Thing 1 and I ran the Panting for Paws 5k this weekend. It benefitted a local animal shelter/rescue; love that. Weather was perfection: cold and clear.
We were raring to go…sort of…
After much hemming and hawing on Thing 1’s part, I made the executive decision to run with her, since none of her friends were there.
The race was odd from the beginning. There was no signage. I couldn’t even find packet pickup. When we finally did, we learned the shirt supply had run out, even though I’d signed up weeks before. Oh well. The ‘starting line’ was in the middle of a large field. No sign, no line, nothing. Surprise! It was a trail race. Too bad that was never mentioned on the website. My shoes were all wrong. We charged across a large expanse of lumpy grass until we made it to the trail in a humongous bottle neck. Thing 1 went out ahead, then waited up. I did my best to be supportive while trying to get Thing 1 to pace evenly(ish). No easy task for an overzealous tween with one race under her belt.
We came upon a time clock, placed oddly well before the first mile (no marker), accompanied by the only course marshall we’d see that day other than at the finish. Super-low budget? Or maybe the animals are getting all the proceeds from the $35 entry fee. I’m good with that, if that’s the case. No water station either. But it’s cold, we’ll survive.
As we rounded the corner out of the woods for the final stretch, the mother/daughter kumbaya session ended when Thing 1 took off in a sprint, as I suspected she would. I did my best to pick it up as she picked off everyone ahead of her.
I waved at The Caveman and Thing 2, just upstream of the finish, then entered the chute. No chip timing, you probably knew that, right? I ended up directly behind Thing 1 in the chute but something was going on as we walked down, waiting for the officials to take the tabs from our bibs. One of the officials said “no, she is next, then this one, then this one, then her.”
It wasn’t until we were out of the chute and grabbing water that Thing 1 told me the final person she edged out at the finish shoved her and shouted ‘Get out of the way’ as she entered the chute. The bully then proceeded to crawl under the ropes and head to the front of the line where she turned in her bib tab. So that’s what the officials were talking about.
The Caveman’s pictures tell the story. Here’s Thing 1 on the left, passing the bully woman.
This was actually a pic of me approaching the finish. But when I zoomed in, there’s none other than bully woman shoving Thing 1 (in black) who is waiting behind another woman (in light shirt), before she left the chute altogether and headed down to the officials taking bib tabs at the far left. Weird, no? In my experience runners are some the kindest people I know. I’ve never seen anything close to this kind of poor sportsmanship in a race. I’m guessing bully woman was ticked that Thing 1 punked her so close to the finish?? It happens to the best of us. But crawling under the chute ropes? And yelling at a fellow racer? Really? I highly doubt there was even an AG placement at stake at that point, yet this woman was acting as if she’d just been edged off of an Olympic team…no wait, Olympic hopefuls have way more class than this woman did. I haven’t seen the official results yet, but I’m curious to know who this bully woman is.
Have you ever encountered race bullies?
So crazy! I hate that it happened to your daughter, too–welcome to racing! Believe it or not, the same thing happened to my daughter at a triathlon last year. She was on the final turn into the chute when the girl next to her shoved her. She stumbled, and the girl went right on into the chute ahead of her, edging her out for the age group win. No one saw it but us, though, so there was nothing we could do. My daughter still gives that girl the hairy eyeball when she sees her!
Congrats to Thing 1 for another race!
Oh jeez – that’s not right. I have an explosive personality when it comes to things like that, so NO ONE would have pushed me out of the way and gotten away with it. I would have tripped her. No kidding.
MZ that’s what totally get my goat about this: the race was over. They’d both passed the time clock. So it’s not like she was even shoving to improve her placement. Not that I’d condone that in any way…morons, I swear.
ok Im not a runner BUT I have so am runner friends and Ive never heard of this before.
BEYOND CRAZY.
Wow people are amazing right! I’ve seen craziness on the course and try to block those people out – best I can anyway – hopefully your daughter isn’t deterred from racing, she has a mom that’ll steer her in the right direction!
Wow, that’s just crazy. You’d think she was winning the entire race or something.
wow, that is too bad. I hate when people can’t accept things graciously.
This is the story of my race bullying:
http://therearetwosides.com/2013/09/where-slow-runners-are-made-fun-of.html
Really?!?! The actions of some people never cease to amaze me! How do you shove anyone in a race – much less a child!?!
Huge congrats to Thing 1 on completing another race!!
That’s crazy! I definitely would’ve had some words with her. I mean come on?!
That is so bad in so many ways. What an example to set for a kid. Awesome running for your daughter!
Ugh such a bummer. I encountered a “bully” of sorts in a race this past spring. He was walking through an area where you literally had to step aside to let someone pass. I shouted “on your left” to pass, and he started running, not letting me pass. Then he started walking again. This happened 3 times, he would NOT LET ME PASS. I was so mad, when I finally had the opportunity to pass I shoved a bit. Perhaps that made me the bully, but jeeze, if someone wants to pass you and you are WALKING, you need to let them! *end rant, lol* The bully that lied about her placing will certainly get her race day karma in the future, I’m sure!
um wow. You have complete and utter control. I probably would have had a little chat with that woman. 😉
If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny.
Does a bear count as a bully? hahah no…they just make the race get rerouted or cancelled. In the mountains that happens. Last year at the Edmonton Marathon someone RAMMED into me unnecessarily. I was slowing down at a large waterstation, as I was grabbing the water from a volunteer a very aggressive fellow shoved me and rammed between me an the volunteer to plow thru to keep running. AND he was on my right. No shout out, no sorry, no nothing but a grunt. Thing is there was room on my left, since I was over to the far right to get the water. That kind of behaviour makes me pissy. REALLY?? you are THAT important. RUUUUUUDE!!! ps – i love me a trail race!
Oh. My. Goodness. I cannot believe the nerve of that person. I mean, geez, have a little bit of respect. It’s just a race, and the point of the race is to raise funds for the local animal shelter while having some fun. It makes me so mad thinking about the rudeness. Some people really need to take a step back from themselves. I am sorry that the race seemed so low-budget and disorganized, and that your daughter had to go through that experience. Hopefully her next race will be that much better to make up for it!
That’s ridiculous.
I’d email the RD and say that you don’t care what your placement overall is, but there was unsportsmanlike conduct at the race, just so he is aware!
Ryan got shoved to the ground at a xc meet a couple weeks ago – ripped up his hip. There was a lot of drama about it all and eventually the kid was disqualified….but that is a different ball of yard at a regional xc meet.
Well done, Thing 1 – woohoo!
Wow, that is unbelievable! Sorry to hear that happened, but hopefully it will just make the next race seem like a better time. Can’t imagine it could be much worse!
Whoa! That’s really strange, maybe that woman had something to prove? Ek, either way glad the bib people could get it sorted and Thing 1 wasn’t hurt! Congrats to both you and Thing 1 one though!
I cannot believe that a grown woman would behave that way, especially against a child. Sounds like a very unhappy person. Hopefully Thing 1 will go to more races so she can have the typical good racing experience.
Good lord! That is insane!!! I’ve never seen something like that happen before. I mean, I’ve had someone compete with me for the finish, but that’s totally normal. I’ve never had someone get aggressive!
Can’t believe that woman in the chute. She must have been having a bad day or something. If I could have a nickel for every time I was passed in the last 100 yards of a race, I’d be rich. I don’t like to get passed either, but if someone does pass me, more power to them, they EARNED it! I’d definitely never cheat someone out of their rightful place just because I’m embarrassed I got passed. Oh well at least the race officials corrected the mess.
Whoa! That race sounds like a mess right from the start, but that woman was ridiculous! It is just a running race, not life or death!
Wow! I’ve never heard of that sort of behaviour before. Obviously, bully woman wasn’t having a good day.
What?! That’s crazy! I have never encountered runners like that. In fact there have been races where I have passed people in the end and they always say nice things to me after the finish. I’m sorry your daughter had that experience:(
Crazy people are everywhere!! It’s pretty bad when grownups have to push teens out of the way to get in front. Or maybe she just needed to use the restroom.??
This race sounds highly disorganized.. maybe not one to do again next year?
OMG! How terrible. I would report the bully! Not sure what good it will do, but sheesh!
Holy cow! I cannot believe it! What a jerk! I’ve never encountered a race bully, per se, but I do hate it when people run into you without apologizing. Ugh.
Someone cut in front of me in the chute in July, then went back to her friends and praised herself up and down to anyone that would listen for beating me at the finish line. Umm…no you didn’t, jerk.
It sounds like a race that wouldn’t be worth running again on so many levels. Hopefully Thing 1 wasn’t too upset by the rude lady.
OMG!!! What in the WORLD!!! That woman clearly is experiencing her time of the month + some crazy jealousy ISSUES! This is intense!! I would have fired at her full force – which probably would have gotten me into trouble. lol! I have only seen this aggression when I used to competitively snowboard… But at least then, I could just board away! LOL! I hope this experience doesn’t put too much of a sour taste in your mouth when it comes to running! 🙁
That is crazy! Runners are usually a tight knit group. I did come across one group of runners when I was brand new to the sport. I had just learned the word fartlek, and I was asking them what other running terms ment. They informed me that if I don’t know then I was not a runner, and I did not belong. That is the only time I have ran into bully runners though.
Ok, so I’ve been running races for a loooong time…at least 20+ years…and with chip timing, I haven’t seen anything like this, if anything, runners are pretty supportive people. But back in the day, when we had to tear off our bib stub and let the counters at the finish slide it onto a pin, there was a woman who shoved ahead of me. Funny thing, I saw her at a few races…
But seriously…was there prize money involved?
Wendy no prize $$ involved at all. Just AG medals. Bully woman ended up 7th in the 40-49 AG so not competitive. Just pathetic.
I can’t believe that someone would do that especially to a young runner!!!
Some people are just RUDE!!!
Great job to your daughter – sounds like she is totally going to follow your footsteps!!!
Wow, that’s insane! I’m all about winning medals and stuff, but honestly! Even if I were pissed that someone sprinted past me at the end (which is totally expected to happen!), what’s the point of cutting in line? You’ll always know you didn’t really win! And to a kid, no less? Hope she’s proud of herself.
I have seen this and SO many idiots recklessly pushing through in early miles of the marathon. It was not like they (or your bully were going to win!) Sheesh. Please please please tell me she apologized. Nice to push a kid. I hope that Thing 1 was not discouraged by this idiot (and the poor planning of this race!)
Oh gosh Erica, no apology. After shouting “Get out of the way!” She crawled under the chute ropes muttering “…ugh, you people” Thing 1 ended up winning an AG award so when we pick it up, I’m going to have a little talk with the race director. I am glad the marshalls taking bib tabs didn’t let her get in front of everyone in the chute. So incredibly mean and petty.
Wow. That is kind of the lamest most bizarro thing ever. I hope it didn’t upset Thing 1 too much!
that is AWFUL. I would legit find out who she is and contact her about displaying such poor sportsmanship to kids. Gotta love grown ups with bad attitudes.
I can’t even imagine that! Not that it would be better either way but to know she was doing this to a child is even more disturbing. I hope she doesn’t have any children or is going to have any because a role model she is not. At least your daughter maintained her composure. I’m sure I would have had some choice words to say. Actually, I can’t believe you maintained yours either. This is the kind of stuff that sets me off.
Luckily it’s not the norm.
I have no words!!!! BAD!!!
OMG. That is craziness. I’m all about being competitive, but that is not right. Besides you would want an award that they didn’t EARN? Wow. just wow. people never cease to amaze me.
Race day bullies are no fun to be around every other day of the year as well. I had one that lived on my street when I grew up. Poor woman did not have a single friend. She did have many stories of how she beat the system.
That’s just ridiculous. The only thing I can say is that when people are that rude, they probably have a pretty miserable life spent being angry instead of happy. Makes me feel better anyway 🙂