The Getting-Run-Down-On-The-Homestretch Blues

   Just a brief little story I forgot to expound upon in my recent Really Chilly race recap.
   Prior to the race, I noticed this young guy walking around the annex building. He stood out because he wasn't really dressed as though he was prepared to run, he appeared to be wearing street clothes and just a cheap pair of sneakers.
   Well, he was a runner in the race. At some point during the run I saw him running back and forth, talking to some young female, possibly his sister. He looked like he was about 16. I remember thinking to myself that it was kind of cool, a young lad agreeing to run along with some family member on a race, just to keep them company. At this point, I kind of forgot about him.
   Near the end of the race, runners turned off the side streets around the Western Fair and on to the racetrack itself. The finish line was directly in front of the grandstand and as I hit this area, there was really no one ahead of me. There was a handful of spectators in the stands, cheering on the runners to the finish. I was looking forward to my moment in the sun as I headed down the home stretch when, all of the sudden, it happened.
   The young punk lad I'd noticed before passed me!
   I didn't really hear or sense him coming and was totally unprepared for this eventuality. He passed me with about eighty yards left in the race. At that point, I was faced with just exactly how to respond.
   I had had no plan whatsoever to apply a finishing kick of any kind. At the same time, I felt as though I had enough in reserve to catch this young upstart lad before we both got to the finish line. But I didn't. And I'm not quite sure why.
   I guess it's likely due to the fact that I don't really consider these things to be races.

   I know they have prizes, starting and finishing lines, stats, cheering and all the things you'd associate with a competition but I find it almost impossible to feel as though I'm competing with anyone other than myself.
   Last year, I posed this as a question to fellow running bloggers: Do you feel as though you are competing against the other runners in a race?
   I posed it because I had just finished watching the end of a 10K race in which several runners, when they realized that they were neck-and-neck with another runner coming down the homestretch, turned on the jets and became embroiled in full-out sprints to the finish. I wondered at the time about the etiquette of passing people right in front of what's usually the largest group of spectators.
   Quite a few bloggers responded to my question and the results were varied but the majority of people said a race is a race and that it was okay to go all out and pass people. Still, I have a hard time doing this.
   I'm too polite! I even feel guilty passing people during the first couple of kilometers, its almost as if I'm saying look at me, I'm faster (better) than you!
   At the same time, I expect to be passed by other people. Lots of other people! I know where I stand (all bent over and gasping) in the hierarchy of running ability and I have no qualms as faster runners move past me, more power to them.
   But I didn't enjoy being passed on the homestretch of a run in front of a grandstand with a bunch of onlookers, suffice to say.
   Part of the problem is that I was not expecting to be passed and therefore had no strategy around responding to it. Another part of the problem (and my ego really kicks in here) is that the ruffian youngster didn't even look like a runner or, for that matter, someone who had even ever seriously run in his life. I also imagine that he could have passed me anywhere else on the course but chose to do so right in front of the grandstand.
   On top of everything else, there is that "youth vs. age" dynamic I find myself dealing with more and more often these days.
   I appreciate youth. Part of me almost wanted to congratulate this young hooligan kid and pat him on the back for getting out there and competing, there's something to be admired in that.
   At the same time, he won't be passing me again!