I have a woman friend who was training to do a sub 3 Boston. A few weeks ago she was running in a half marathon as a final tuneup race. She was running near the front after a few miles and was the third place woman. She started focusing on catching the second place woman and stepped in a pothole. This ended up breaking a bone in her foot, ending her race. It also ended her going to Boston. She is in recovery mode now, but at the present has to be completely non-weight bearing on the injured foot. It may take several months for everything to heal and more time before she can possibly get her running back to where it was.
The race was held on a road course. I think it was the RD’s responsibility to cone off hazards like this if the city was not persuaded to fix them in advance of the race. The RD indicated to her that would be done prior to next year’s race. If the RD can do it next year, why was it not done this year? My friend had reasonable expectations of racing on a hazard free course. Now she is forced to put her life and plans on hold until she recovers - not to mention medical expenses for what is not covered by insurance.
The RD appears to be off the hook for negligence due to my friend signing the waiver. Is this fair? My friend knows another person who also stepped in a pothole and rolled an ankle, but was not seriously injured.
Honestly, I think it’s crazy that someone would even think it is the RD’s responsibility.
As someone who hasn’t been able to run for months due to slipping on an icy sidewalk, I really feel for your friend, but at some point people have to accept responsibility for reasonable things that happen to them as a result of their own actions.
Trust me, there will be unmarked potholes on the Boston course.
If she wants to avoid potholes completely, run on a track or treadmill. And if she was so out in the open (meaning near the front) shouldn’t she have been watching where she was going?
Unfortunately sh!t happens. I certainly wouldn’t be blaming someone else for me stepping into a pothole.
“Actually she isn’t blaming anyone”
I didn’t say SHE was.
“It’s my perception that the RD bore some responsibility to provide a course free of hazards”
It’s a pothole, not a sand trap or a pool of alligators. She was running outside, on a road…pot holes happen.