Runner knew marathon leaders were running off course, doesn't stop them: "I’m not going to shout. It’s not my job.’’

Bandofopoko wrote:

cmkgcv wrote:

For $3500 I wouldn’t say anything either

LRC reply. He would have still received $1500 for finishing 3rd in the 2:15 if he had said something and not overtaken the winners.

It really isn't the winner's job to say anything. If the two leaders are so stupid that they can't understand the obvious directions then tough luck. Of course now there will be howls of "racism" but the fact is that it's the fault of the goofs who ran the wrong way.

Sure, but this is an almost surprisingly selfish take.

Perhaps Rojo doesn't realize how selfish many kids are these days.

Bandofopoko wrote:

cmkgcv wrote:

For $3500 I wouldn’t say anything either

LRC reply. He would have still received $1500 for finishing 3rd in the 2:15 if he had said something and not overtaken the winners.

It really isn't the winner's job to say anything. If the two leaders are so stupid that they can't understand the obvious directions then tough luck. Of course now there will be howls of "racism" but the fact is that it's the fault of the goofs who ran the wrong way.

This is the hollow self centered US "I got mine" mentality in a nutshell.

Stoppit Smith wrote:

...

My take is this...of course this was a no money course, but anyway...In the Buena Vista 3 mile, the year I got 20:38 for 3 miles, a few people ahead of me went the wrong way and I shouted to them and they turned around...all of them beat me and yet I was happy to do the right thing.

They didn't care because they were faster and should have been ahead of me.

But I likely won't do that anymore because unless people appreciate your ethics, it's just seen as weakness..

Americans are a deplorable group of filthy citizens. The unbathed French had cleaner souls.

You may be aware of this, but the traditional Catholic take on this is that if you refrain from doing the right thing because you won't get enough applause for it or you fear criticism, then that is a sin of omission and a sign of weakness in your character.

The issue itself is of course far more complex, and I am oversimplifying to the point of strawman carictature. Bonhoeffer addressed this in a much more serious manner in his famous work, that rather overshadowed his actual life.

rojo wrote:

I can't believe this.

At the Quad Cities marathon, two Kenyans were in the lead on course record pace. Around 30k, a volunteer on a bike directed them off course. The third placer - an American college xc coach - knew they ran off course and didn't say anything and then celebrated his win.

No concept of time and no concept of direction.

try a job wrote:

If the Kenyans are struggling so much financially, try getting a job and forget about trying to win a race for a couple of thousand dollars. McDonald’s is paying $18 an hour, use that training time to work and you can bring home $3500 every month instead of just with a few races.

Kenyans and foreigners in general are not allowed to work in the United States and I think that they are allowed to win race money from which taxes are then deducted and which they take back to their country but they cannot work at at McDonald’s. The race money winning is some kind of clause in the immigration rules I think to do with “exceptional people” winning money in the United States. Similar to the status of rock stars who come to play occasional gigs in the USA.

iamcomfused wrote:

20 seconds back is too far to yell. His comment was distasteful and makes him sound like a d-bag but there’s nothing he could have done.

He should have said, “I definitely feel bad for them. I was about 20 seconds back and there wasn’t much I could do as by the time I got to the turn they were gone.”

^this!

“Foreigners in general are not allowed to work in the United States” hahaha

questioner guy 2 wrote:3. But for anyone arguing that if runners are within shouting distance of you and take a wrong turn that it is acceptable sportsmanship to say nothing and let them go off course in order to take advantage of their mistake, that's garbage plain and simple. Why would you want to "win" that way?? Totally $hitty to do that, period. Yes you don't need to slow down for them but you can at least do the honorable thing and Shout out " HEY! this way".

Don't people normally try to take advantage of these situations in running races? If a favorite falls or is boxed in, a challenger will often see that it gives them an opportunity and try to make a long run for home.

I remember someone explained to me that you didn't see this sort of behavior in multi-stage races, like the Tour de France. His argument was that many people find themselves in these situations over the course of a few weeks racing, so you would probably gain no advantage overall. I'm not sure about this argument, but it seemed quite persuasive at time.

Even if this constitutes bad sportsmanship, it's not a particularly bad example.

The man who knocked over a whole row of water bottles at the Olympic Marathon was worse.

There is also worse sportsmanship in other sports. A notable example is diving in soccer to try to convince the referee that a foul occurred.

Has anyone ever gone off course mistakenly, and shouted to the people who went the right way, persuading them that they went the wrong way?

I was in a road race where the motorcycle cop took the leaders on a wrong turn, but the race director chose to just count that as the correct course anyway. I was in another where the course was rerouted AFTER the start while runners were on the course due to safety reasons. So...you really don't know what to do when this happens.

Bandofopoko wrote:

cmkgcv wrote:

For $3500 I wouldn’t say anything either

LRC reply. He would have still received $1500 for finishing 3rd in the 2:15 if he had said something and not overtaken the winners.

It really isn't the winner's job to say anything. If the two leaders are so stupid that they can't understand the obvious directions then tough luck. Of course now there will be howls of "racism" but the fact is that it's the fault of the goofs who ran the wrong way.

+1. Great post.

Part of the sport is knowing the course. If they didnt take the time to study the course, thats on them.

rojo wrote:

Jerry Maguire wrote:

This is so incredibly ridiculous. LRC coming in hot with the cancel culture.

The dude was 20 seconds back running, he literally had nothing to do with what happened.

Coming in hot with cancel culture? I have gone out of my way to make sure his name isn't mentioned. It's the opposite of cancel culture. I want the focus to be on the morality - or lack thereof - of the actions. I don't care who actually did it.

What bothers me is his quote. If he'd been 5 meters behind them, it sounds like he wouldn't have helped. As I said before, my runners could hear me yelling splits to the 200 meter mark when I was coaching.

Really? I've never heard anyone yelling during a race, and I've always found it odd that coaches do it, because it's such a waste. Well... that's not quite true. I remember a coach shouting at his guy to "use your 1:46 speed on those guys!" That didn't work out very well.

malmo wrote:

rojo wrote:

Coming in hot with cancel culture? I have gone out of my way to make sure his name isn't mentioned. It's the opposite of cancel culture. I want the focus to be on the morality - or lack thereof - of the actions. I don't care who actually did it.

What bothers me is his quote. If he'd been 5 meters behind them, it sounds like he wouldn't have helped. As I said before, my runners could hear me yelling splits to the 200 meter mark when I was coaching.

Really? I've never heard anyone yelling during a race, and I've always found it odd that coaches do it, because it's such a waste. Well... that's not quite true. I remember a coach shouting at his guy to "use your 1:46 speed on those guys!" That didn't work out very well.

Watching other people race is frustrating and I think that's why coaches yell.

Also, I like how Rojo is apparently ignorant of the dimensions of a track. The furthest away that you're yelling is probably 90m.

frail martini wrote:

It comes off as a bad quote, but he’s not wrong in this instance — there’s a pace car/bike leading them astray and he would have to yell and wave wildly to get their attention from 20 seconds back.

I agree with your general sentiment, but you’re grasping at straws here.

Agreed. Seems like a goal to besmirch the name of a likely decent fellow. Likely this thread should be removed.

llort_vbo wrote:

malmo wrote:

Really? I've never heard anyone yelling during a race, and I've always found it odd that coaches do it, because it's such a waste. Well... that's not quite true. I remember a coach shouting at his guy to "use your 1:46 speed on those guys!" That didn't work out very well.

Watching other people race is frustrating and I think that's why coaches yell.

Also, I like how Rojo is apparently ignorant of the dimensions of a track. The furthest away that you're yelling is probably 90m.

I think we all understand the dimensions of a running track -- and so does rojo.

Tortoise wrote:

Rojo, do you realize how disrespectful you are being to someone who - even if he tried - could literally do NOTHING mid race to correct the leaders back on course.

You're S***ing on a guy focusing on his race just to get views and activity to your site. The fault is on 3 people/groups:

- the race director for not ensuring al the volunteers know the course,

- the volunteer for not knowing the course,

- the 2 leaders for not knowing the course.

In any race it is the athlete's responsibility to know the course. Racing for money is a job. You need to know how to do your job. You can't expect someone to always tell you how to do your job.

Pence won fairly.

I could not agree more. I also agree with RosietheCuban - this thread should be taken down before things get even more ugly than they are.

malmo wrote:

llort_vbo wrote:

Watching other people race is frustrating and I think that's why coaches yell.

Also, I like how Rojo is apparently ignorant of the dimensions of a track. The furthest away that you're yelling is probably 90m.

I think we all understand the dimensions of a running track -- and so does rojo.

Then please demonstrate to me how he is 200m away from a runner when on the track? Even if he is lazy and standing in the corner, and his runner is completely in the other corner, that is about 120m tops. If he is in the center, he is about 65m tops.

The only way he is 200m is if he is in the parking lot yelling at his runners.

rojo wrote:

What bothers me is his quote. If he'd been 5 meters behind them, it sounds like he wouldn't have helped.

Think about it though. We don't know what he really said...or what he was asked. The "reporter" may have asked in an argumentative way "well why didn't you just shout ahead to the leaders that they were missing the turn?" So he responded that it was not his job, or maybe he said that it was the job of the course marshal, or...something else entirely. We don't know.

REMOVE THIS THREAD. Quit throwing a great person under the bus.

Supralapsarian wrote:

malmo wrote:

I think we all understand the dimensions of a running track -- and so does rojo.

Then please demonstrate to me how he is 200m away from a runner when on the track? Even if he is lazy and standing in the corner, and his runner is completely in the other corner, that is about 120m tops. If he is in the center, he is about 65m tops.

The only way he is 200m is if he is in the parking lot yelling at his runners.

Back up and read what he said, not what you think he said.