The Gantlet 5K

CatScratchfever · #1 10-30-2011, 08:06 PM

Man, do I have a great story for this one. It was a nice cool afternoon. The volunteers for this race were dressed in colonial garb(this park hosts a revolutionary era fair in the fall) and we got to begin the race to a cannon! That was a first for me. Anyway, after the cannon blast we set off on this challenging half road, half trail run. First quarter mile was a ton of incline. After we crested the hill, we ducked into the woods for a hilly 3/4 mile. It was beautiful, but tough. By the time we cleared the woods and got back on pavement, the leaders were pulling away. One more big hill and the halfway point, I was in 4th overall with the next guy close behind, but the leaders were gone. So I followed some cones and kept on. Now we were heading back the way we came, and down the huge hill we started on when I saw the 3 mile sign. Wait, what????? My Garmin said 2.3. Uh-oh, I don't see the leaders at the finish. I made a wrong turn!!! I continued on and found a waterstop at a turnaround that I never made it to. I followed that back up and around. Now I was back on course but over 3 miles already!

I circled back towards the finish with that poor soul still behind me and crossed the finish line at 31:11, after having run 3.66 miles! I've never felt like such a dummy. This is the first time this has happened since I've been racing. I'm usually not close enough to the leaders to worry about it. To cap off the day, my age group medal went to a guy who ran a 28:00. I was on pace for a 25:00 at least. I left sad and dejected. Worst race ever. Got a nice shirt, and good exercise, but this one stings, I've never finished 4th overall, 3rd man in a race. I'm bummed!

LOST · #2 10-30-2011, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CatScratchfever

Man, do I have a great story for this one. It was a nice cool afternoon. The volunteers for this race were dressed in colonial garb(this park hosts a revolutionary era fair in the fall) and we got to begin the race to a cannon! That was a first for me. Anyway, after the cannon blast we set off on this challenging half road, half trail run. First quarter mile was a ton of incline. After we crested the hill, we ducked into the woods for a hilly 3/4 mile. It was beautiful, but tough. By the time we cleared the woods and got back on pavement, the leaders were pulling away. One more big hill and the halfway point, I was in 4th overall with the next guy close behind, but the leaders were gone. So I followed some cones and kept on. Now we were heading back the way we came, and down the huge hill we started on when I saw the 3 mile sign. Wait, what????? My Garmin said 2.3. Uh-oh, I don't see the leaders at the finish. I made a wrong turn!!! I continued on and found a waterstop at a turnaround that I never made it to. I followed that back up and around. Now I was back on course but over 3 miles already!

I circled back towards the finish with that poor soul still behind me and crossed the finish line at 31:11, after having run 3.66 miles! I've never felt like such a dummy. This is the first time this has happened since I've been racing. I'm usually not close enough to the leaders to worry about it. To cap off the day, my age group medal went to a guy who ran a 28:00. I was on pace for a 25:00 at least. I left sad and dejected. Worst race ever. Got a nice shirt, and good exercise, but this one stings, I've never finished 4th overall, 3rd man in a race. I'm bummed!

LMAO.... and They Call Me Lost... HAHAHAHA

run away joe · #3 10-30-2011, 10:46 PM

sucky...
oh before i forget, thanks for the kind words in the daily miles posts. it sucks not being able to run outside. im glad im back out there. hopefully im back to normal.

about your race today, that happens all the time. its completely random from race to race but it seems like there are times when one is running in no mans land.. no one ahead, no one behind. some examples that come to mind instantly are this one girl i knew who trained for months and months for her first marathon, made a wrong turn at the point where the half marathon and marathon courses spilt and ended up running the half.
here is the worst example I have seen of wrong turn. this had to be the worst feeling ever for the leader. i found this on you tube when i was searching marathon finishes one day.