4 replies to this topic

[SoLucky]

Are there any other runners out there who have run through the finish line of their event and tried to keep circulating around the track?

I was participating in the 5000m Open run at the ANQ Championships last night and had lost the plot on lap count. I was last of the field when I crossed the finish line and was sure I had another lap to go. In my befuddled state I thought that the bell lap had been rung for somebody else, so I kept plugging on, determined to complete my quota of twelve and a half.
As I got around the far end of the circuit an official stepped on to the track and stopped me, I had been at risk of becoming mixed in a 100m sprint which was next item on the agenda.

I guess that if you are going to make a stupid mistake then you should do it properly with witnesses, preferably in front of a crowd.

That way you will get plenty of reminders about it.

[tdm]

I've done it the other way.
Once as a young fella in a 5000m track race, I was bit stressed and confused and had lost count of the laps I had run. The bell rang for the last lap - I found out later that it was not ringing for me but for the race leader who was just behind me, but almost one full lap ahead. Not realising this, I kicked as best as I could and gave it my all, only to then get the bell (for me this time) as I crossed the line. I could only jog the last lap, sheepishly, on jelly legs . . .

[grimsey]

tdm, on Oct 3 2009, 03:22 PM, said:

I've done it the other way.
Once as a young fella in a 5000m track race, I was bit stressed and confused and had lost count of the laps I had run. The bell rang for the last lap - I found out later that it was not ringing for me but for the race leader who was just behind me, but almost one full lap ahead. Not realising this, I kicked as best as I could and gave it my all, only to then get the bell (for me this time) as I crossed the line. I could only jog the last lap, sheepishly, on jelly legs . . .

Ouch that would have hurt!

[thomo]

It has happened on the world stage.

The scene was the World Swimming Championships in 1973. I remember watching it on TV.

Australia's Steve Holland v's USA's Rick DeMont.

Quote

Holland required scarcely more time to negotiate 1,500 meters at the Tasmajdan pool. Propelled by a quick thrashing stroke that contrasted vividly with DeMont's measured arm action, he stormed ahead at 500 meters and gradually built a lead too large for the American, playing his usual waiting game, to overcome. Holland traveled the first 800 meters in a world-record 8:16.27 and reached the 1,500 mark in 15:31.85, reducing his world record by six more seconds. DeMont's second-place 15:35.44 was almost 16 seconds faster than his own personal best. But matters did not end there. Failing to hear the horn signaling the final lap, Holland swam an extra 105 meters in what amounted to an involuntary victory lap. "I thought the race was over but I wasn't game to risk stopping," he said. DeMont followed along, but was no closer at 1,600 meters than he had been at 1,500.

"You silly cow, you've gone too many," Holland's coach, Laurie Lawrence, shouted in his ear when Holland was making his turn at the 1,600 point.

Holland later said he thought Lawrence had said, "You've got two to go," and continued for another five meters, or until he heard a great deal of screaming. The screams weren't coming from Holland's mother, who was muttering, "I can't take much more of this."

[SoLucky]

thomo, on Oct 3 2009, 04:06 PM, said:

It has happened on the world stage.

The scene was the World Swimming Championships in 1973. I remember watching it on TV.

Australia's Steve Holland v's USA's Rick DeMont.

Thomo, that was certainly making a mistake on a big stage.
But when you’re a winner it’s going to get a favourable description because of his tenacity in maintaining the intensity of effort.
When you are not at the pointy end of the field, like me and pdm, and have also used up a lot of calendars in your life, it’s more likely that you will be asked if you can find your own way home after the meeting.