Who asked you, anyway? My reply was for Amy, not you - stay out other people’s business if you don’t want to get slapped.
Good summary of how I feel. The other thing that ticks me off is when someone puts in a 25 yard, arm flailing, spittle flying sprint in a narrow finish area or chute and then runs into or hazards other athletes or finish line volunteers. Usually seen with MOPers (and often a macho guy passing that woman) who have no sense of pace.
I think a little class and humility goes a long way, no matter where in the pack you finish.
Whoa. Maybe you should just go back to the letsrun.com discussion board.
Let me clear something up for you, Biaggio: This is a discussion forum (hence the title at the top of the page that says “Slowtwitch Discussion Forum”). Maybe it hasn’t yet occured to you that discussions usually take place between multiple people, and, that in most cases, the purpose is to provide personal opinions and to respond to other’s opinions. But nevermind all that. Let’s get back to the name calling because I think it’s really clever.
In my last tri of last season, I outsprinted three guys in my age group in the last 200 yds. They didn’t seem to have any problem with sprinting past me on the bike. F*** 'em if they can’t take a joke.
FYI, there is a Personal Message function on the board for messages that you don’t want anyone else to see / respond to.
I know it’s already been said, but that was classy and a great show of sportsmanship!
I’ll have to remember to have my daughter by the finish line in my races now too!!!
Similar story, different result …
Final 200 yards or so this dude comes up on my left, huffin’ and puffin’, really struggling … I just looked over and asked “How’s it goin’? We’re almost through” He took this as a personal assault and REALLY dug in. I didn’t feel like busting it over this guy, so just let him go. He beat me to the line by maybe 5 yards then heaved at the end of the chute. It turned out that he was in the wave behind me and had already beaten me by 5 minutes, just by catching up.
Moral: Only sprint to beat someone if you’re SURE you’re in the same AG.
A lot of people i see at triathlons, or any endurance event for that matter, piss out on the finish. Theyve been going so hard for so long, they slwo way down or jog across the line. Im not about to slow down for them. Races are fun because youre trying to beat other people, if not for that, its just like every training run. As for ruining someones finish pic, if thats why your doing it, or if having a bad finish pic ruins the experience, youre doing triathlon for the wrong reasons. I race because its a lot of fun, not for some photo.
My general rule is I will only sprint finish if I’m basically alone or if there is someone in my age group ahead of me. That’s being competitive and that’s playing to win.
However, I think its flat out rude to sprint finish in front of someone that is not in your age group, gender, or weight class.
The absolute worst offenders are relay participants.
I think you should finish with whatever you have left,.
BUT, if you are a MOPer or BOPer, I’d only pass someone if you could do it without affecting their pace or path, and certainly not if you have to brush past them. Since most people are MOPers or BOPers, that applies to most people, although not most who read slowtwitch.
Sunday I was in a 5k. I went out too fast, had no kick left at the end, just keeping pace to the line. As I was about 30 feet from the line, a guy on a bullhorn was saying, “Here comes number 753, flying to the finish”. A few feet later, that guy brushed into me as he passed. He “beat” me by less than 2 seconds. 151 other people beat him. Maybe he was worried about slipping from MOP to BOP status.
As soon as I was touched, I just glanced over at him, shook my head, and decelerated as I crossed the line. No other runner was within 50 feet of us.
That type of thing just doesn’t seem necessary. If you can’t get by me without brushing into me, at least at these times, don’t do it.
I think it differs on what kind of race it is. If it is a sprint or olympic, I will sprint til end no matter what. A couple of years ago at a 1/2 I was in a battle til the end with someone in my age group so we both sprinted at end, we both enjoyed the friendly competition. If it is a Full iron or marathon I will politely place myself away from others so that they could have their finish experience.
That’s exactly the ridiculous type of scenario I’m referring to in my posts. Couldn’t agree more. There’s a huge difference between sprinting against someone in your AG that you’ve been battling with for most the race and cutting in front of someone just to finish 299th place instead of 300. Be realistic, be courteous, let other people enjoy their moment. Otherwise, maybe they go home and all they remember when asked about the race was some self-centered jackass who elbowed them at the finish line. That kind of behavior is on par with throwing people to the deck in a pickup basketball game so you don’t give up the layup. I mean, please, this is MOP we’re talking about, not a world championship.
One time in the early 90’s I was in some race that Steve Scott was in during his masters come back. Him and I ended up side by side coming into a 200 or 300 yard crowed lined fenced finish. I figured, what the hell, and went for it (in most accounts I finish strong) and he just hammered me. I now feel vindicated since he shouldn’t have done that to me since him and I were only racing for 2nd or 3rd.
I try to beat everyone I can. That said, I generally try not to sneak up on people in the last 50M, and try to overtake them (strongly enough that the don’t contest it!) a bit earlier.
But, if you have to do it at the end, you have to do it at the end. Example - last year, in a Du Worlds qualifier, I chased and caught a guy in my AG in the last 100M. I knew I was on the bubble to get a slot, but not “exactly” sure. Didn’t want to take a chance. I pushed it so hard that I almost puked to catch him.
Bottom line, I got the last slot (thankfully, 1 guy declined ahead of me), and on the sign up sheet at the end, I noticed that the guy I passed would have accepted it (if someone above passed). I went to Switzerland and had a blast.
Frankly, I think it is kind of fun to chase someone at the end, or even to be chased. It makes you push harder than you thought possible. There’s nothing like having some guys footsteps coming to make you dig deep. And that’s why racing (for me) is more fun than training.
PS. This year, I qualified again (much easier, though), returned the favor and passed on my slot. Karma.
At one tri I politely followed a guy in to the line rather than passing him. It turns out he got a podium and I didn’t.
First of all, how do you know when someone is in your age group, and is therefore OK to sprint against?
Second of all, even someone BOP might be interested in achieving his best possible time and putting out his best possible effort, and that sometimes means sprinting at the end. It has nothing to do with getting coming in 299 vs 300.
Unless there’s some interference with another runner, I really don’t see why anyone should be upset at a racer sprinting at the finish line.
I agree with this approach. My first IM finish photo was ruined by this girl sprinting down the chute and stepping in front of me 3 ft from the line. It was at the 13hr mark and I had passed her while she was walking about 200 yrds back and offered some encouragement and then bam…she is doing the Carl Lewis immitiation in front of the crowd.
First of all, how do you know when someone is in your age group, and is therefore OK to sprint against?
Second of all, even someone BOP might be interested in achieving his best possible time and putting out his best possible effort, and that sometimes means sprinting at the end. It has nothing to do with getting coming in 299 vs 300.
Unless there’s some interference with another runner, I really don’t see why anyone should be upset at a racer sprinting at the finish line.
First - in tris, their age is always marked clearly on the calf.
Second - never said someone shouldn’t put forth their best possible effort. Nice try with the smoke screen.
Third - This is exactly my point. Interference. If you’re firmly MOP or BOP, get a grip - don’t elbow, don’t cut someone off 5 feet from the line. Be a courteous human being. Period.