RACE ETIQUETTE FOR RUNNERS
Actually, it is more "pass on the outside." In a road race, the runner ahead gets the most direct route to a turn, and the inside track through the turn. Anyone passing needs to go off line, generally to the outside. If you are going to slow dramatically from the pace of traffic, look around and move way to the outside before you do so. On a straight stretch, this can be either side, but you might have to carefully cross over the road to avoid impeding other runners when you reach a turn.
On a track, even when being lapped, the runner being passed stays to the inside, and the passing runner goes to the outside. This has been changed from the old, wildly dangerous practice of moving to the outside when someone was lapping you.
Until I got to Eugene, the problem with walkers lining up in the front row was pretty bad. In my last road race here, however, no one would move up to the starting line. There was a big gap between that start and the first because everyone saying "I'm not fast enough to be up there"! Nice change...
On a track, even when being lapped, the runner being passed stays to the inside, and the passing runner goes to the outside. This has been changed from the old, wildly dangerous practice of moving to the outside when someone was lapping you.
Until I got to Eugene, the problem with walkers lining up in the front row was pretty bad. In my last road race here, however, no one would move up to the starting line. There was a big gap between that start and the first because everyone saying "I'm not fast enough to be up there"! Nice change...
So it's my choice. That's what I thought. Interestingly enough, I was one of 3 of 25 people to move to the right yesterday because of an oncoming emergency vehicle. The other 22 nonheadphone wearers didn't hear it.
I think it's also pretty individual. I sometimes "zone out" during races, but my detailed race reports also point to me paying extreme attention to my surroundings. Maybe it's just me.
I think it's also pretty individual. I sometimes "zone out" during races, but my detailed race reports also point to me paying extreme attention to my surroundings. Maybe it's just me.
I'm guilty of that
We've dished this around before, so forgive my rehash for the benefit of others. But yes, it's your choice to void your insurability.
Bottomline is we're not talking the Olympics here and the IAAF isn't going to crack down on us running mid-pack pace for taking decongestants as a drug violation in a USATF sanctioned event. Nor is a race director going to delete you from the results because you didn't wear your number 'on the front of your person" as race directions clearly state all the time, but so many ignore. And likewise, a RD isn't going to yank headphones off people.
So it comes down to how you feel about picking and choosing "the rules" you comply with. Being the beancounter, dollars and cents rank high for me, so being insured is high for me personally. Being sure I'm obeying USATF drug rulings isn't because frankly, I'm not in the prizemoney. And something like pinning a bib on the front I do so finishline volunteers can record my number and get an accurate result, which is high priority for me.
As for the Miss Road Manners, most of that seems common sense, but as was the reason for the creation of that article series in the beginning, many new runners just don't know how to "race nice". And as "veteran" runners, I do believe we can benefit from sharing things like this with runners we might recruit to race with us or in an online forum like this. But in the heat of a race itself, my mind is always on a strategy and I go about my own race and honestly, don't notice bad manners/broken rules :shrug:
Bottomline is we're not talking the Olympics here and the IAAF isn't going to crack down on us running mid-pack pace for taking decongestants as a drug violation in a USATF sanctioned event. Nor is a race director going to delete you from the results because you didn't wear your number 'on the front of your person" as race directions clearly state all the time, but so many ignore. And likewise, a RD isn't going to yank headphones off people.
So it comes down to how you feel about picking and choosing "the rules" you comply with. Being the beancounter, dollars and cents rank high for me, so being insured is high for me personally. Being sure I'm obeying USATF drug rulings isn't because frankly, I'm not in the prizemoney. And something like pinning a bib on the front I do so finishline volunteers can record my number and get an accurate result, which is high priority for me.
As for the Miss Road Manners, most of that seems common sense, but as was the reason for the creation of that article series in the beginning, many new runners just don't know how to "race nice". And as "veteran" runners, I do believe we can benefit from sharing things like this with runners we might recruit to race with us or in an online forum like this. But in the heat of a race itself, my mind is always on a strategy and I go about my own race and honestly, don't notice bad manners/broken rules :shrug:
Thanks for the clarification, JJ....I figured it was something like that but I was always a little put out by it because I and so many slowpokes run better to music. But that makes perfect sense from a liability standpoint. I have to agree with the Kid though, as much as I love to zone out completely when I run, being female, it just isn't safe, so I try hard to be conscious of my surroundings. I think that's why I prefer closed trails, so there are less distractions and things that go bump in the night.