We finally found the park and pulled into the parking lot just as they were rounding up the last runners at the starting line. It was too late to pick up our race bibs with our numbers, but we jumped into the crowd just in time for the starting gun.
It was a lovely little trail run and I was pretty happy with my pace as I neared the chute. There was a race volunteer at the finish line, cheerfully calling out numbers of runners and their times as they crossed. When she saw me coming, her smile vanished. As I gave my last little sprint across the finish line, she yelled, "BANDIT!" Immediately, other people turned and shook their heads disapprovingly at me.
Even though I had never heard that word in the running world, I suddenly realized what 'bandit' meant. "Oh! I paid! I did! I just didn't have time to pick up my race number!" I immediately started apologizing and pleading to still get my official race time. (Which they did give to me. They were very understanding when they realized they did, in fact, receive their $20 from me.)
After that, I did some research on 'race bandits.' It turns out that there are these meanie-cheater runners who just crash races with paying and they are almost universally hated in the running world. (Which makes sense because they are stealing OUR water and Powerade!)
All this rambling is to explain why I was so sad to see that the Summer of Love 10-miler (which a friend JUST discovered for me today) closed registration yesterday. If I was a true bandit (instead of just being mistaken for one once), I could jump in, but that is clearly not an option.
Luckily, with a little more web-digging, I found that there IS race day registration! Now I just have to convince someone to go to Wilmington with me! Anybody want to run Saturday evening?
Those people sounded insane about yelling it out to you, I've NEVER experienced that before! In March I signed up for a 10 miler but had to do a 20 mile training run so I kept running with the marathoners (same course). I felt bad, but didn't drink the water intentionally or take any supplies!
ReplyDeleteOh, I think that is completely acceptable. If you pay your fee you can keep running as long as you want. As long as you're not one of those super fast runners that finishes the course and then runs BACK over the course and makes the people who are still running (aka me) feel like sloths. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe they called you out like that. Wow! Most bandit runners in my group don't take the water or food and certainly don't try to cross the finish line. They are usually just there for moral support and/or pacing. Those who do the former should be ashamed!
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