This is a two part questions. 1) Without asking everyone at a race, how would you know who the triathletes are in the staging area before the start of a running event? 2) If you were to pace off a triathlete in a running event how would their race execution likely very from if you were to pacing off a pure runner?
Other than the M-dot tattoo, you mean? /p
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Okay, I will look for MDOT tattoos. A pro Triathlete did an open half marathon a few months ago and said she knew who all the triathletes were because they were easy to pick out. She mentioned elastic shoe laces but did not mention tattoos. I still don’t know all the tricks. People ask me if I am a Triathlete and I don’t have a tattoo or elastic shoe laces (most of the time) so I don’t know what the tells are.
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I can spot triathletes at a swim race
The male variety exhibits the following.
They are much skinnier.
They got big legs.
They are not showing enough leg.
They got weird tan lines.
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Usually wear their kit . Or just look at their shuffle run form
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Being a Triathlete that started off as a runner I do find this quite funny at races.
There are key tells - Mdot Tattoo / Race Bag / Cap or Visor
You pay your money for an Ironman race, you best believe the gear is getting shown anywhere you can show it!
Pacing question is an odd one though - It really is up in the air as it depends what the person is using the race for - This could be said of anyone in the event though so the triathlon thing doesn’t make a difference
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They have goggles on.
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You can’t always notice from a distance but once you get close enough to hear them chattering with people nearby, you’ll hear “Ironman” this, and “Lake Placid” that, or such; or things like “I’m not used to running without a bike ride, first”
YMMV
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Every time I got to a race it is to PR. I forgot that lots of triathlete use running event as “B” races to practice pacing, etc. for their next multisports “A” race. I don’t remember what the elite triathlete said her purpose was for doing the open half marathon but it was her first open running event in like a decade. She was a champion runner in college and she mentioned that one of the gals that beat her in the open half marathon was a girl she ran with in college. So, it may have been a college reunion of friend but I don’t think so. I think she got beat by 2-3 women who are pro runners and that she mentioned something about the difference between the way runners race vs triathletes but I am forgetting. I thought others might have their own observations. The only thing I have noticed is that when runner get fatigued legs their tank is about empty and they just try to hold on to the end without fading too much. When triathletes get fatigued legs their race has just started and they seem to get a second wind and be able to surge to the finish.
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You’ll see them with a huge backpack, locking their bike to a fence.
Runners drive everywhere and bring nothing with them.
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That’s not entirely true
When I would do large street races in Philly (Broad Street, PDR, etc.), I’d take public trans from South Jersey, with a backpack for gear check
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Best one there, and I am guilty
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I’m usually the only one wearing a race belt.
Runners are still “stuck” in safety pin hell
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I wear tri shorts for every trail race or marathon so I’m fairly obvious.
Having been burned once with split shorts I will never race marathon or longer distance in shorts.
I also use a race belt every race so that would be another dead giveaway.
In races where you can self-support I use flat Dr. Pepper. I don’t know anyone outside Ironman to use flat Coke.
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Ya, good call on the flat coke. As I have been thinking more about the visor (which I did wear in my last running event along with the race number pinned to my fuel belt) I was also wondering about sun glasses. I just ordered a new pair of tri shorts for racing. I like racing in new gear so I was condesplaining race in my new tri shorts in three weeks. I will have to decide on gear and messaging in the coming weeks. Do I want to look like a runner or a triathlete. Either way I think the most important thing for me is going to be comfortable and to be able to profile who I can pack run with and who to pass on the course. 
A triathlete would be fueling, and likely have a race belt(no safety pins) with gels hanging off it or a hand bottle. I’m trying to decide if they’d be sitting down and resting the legs as much as possible or if they’d be doing a ton of activation stretches and warm up running. Possibly wearing long compression socks and an omnius headband. Bonus points if they’re using swim stretch cords…
As far as pacing goes, I assume they’d smartly pace it and build into the race, not going out too hot.
Definitely wearing something with an Ironman logo, if it’s not already tattooed on them.
Probably telling war stories to people with glazed over eyes about their last race, while talking about the importance of nutrition and hydration.
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“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be” - Kurt Vonnegut
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I ended up wearing my running singlet and cycling socks from my triathlon race team. I pinned my bib to the front of my shirt, but put all my gear check items in my IM 70.3 Boulder bag. It is just a lot easier to have a bag with shoulder straps than the clear plastic bags with a draw string they give you for gear check. I just put my Tri bag in the clear plastic bag for gear check (since they don’t allow anything but those to be checked). I did see a guy with his IM Texas 140.6 jersey on talking to all his friend around him about how he was using the half Marathon as training for IM St. George 70.3 in two weeks and that he was running the first 6-1/2 miles at 1 min/mi over his goal pace for his triathlon and then the 2nd half he was going to run at his goal pace. I saw one guy in his long course trisuit with his bib attached to his fuel belt with the number in the back. I saw several people at the start in what I think were wearing tri-shorts (unless they are marketing jammer shorts as running apparel now). I didn’t get to run with any triathlete. I noticed that I was finding people to draft behind for the first 5 miles and thought to myself that must be a triathlete thing. The research says that you can save 2-6 minute running with people in break the wind over the course of a marathon but the runner seem more interested in staying exactly to the second on their target pace than to fall in line with someone else on the course. That ultimately probably cost me more than 6 minutes so there is some value in the runner attitude to run your own pace. I checked my pace frequently for the first few miles and after everyone seemed to settle in I though I knew who was going to be running at my pace for the duration so I picked my people and didn’t watch the clock. I had my grade adjusted splits written on my hand (runner thing) for the 5mi, 10mi, half, and 18mi splits. At the 5mi I was 15 seconds ahead of the goal. I figured that wasn’t too far ahead and I would be fine if I stuck with the people I was working with. At the 10mi mark I was 3-1/3 minutes under and so I went back to watching the clock because I knew I was running way too hot and would pay for it in the last 6 miles. At the half I was still almost 3-1/2 minutes under the target time so I started walking through every aid station (triathlon thing?) and made sure I was staying close to the “B” goals pace which would get me back to something close to the “A” goal pace. At mile 18 I was about a minute under. I was about where I needed to be but was not feeling the surge of energy late in the race that I was used to feeling (I hadn’t been doing any training bricks). I was slowing down and I started to ask myself how I would feel right now if I were at IM Texas doing my run leg instead of doing an open marathon. My goal pace would be a minute slower, but but would my legs feel different? I started to feel cramping coming on and since there was no coke-a-cola at the aid stations (tri thing) getting back on pace wasn’t going to happen (note to self: try taking caffeinated gel for the last 6-miles of your next marathon. I have never taken caffeinated gels before, but they may be the key to finishing strong in my next marathon). I leap frogged with a few other people at that point who were struggling. One of them was battling leg cramps really bad. He would run for about a half mile then cramp up and have to stop to work out the cramps. I know that at least one of the two guys leap frogging with me took a DNF I am not sure if the other one made it to the finish. I was going to finished one way or another and I wanted it to be without cramps so I kept doing the walk break at aid stations and any time I could feel a cramp coming on. I slowed down 30 sec/mi, then 1 min/mi. With two miles to go could still make sub-3 hr if I could hold on to 90sec over my target pace. It was a struggle. My legs were trashed and I could barely hobble but I squeezed through with a 2:59 and change. I would have been doing back flips if that was my first sub-3. It took me 15 years to get my first sub-3. I wanted a PR though and to finish without fading. I was 7 minutes over that time goal and faded pretty hard the last 6 miles.
Excellent write up, thanks!!!
UnderArmour has been offering compression-style shorts as trainwear/racewear for years now