Run to Win

A few months ago, my wife ran in a trail race where a woman fell and dislocated her finger. She had to be driven to the hospital while the race director filled out an insurance form for the park with the information on her registration.

Thankfully, she was okay in the end, but had she hit her head than there could have been a very real possibility that nobody would have known who she was had she not been a part of the race. Many runners are not in the habit of carrying identification when they run.

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about race bandits and offered up a general opinion about why you should never bandit a race. This evening, Tom came by and left a comment, which read as follows:
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This week last year I celebrated the first anniversary of owning my first house. Which means that this year I’d be celebrating the 2^nd anniversary, except that I’m down here in Atlanta taking a class (and running a marathon tomorrow) instead.

• This week last year I pondered whether elite athletes should drop out of races. Basically, I figure that unless they are actually sick or injured, they should complete the race if they are being paid an appearance fee. If they need to actually win in order to cash, then I have no problems with them dropping out.
• Some friends of mine attempted to raise $1500 to fund research on multiple sclerosis by participating in a 50 mile walk called the MS Challenge. They made their goal and then some.
• In running news, it was announced that all Nike shoes would be Nike+ compatible by the end of 2007. The public beta of Map My Run launched, although I was a little less than overwhelmed by the new version of the service.
• This week 2 years ago, I described how much Bulgarian split squats burn, and continued the New Rules series by offering up some thoughts on the sixth and seventh rules. (I was moving into a new house, after all.)

The recap for what I wrote this week last year is a little late this week, but I decided that a weekend off now and again is a good thing and went down to Boston to visit the circus. There was a lot that happened this weekend, between the heat and debacle at Chicago to the Maine Marathon and Half Marathon. This week last year, there was also a lot of racing news…

• My favorite DIII college team was ranked 23^rd in the nation after RIT placed 2^nd at the Geneseo Invitational. Across the planet, there was the Phedippidations world-wide half-marathon, which is taking place this weekend this year. In local racing, there was also the Presidential Road Race in Kennebunkport and Craig’s Cup 5k cross country race.
• Speaking of the Craig’s Cup 5k and the World Wide Half, I used those races as preparation for the New York City Marathon to great effect. I began the day with a 5k cross country race, which I then ran home from. I guestimated where the half-marathon mark would be for the world wide half and ran a 16 mile cool down all told, which brought me to over 20 miles on the day. I think that this workout was one of the best ones that I had leading up to New York City before I began my taper.
• I explained the difference between active and passive rest and why it matters to your workouts. In a slightly more opinionated vein, I shared my thoughts on banditing races, and attempted to explain why I run.
• I discovered that RIT does not hold the transcontinental record for running from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It turns out that one of my current teammates ran the relay a couple of decades ago in a faster time. It is a moot point anyway; the Guinness Book of World Records thinks that the activity is too dangerous to encourage and no longer lists it. Because running for a couple of weeks is so much more dangerous then spending your life being so overweight that you can’t fit through your door to leave your room.
• This week two years ago, I shared a story about Bobby Martin, a legless football player that was ejected from a game for not wearing knee pads. I also shared some tips about working out in inclement weather.

Don’t forget that today is the final day to enter my contest for a gift card good for 180 mp3 downloads. You can enter simply by leaving a comment on the site; I will be choosing a winner by random drawing this evening.

Dennis wrote an article over at Complete Running asking, “is it okay for elite athletes to drop out of races?”

I’ve seen this happen in a lot of races in the last few years, from 10Ks to major marathons and it’s something I’ll never understand. To me, it shows not just a lack of commitment but a lack of respect for the other runners in the race. [...] I can only assume it’s because track and field and road racing isn’t a major spectator sport, so the athletes know that the consequences of quitting are few, if any. (To be clear, I’m not suggesting that these runners should keep going if they’re actually injured or ill. No one would advocate that.)

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I do not hold with banditing races and I never have. A bandit in a race is any person that runs the course and makes use of the race support but has not paid for the right to be there. Jon over at the complete running network wrote about how he no longer holds with banditing a race:

When they were these mysterious, unseen runners, it never made a difference. But now, seeing their faces, and them running between the real racers, it made me mad. [...] They didn’t pay their money like I did, and now they are spoiling my race. [...] It’s theft, plain and simple.

Actually, to my mind, banditing a race is not plain and simple.
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