Anybody know how much a stroller will slow you down in a standalone running race, let’s say, a FLAT 10k?
I know from experience that a stroller will kill your pace on big hills (as does weight on a bike) , so let’s just keep it to a flat 10k to make things simple. I’m planning to do one, and my times with the stroller are all over the map - from 2-3 minutes slower on easy days, to 90% of my race pace on interval days.
Am using a BOB stroller. (I also am not going to consider using Dick Hoyt’s race times as an example, since he’s using a very specialized stroller with Zipp wheels, brakes, and a different weight center for the runner.)
On a flat course; I would put the number at around 10% This is what I would run with: (the triple); and it would be approximately a 10% difference on a flat course. My best 10K with these guys was a 37:50 on a pretty flat course. Just make sure that you watch the turns, as they can be tricky when you are tired; and NEVER sacrifice safety for a couple of seconds.
Open 10k PR - 36’30
Stroller 10k PR (with 3 year old in it) - 37’54
My only warning to you for racing with a stroller is to take a good look at what is in the stroller. I took a look in the stroller about 10min before my first race with it and was amazed at what my wife had stuffed in there. I proceeded to unload about 15 pounds of toys, juice boxes and enough food to last our entire family for a week.
I have only run one race with and without the jogging stroller - a slightly hilly 8 miler - and I was about 8 minutes slower with the jogger. Part of that time difference was that the race director asked me to start at the very back with the stroller and there were a fair amount of BOP runners to carefully navigate around before getting to where I could run my own speed. Also, this particular race only has a chip mat at the finish, so however much longer it took me to cross the start (maybe a minute slower with the jogger?) also added to the time. In any event, it was really fun running a race with the stroller and I am hoping to do it again this year (now with the double stroller )
I was pushing my boy in the BOB IM yesterday and thought, someone should start a race where everyone has a run stroller with a kid in it. Sounds like fun.
I would estimate 2 minutes, but would then add a fudge factor to make it a total of 3 minutes. You don’t want to be going 100% since dumping the stroller or taking a competitor out with it is a guaranteed ticket to the a-hole HOF.
My stroller 5K PR is 18:32 and open PR is 16:58. The stroller race was perfect set-up with a wide, 1 mile false flat downhill perfectly straight at the start.
I’d think a really downhill race would be faster if you can find away to step on the back of the stroller and have a kid with a particularly aero head.
On a flat course; I would put the number at around 10% This is what I would run with: (the triple); and it would be approximately a 10% difference on a flat course. My best 10K with these guys was a 37:50 on a pretty flat course. Just make sure that you watch the turns, as they can be tricky when you are tired; and NEVER sacrifice safety for a couple of seconds.
Stephen J
I bet you could run a little faster if you could get the boy in front to stop applying the manual brakes.
I recently did a five mile with two kids in a double bob, and I don’t think it hurt my pace by more than 15 secs/mile
In my experience, other than hills and curves, the real slowdown is that it’s hard to (safely, politely) move through a crowd. In some races, the organizers will ask all the strollers to start in the back. Then your first mile is 11 minutes. I complained mightily about this to my wife after a race once and she said, “Um, if you’re really serious about your time, stop sandbagging and race without the stroller. Otherwise, run and have a good time with the kids.”
Hijacking an old thread because googling the subject returns a bunch of mom forums of people jog/walking in the 30:00+'s…
My mother in law is talking me into running a 5k with her (actual race, stroller legal), I would be sub 20. I was thinking of taking my 2 year old in a BOB, for the sake of variety, but still pushing at 100%. From this thread, it looks like I’m not going to lose much time to the stroller.
Question for the people that run with strollers, fast, presumably in races…
Do you line up with the stroller at the front with your pace group? Usually starts are irritating enough, just not sure about weaving a double BOB through everyone who thought lining up at 18:00 to run a 27:00 is the best plan. Maybe I’ll give my toddler a horn…
I say I lost only about 5% of speed or even less on a dead-flat stroller-friendly course where I was unimpeded.
However, the other 3 races I did, I did line up in the back and lost pretty much 2-3 minutes right off the getgo since there was no way to safely weave through everyone. I know, first world problems.
You just have to check out the scene on race day and decide whether it’s worth braving the sprinting masses (almost all of whom you’ll beat by the end) going around you in the first half mile. I lined up in the front-end of the pack on my fast stroller race, but it was a field amenable to doing so (meaning not so many competitive folks.)
Given the estimates above, how was Dick Hoyt able to push Rick to a 2:45:xx marathon? Dick started running in his late 30s and never had a marathoner’s build, and Rick is a small adult but still much heaver than a kid. I wonder if, at least on a flat course, it’s faster with a stroller to the extent you can lean on it and cruise the way kids do with a shopping cart across the parking lot. I don’t mean this to belittle the Hoyts, because I love what they do together, but always wondered how the duo was able to go so fast. (Also did a 17 minute 5k together.) Dick is definitely transferring some of his weight to the stroller when he runs, at least in the videos I saw of them back in their prime.
Question for the people that run with strollers, fast, presumably in races…
Do you line up with the stroller at the front with your pace group? Usually starts are irritating enough, just not sure about weaving a double BOB through everyone who thought lining up at 18:00 to run a 27:00 is the best plan. Maybe I’ll give my toddler a horn…
Hi,
Im the guy in the picture earlier in the thread (hard to imagine that the two older boys are right now taking drivers ed.). When I lined up, I have taken one of two tactics:
Up front.
In the back
When you go up front, you NEED TO GO FAST right from the start. You can not screw around or you will potentially injure your cargo, yourself, and/or someone else. You will get looks from others (i.e. what the heck is he doing here with the stroller), and you will have some younger kids (usually high schoolers) who try to keep up at the start, but you have to find your space, and do it quickly. This is why you need to either go to the front or the back…to make sure that you keep everyone safe. That is the key.
The best spot that I have found is in the front to the side. This way you only have to worry about one side which people may be trying to get around if you have not gotten ahead right at the start. Also, if the start is on a flat or downhill, then it is easier to roll up to speed and find you spot while pushing.
If you have any doubt, start in the back and just run from there. Take you time at the start so that no one gets hurt (especially your passenger(s)).
I would not give the kids a horn, as that would be disrespectful to the other racers, and tends to throw people off more than it would help make them aware. If anything, have them sing a song which will both let fellow racers know that you are there, as well as occupy your passenger(s). MAKE SURE that everything is TIED DOWN. Don’t let any toys, pacifiers, etc be untethered to the stroller…with this said, make sure that anything used to tether items does not make its way around your passenger(s) so as to hurt them.
Hope this helps. Have fun, and be safe.
Stephen J
Given the estimates above, how was Dick Hoyt able to push Rick to a 2:45:xx marathon? Dick started running in his late 30s and never had a marathoner’s build, and Rick is a small adult but still much heaver than a kid. I wonder if, at least on a flat course, it’s faster with a stroller to the extent you can lean on it and cruise the way kids do with a shopping cart across the parking lot. I don’t mean this to belittle the Hoyts, because I love what they do together, but always wondered how the duo was able to go so fast. (Also did a 17 minute 5k together.) Dick is definitely transferring some of his weight to the stroller when he runs, at least in the videos I saw of them back in their prime.
I think Dick Hoyt is great and inspirational, but I strongly suspect his 2:45:xx while pushing a 100-pound man is significantly assisted by the ability to ‘ride’ the man-stroller on downhills as you suggest, by transferring a lot of your weight to it as it rolls downhill, and thus you get like 2x the distance per step compared to not pushing him.
This doesn’t totally discount his strong performance though - you still have to push that 100 lbs guy UPHILL when the time comes, and there’s no way you’re cheating your way through that one.
I’ll bet with certain courses (?boston) with long sustained downhills, he can actually outperform his standalone marathon time, but it’s not going to be by a huge margin - he’s was still pretty dang fast.
Note that you can’t do this weight transfer on kiddie strollers - the kids are too light, and in fact, on steep downhills, you’ll actually waste some energy trying to slow the stroller down (not much, though.)
Appreciate the insight, super helpful. While I’m not overly keen on playing things by ear on race day, it sounds like it’s a necessary evil in this case - there’s a good chance there could be a non-trivial number of moderately fast people up front.
I would not give the kids a horn
My best jokes never go over well on the internet. Race or not, I’ve made enough mistakes to know not to give my 2 year old something loud and annoying
We have a bob as well. While I have not raced in it, I can hold pretty normal pacing. Maybe 20-30 seconds slower without much more effort. If the tires are full it rolls effortlessly. My daughter is super small though, 29lbs for a 3 yr old.
I recently ran with my 4 year old twin boys in Chariot double in a 10k here that was not super hilly and I actually managed to finish 3rd in my age group (50-54) with a 46:47. That was also good enough for 24th overall out of 267 runners. Another guy who is a very good triathlete (and only 35) ran with a single stroller and a smaller kid and passed me late and finished 40 seconds ahead of me, but I was fine with my time and effort.
In that race I started closer to the front as lots of folks knew me. But in other events I have started late and then dealt with weaving around folks. Best is to ask folks how fast they run and letting them know what pace you plan to go.
(the triple); and it would be approximately a 10% difference on a flat course. My best 10K with these guys was a 37:50 on a pretty flat course. Just make sure that you watch the turns, as they can be tricky when you are tired; and NEVER sacrifice safety for a couple of seconds.