Yesterday, I participated in a 10-kilometer race in a neighboring town – a fast course with just a short incline, perfect for personal bests. The conditions were ideal for a fast race.
The first kilometers felt strong, although I started way too fast, clocking 3:22 and 3:28 for the first two kilometers. By the 5th kilometer, I had already fallen behind the lead pack of 4 runners. But then something happened that turned the race upside down.
The leading 4 runners came to the supposed turning point at the 5km mark. The two lead bikes turned around and the 4 runners followed. They started talking. One of the leaders realized that the turning point should have been somewhere else, as he had already run the course in previous years. However, as everyone else continued to run, the four leaders turned around too early and cut the course short. Of course, it wasn’t their own fault.
I myself was behind the leading group and noticed what was happening. As I had already been left behind anyway and didn’t want to make the same mistake on purpose, I kept running until the actual turning point. After all, I wanted to run 10km and not 9.4km. My desire to be honest in that moment turned out to be my downfall later on.
At the finish, the 4 leaders were annoyed about the mistake of the lead bikes. Several of them had been on course for their personal best. And there is nothing worse for a runner than a course that is too short, as it is then not an official best time. They had tried to take a detour in order to run the distance of 10km. At the finish, however, it was only 9.7km.
Later at the award ceremony, it turned out that the four runners had been disqualified, even though they had not deliberately shortened the course. And the unfortunate 5th place finisher was me, so I should have come 1st. That felt unfair to me. As the only runner who had run the full distance, I was unexpectedly placed first. But instead of being happy about it, I felt uncomfortable with the situation. The leaders didn’t deserve to be disqualified as the fault wasn’t theirs.
I was given a sweater as a prize, but I decided to give it to the actual first place winner. He had put in a fantastic performance and I was sorry that an organizational mistake had robbed him of the opportunity of a well-deserved win. Especially as he lived in the city and this was his home race.
Runners are often people of numbers.
It’s all about times, kilometers and personal bests.
Competing against others often takes a back seat for most of us. Instead, we fight against our own limits, against the time and against what we think we are capable of. When such organizational mistakes occur, they can undo all the effort and hard preparation the runners have put in. In a race like this, nothing is really at stake, and the helpers are doing their best, usually as volunteers, so it wouldn’t be fair to blame them.