Race Etiquette

Grayson had his first race under his belt and his first PR...who knows what the time was, but they finished well before Mom did.  Now this is a big race for seacoast New Hampshire and the proceeds go to a great cause so it fills up year after year.  They do not limit it to just runners and there are a fair amount of walkers to participate.  Great, I am glad you are out there, but you need to learn some etiquette! 

Megan and I posing before the race

This year they sent out an email to participants prior to the race outlining things like where to park, where to line up, and where to be in the lineup if you are a walker or a running with a jogging stroller.  Apparently 90% of the walkers missed the email or chose to ignore it.  The entire beginning of the race was jockeying for positioning and I did a crazy amount of the bob and weave to get around people who shouldn't have been in front of me to begin with.  Seriously I was ready to lose it if I had to pass one more person out for a Sunday stroll in jeans!!!  I think I lost at least a minute at the beginning.

Here are my hard learned lessons of road race etiquette.
1. If you are slow, don't line up at the front!  Leave that space for the fast people.
2. If you are going to pass someone, look behind you first before making your move.  You don't want to trip up someone who is already in that lane.
3. That being said, the runner in front of you has the right of way.  If you are going to pass someone, yell "On your left!"
4. Don't spit or blow a snot rocket unless you are well out of the way.  Nothing says gross like being downwind and getting hit!
5. Don't cut across everyone as you are heading into a water spot. You can usually see a water stop well in advance so plan accordingly.
6. Don't point out pretty scenery.  I once did this to a girl as I was passing her.  I said "Hey look at that pretty house."  She looks up to her left, then trips over her own feet and fell off the road.  I felt terrible.  How was I to know she wasn't all that coordinated. 
8.  At the finish line, keep moving.  Don't just stop...it creates a crazy bottleneck at the end. 
7.  Enjoy yourself.  I don't take running all that seriously and I like to enjoy my road races.  It's nice to see a whole group of people together who do the same thing you do.

On our ride home, John did mention that he has no desire to run that race again because it was such a cluster.  I kind of have to agree as I like the smaller races.  I also like to know where the proceeds of the race are going.  I think that was biggest reason we didn't do the Color Run in Loudon because I couldn't find anywhere that the proceeds were going to charity.  I have no desire to pay for a race (especially one that is over $25.00) where the money isn't going to help someone other than the race promoters.  I have a big problem with that!   I run because I enjoy it, I run road races because I know some of my hard earned money goes to a good cause.