! I’ve been spit on a few times! GROSS!!
Krissy @ Shiawase Life recently posted..GIVEAWAY WINNER!
absolutely! and I hate stepping in it too. nasty.
elona recently posted..Hell on a Treadmill – Speed Training Interval Workout
Great list. The newbie in the race shirt gets me every time.
Christine @ Love, Life, Surf recently posted..Chobani Soho = Heaven
Great post! The race t-shirt gets me every time too. Personally I think it’s a big fat JINX if you do that.
I’m also totally with you on the whole corral thing too. I find it even worse when there aren’t starting corrals. There are a lot of folks that overestimate just how quick they think they are. Despite my best efforts at seeding myself accordingly, I almost always find myself dodging around someone running 11-12 minute miles that decided to stand up at the start line and take off with all the speedy folks.
Phaedra recently posted..Playlist Thursday: POP Goes the World!
LOVE this post! Pavement Runner is hilarious!!
Seems it doesn’t matter where in the world you run, the irritations on race day are the same.
Johann recently posted..New Toys
Great guest post! These are all so true! I’m guilty of stopping and looking at the Garmin at the finish line, but try to do it while moving
All my photos of me at the finish are me stopping my Garmin. Ha!
Jesica DAvanza @rUnladylike recently posted..Celebrating One Month with the Liebster Blog Award
Ha!! Perfect tips! #3 especially! fast folks with slower friends please remember this, it will make the slower friend feel less intimidated as well.
MegG recently posted..In My Twenties Tuesdays: It all started with a tattoo
Brian these are great! I always try to practice good racing etiquette, but I have witnessed a few of these. The one that really drives me bonkers is when people stop right after they cross the finish line! Another thing that really annoys me is when you’re walking out after finishing a race to gather food, recollect your fans/family ect and you have the mic happy race officials telling you repeatedly to keep walking, keep moving. I kind of want to throw something at them sometimes b/c the echoing of their voice is not exactly what I want to hear first thing blaring in my ears. ha!
Seems as though even though the elites are guilty of making unexpected turns. I watched the SA runner in the 4 X 400 relay being taken out by the Kenyan after he veered from his path. Poor Oscar Pistorius was left waiting for a baton that never arrived.
Char recently posted..Uncouth Sons
OMG! Please get a shirt with at least one of these printed on the back, not that these offenders would read it, they are too bust sprinting through the water stations getting us all soaked. Thank you PR!
LisaM@RunWiki recently posted..Almost Wordless Wednesday
If only more people would actually obey these rules- especially the traffic violation ones. I try not to focus on it, but it really is so annoying!
Also, when people sprint ahead of you, only to stop and take a walk break right in front of you…..
Allison @AllieFay recently posted..Boycotting Overtime
Thanks for posting the rules! You may have saved a newbie from wearing a race shirt on race day.
Angela @ Happy Fit Mama recently posted..From the Archives: My First Barre Class
Don’t wear the race day shirt… just like you’re not supposed to wear the t-shirt of the band you’re going to see at their concert
My pet peeve are the runners that run as a group- 4 wide across the road. I understand you want to run together, but other people would like to pass you!!
I’m guilty of wearing my race shirt on race day. Only once. It matched my running skirt so well that I just had to do it!!
Heather @ Bake, Run, Live recently posted..Weekly Running Recap
Great post!! I love all your tips, they are so true!!!!
Toni Church recently posted..My Favorite Junk Food
The turn signal one drives me crazy!!! I get cut off all the time!
Kim recently posted..Stats as of 31 July 2012
Sadly, I’m so slow rule #5 doesn’t apply to me. I can take pics, take a nap or order food once I reach the chute. lol. Oh, I will stop wearing the shirt on race day.
elona recently posted..Hell on a Treadmill – Speed Training Interval Workout