Imagine that you are in a race, and you have been working with another runner for many miles. You know that you are both running faster than you could have alone, and there’s a $1000 pot for the first place finish. Would you be able to share that win, and the pot, or would you be too competitive and try to pull away, even if it meant a slower time over the long run?
That was an easy question for Erik Skaden and Mike Wolfe to answer. They agreed to run the final 25 miles of the Tahoe Rim Trail 100-Mile Endurance Run together, and to cross the line in unison.
The pair crossed the finish line at Spooner Lake together in 18 hours, 59 minutes, 10 seconds.
“We were running the same pace,” said Wolfe, a Missoula, MT, resident and two-time national champion in the 50-mile trail run. “When you run with someone, you run faster. It was fun.”
They split the money and also shared in the USATF 100 mile championship for the year.
I don’t know that I would be able to do that. I certainly have no problems helping out a fellow racer, especially in long races like a marathon or ultramarathon. It certainly beats running alone. But I’d still think that I would be tempted to test myself against whoever I was running with in the final miles of the race, even if it meant that I lost.
(More Info: RRCA)
A lot modern races either severely frown upon or will outright DQ for this, the Hawaii Ironman being a notable example. This is to stop two or more athletes working together from the beginning in an attempt to split the pot, because if two people cross the line together that’s the prize money for #1 and #2, which when split is a pretty decent payday at some major events.
“When you run with someone, you run faster.”
That says it all. 🙂
Back in 1997 when Wendy Ingraham and Sian Welch did their ‘crazy legs’ walk and crawl to the finish line, Ingraham initially got a little bit of criticism because she only reached back to help Welch *after* she crossed the line. But she knew what she was doing – if they’d have gone hand and hand over together they’d both have been DQd. (I think it was DQ at the time – might have just been loss of prize money.)
Not surprising in the ultra world, but always nice to see.
I wouldn’t make an agreement like that. Both runners have put in the training and effort to be in a race of that kind. They both deserve the win if they can dig down to obtain it.
The fact that they helped each other to run faster for the chance at winning gives them both the same oppourtunity.
I would not ask a fellow runner to do it for me and I would not do it for them. I would however agree to help each other to the end but when it came down to sprinting for finish —–let’s see who want’s it more.
The win is something you must earn and you can’t earn it by not giving your all. Now if they both sprint for the finish and somehow tie…well that is OK.
I call that friendly competition and to do anything else but sprint to the finish would discount every once of training leading up to the race.
Kevin
I think this is an amazing example of respect and fairness between two fellow runners who have worked hard hand-in-hand.
Now, call me uncompetitive but from where I stand at this moment (sitting behind my computer) I think I could share a win but I guess you have to get in the heat of the situation to really know… 😉
Thanks for sharing such a nice story, Blaine! 🙂