A Fourth of July tradition in Atlanta, the Peachtree Road Race is the largest 10K in the world.
Just the other day, I was lamenting we hadn’t run a What Would Another Mother Runner Do? column. Then, boom, one lands in our inbox! (Gee, maybe I should have lamented not finding $100 bills on my runs or not winning the lottery…) In this on-going series, a mother runner lays out a true-life tale–whether it’s dislocating her hip during a marathon; forgetting to pack a sports bra for a lunchtime run; or debating running a half-marathon while preggers–then we chime in about what we’d do if we were in her running shoes before asking you what you’d do. Here are all the WWAMRD we’ve previously run, if you want to catch up on the series.
In today’s WWAMRD, we meet J. (who asked to remain anonymous), a mom of four who ran her first marathon last year. She tells us she was planning on run the renowned Peachtree Road Race on a transferred bib, which is a legitimate procedure in this 10K race with 60,000 participants. She had reimbursed her friend for the entry fee.
J. had a copy of the transfer paperwork and a copy of the license of the registered racer (the husband of a friend). She even had a crisp $20 to pay an additional transfer fee to the race organizers. She lives about 90 minutes from the start of the race in Atlanta, so she and her family got a hotel room and showed up “all excited” at the race expo…until they found out transfers had to have been completed by the previous day. J. was a day too late to get the bib officially transferred to her.
Tears streaming down her face, J. was set to pack up her family and return home, when a race volunteer suggested J. show the license , pick up the friend’s hubby’s packet–then run the race as the guy.
It’s tempting to get a taste of the Peachtree Road Race.
What would you do?
Sarah answers: While I’d be sweaty-nervous while picking up the friend’s husband’s race bib, I’d play it cool on race day and run without any compunction wearing the bib. Sure, I wouldn’t have given the race the $20 transfer fee, but missing the deadline was an honest mistake. It wasn’t like my time would win me an age group in the men’s division.
Dimity answers: Run it. J. tried to the right thing, and it was an honest mistake that she didn’t exactly get it right. She wasn’t jumping in without a number; she wasn’t running a race that didn’t allow transfers; and like Sarah said, it wasn’t likely her finishing time was going to create waves among the top age-groupers. (If the husband were a speedy runner and wanted J.’s bib in, say, the 35-39 category, then it might be a different story.)
What J. did: She ran the race but she, “felt a bit like a bandit, even though the bib has been paid for by my friend, and I had reimbursed her for it.” Maybe it was the chillier-than-normal temperatures or possibly running like she stole something (ha, ha: get it: She felt like a bandit), but J. clipped 8 minutes off her best-ever 10K time.
J.’s view during one stretch of the race (we suspect sweat on the lens, not severe humidity)
What would you, another mother runner, do?
And if you’ve got a running-related moment you’d like some clarity on, via WWAMRD, feel free to email us at runmother [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!
I’m usually against transferring bibs on the sly but since the race usually allows transfers and she was well-intentioned and paid for a hotel room… I would have run it too. I would have gotten rid of the timing chip, though, because I wouldn’t have wanted to register a race result in the friend’s name (especially if the friend is faster than me).
Oooh what a dilemma! I guess you could call her a “pseudo-bandit”. I would have run it, since she did pay him for the bib. What I guess it isn’t exactly the ethical thing to do. Sigh.
If it doesn’t mess up anybody winning prizes, I say run the race with whatever bib you can get. If the race directors get the money they want in the end and hopefully part of that pot is going to a charity then RUN! Aren’t all these races just for fun anyway?
As long as she wasn’t trying to qualify for Boston, I would have told her to run the race as a guy :) I’ve given away a few of my entries.
Run it!!
As a long time member of the ATC and one who knows several people, I’m actually going to ask them about the transfer policy as it seems to me that the deadline needs to be either before the Expo occurs or for the entire Expo hours. I also want to speak to them about a race volunteer suggesting something that can be equated with banditting. I would not begrudge J from running, and I would have encouraged her to do so as the bib was paid for, and she would not be winning any AG awards; however, banditting was a large problem at Peachtree in the past. I would have suggested that she not wear the chip or pull the chip off the bib so as to not cause the anguish that it may cause.
I’m glad she ran it. I agree with others that she did try to do the right thing, and a volunteer actually encouraged it. Congrats to her on her PR! I’m jealous of the weather….I’ve run several Peachtree’s, and I always seem to land the beastly hot ones.
My 10 yo couldn’t run last minute the morning of the race and it was with great regret that I left his bib at home. I was trying to think what friend to call who would love to run — but thought better of calling around at 5am.
Through out the years, I’ve given my PRR numbers and worn others. The race is such a huge party, I feel any runner of any caliber should experience it. I never thought much about the official transfer policy — but with all the hoopla around the illegal Boston bibs this year — everyone is rethinking things. I’m glad she ran and if she got a PR in that crowd, she certainly has a few more minutes she can knock off that time in another race.
She wasn’t the only one! I may or may not have run Peacthree this year with a black-market bib! It was a fabulous morning for a 10K!
I once ran in a very large race under my Dad’s bib – he had registered and then had to have surgery. I pinned my bib on my shorts so my shirt covered it, so I couldn’t be attached to any race photos; but my Dad always jokes he posted his best 10K time at that race!! I think it’s way worse to not pay at all and be a true bandit, then run under someone else’s paid entry.
I bet 30 percent of the people out there did the same thing. My best friend did that… It was a very time consuming process for all parties to transfer the number. Just call it a learning experience and move on.
Sorry, but she felt like a bandit because she was a bandit; she ran under a bib that wasn’t hers. Not arguing whether it’s ethical or not, but the transfer policy (along with the deadline) is on the website. Clearly, the RD wants to know who’s on the course. It’s disturbing that a race volunteer encouraged her to run under someone else’s bib, even if everyone else is doing it.
Run it but pull any chip timing device off.
I would run it, but I’d write my emergency contact information and any pertinent health info on the back of the bib. If the friend’s husband was an athlinks junky, I’d ditch the timing chip so as not to mess up his stats, but if he didn’t care, I’d keep it on for an official time.
Run it. She didn’t run it without a bib or a copied bib. It was an entry that was already paid for that the other person couldn’t use. It wasn’t like she was stealing or taking anything that wasn’t intended to be used. I have hooked up people with bibs for races when someone can’t use the registration because of an injury or last minute emergency. Why let it go to waste?