Road Races Are More Chaotic Than Track Races

If you are a runner or walker who participates in road races (such as 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, or marathons), then you might be beating yourself up unnecessarily and unconsciously for the variability in those races.

Why? Because you might be comparing them unconsciously to the foot races that you see on television, which tend to be dominated by track events.

But, compared to track races, especially indoor ones, road races are chaotic!

Here are some examples of the differences between track races and road races:

Smooth surface vs. rough surface
Surface with consistent cushioning vs. surface with inconsistent cushioning (gravel, concrete, asphalt, etc.)
Level surface vs. uneven surface (crowned roads, banked roads, etc.)
Flat surface vs. up-and-down surface
Very few racers vs. lots of racers
Racers with relatively comparable speeds vs.racers with widely variable speeds
Relatively controlled wind, temperature, and humidity (especially indoors) vs. uncontrolled wind, temperature, and humidity
No spectators allowed on the race course vs. spectators and others, plus vehicles, allowed on the race course
No debris on the race course vs. debris on the race course (such as water, paper cups, and orange peels)
Racers staying in their lanes or in a very few lanes, with relatively infrequent passing vs. racers very frequently crossing back and forth in front of one another
Consistent-width race course vs. variable-width race course
Participants always running... or being quickly cleared from the course when they falter vs. participants often standing or walking slowly along the course (e.g., for water and toilet stops)

Here are three examples of how track-race organizers see their races differently than road-race organizers see their races:

"Wind-assisted": You will sometimes see a "wind-assisted" note attached to some track-race records. These appear because track-race organizers want to account for the effect of wind on the finishing times in track races. In contrast, you probably will never see a "wind-assisted" note attached to a road-race record. It is a given that road racers must endure the environmental elements, including head-winds and tail-winds.

"Indoor Record" vs. "Outdoor Record": Track-event organizers make a big deal about whether a finishing time in a given distance -- say, 100 meters -- sets an indoor record or sets an outdoor record. This is because the weather, and not just specifically the wind, can make a big difference in a race. In contrast and by definition, all road-event records are set outdoors, so the weather-induced variability is an unspoken given.

2004 Summer Olympics Marathon: You might remember this marathon, held in Athens, Greece, in which the long-time leader of the marathon (Vanderlei de Lima) was pushed to the ground by a spectator near the end of the race (at 35 kilometers) and ended up finishing in third place -- earning the bronze medal instead of the gold medal. If that had been a track race in which a spectator had pushed a runner to the track -- or even had simply run out onto the race course -- then there is a possibility that the track race's organizers would have re-started the race. Granted, it is essentially impossible to re-start a marathon, especially if the marathon leaders are near the finish line. But the point remains the same: When you participate in a road race, even in the Olympics, you take your chances when it comes to many variables, including spectators.

So take special care not to compare the variability in your road-race performances to the constancy that you see in foot-races on tracks. Instead, celebrate road-race variability and how your preparation for it probably far exceeds even elite track-racers' preparation for track-race variability!

Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D., loves to walk and run, and his SpryFeet.com website provides practical research for runners and walkers. By going to http://www.SpryFeet.com/Reports/, you can get his FREE "Pace Tables for Runners and Walkers" special report, letting you look up paces needed to complete several different race distances within given durations and for different micro-level-pacing methods.

(c) Copyright - Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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