The Most Stupid Thing You've Done as a Runner?

Cartman78

Put another notch in the belt of running stupidity last night and got me thinking about all the other misadventures I've had as a runner.

Ignoring the obvious ones like running sick and/or injured, these would be my top 3:

1) Getting lost in a forest in Croatia, with no mobile and zero local lingo - eventually managed to find the main road & got an exorbitantly priced taxi back to the hotel

2) Running the DCM in 2003 as a total novice in not one but two heavy cotton t-shirts and having absolutely no fuelling strategy - the pics are like something from "The Walking Dead"

3) Going for a late evening run in the Algarve a couple of years ago, near the water with absolutely no mosquito spray on...spent the following couple of days sitting in the hotel room covered from head to toe in insect bites.

So share your stories and make me feel like less of a total eejit

Nwm2

I know what you said in your post, but still for me it's trying to run off a niggle which developed in my knee. Out for 6 weeks.

Now if something like that happens its walking time to check out what's going on.

tunguska

More nuts than stupid this one, but I once went into elverys with a weighing scales and proceeded to weigh several pairs of runners. The guy working there just stood back and let me at it with a confused look on his face. To be fair he didnt know the weights of any of the shoes I asked him about, so they had it coming I reckon.

As for injuries.........ran rathfarnham 5k last year which is about 6 weeks before DCM. After the first mile I felt my achilles go but I finished the race(puked all over the finishing area). Had a 22 miler planned for straight after with training partner and the sensible thing to do wouldve been to knock it on the head and rest achilles for a week or two. But the stubborn part of me that refused to deviate from the trainng plan kicked in and I did the 22miles on a very dodgy achilles. But that wasnt the worst of it. Ran the next day, did 10miles literally hobbling on one leg, took me 1h 30mins. Absolute insanity, ruined my DCM as a result.

average_runner

My first race was the 10 miler in the Phoenix Park on a day like today.

So got up about 90 mins before the race, didn't drink or eat as didnt want to be weight down!! Had a dark cotton top on me:rolleyes:

So during the race i didn't really drink either, got to 8 miles and died a death. Came in 1:33, still happy enough. Still didn't drink and went home. Had some water when i got home and then came the worst hangover feeling ever!!

So that was a big learning curve, as did another 10 mile race 2 weeks later, drank that morning, had breakfast, started at the back and i mean back and did it in 1:25

ThePiedPiper

The entire events surrounding the Rás cross-country race this year were a complete collection of stupidity.

1. Went for a 5 mile tempo run at 6:20 pace or something the afternoon before the race.
2. Went on a stag party, and whilst I took it reasonably easy, drinking tequila at 2am before eating chicken snackboxes wasn't completely sensible.
3.Left Kilkenny in good time for the race at 1:30pm. Rang PConn at 12.30 whilst on the M50, when I was informed that the race was in fact at 1.00pm.
4. Started dead last in the race as I was still tying my laces when the gun went off.
5. Allowed an 'ol fella in our club colours to beat me to the finishline by about 4 metres. Didn't realise we were racing for a cup.

Other random acts of stupidity would include doing a 20 mile LSR on a busy road in late October at 10pm at night, without a head torch, or any sort of light actually.

In the first running of the Burren half marathon, I was winning the race comfortably, but took wrong turns three times, giving up the lead everytime. The last one was the most comical, jumping over a gate and running through fields with cows in them, before leading the vast majority of the field to the top of a very rocky hill/mountain. A

Peterx

After a half marathon in the Phoneix Park I was bonked out of my head and wandering around the place like a zombie.
I still needed to go across the grass about 500m to the start line to collect some stuff and decided to borrow a bike that was sitting at the finish line. There was nobody about who seemed to own it to ask permission so In my addled head I reasoned it would be fine as I was coming straight back to the finish area en route to my car.
The plan was going great until the owner of said bike appeared about 350m across the grass and quite rightly became extremely irate and pushed me off the bike! anyway at last he didn't beat me up as well, which would have been very easy to do at the time.
So if by any chance the owner is reading this, once again - sorry - and I really wasn't robbing it...

Also,
Getting completely lost and going off trail and getting really really deep into the thick bush in New Zealand once and getting really really worried I'd never get out - that was silly too. And scary.

I'm usually much too lazy to run with an injury though:)

adrian522

Terenure 5 mile this year. This was my third race of the year, and 5th ever.

I'd run 2 10k's without doing much training so I'd spent about a month running 3 or 4 times aweek so this race was earmarked as the one that would show a big improvement. I'd run 44.xx for 8km the previous year.

The weekend started badly when I attended the Leinster v Stade game on the Friday night. I'd sold my Heineken cup ticket for the Saturday but still decided to hit the pub to watch it as I don't have sky.

Initial plan was to have a 7up or whatever, but then decided, 1 or 2 wouldn't hurt. Well 1 or 2 turned into 3.

I then got "the thirst" and realised I'd no food in the house, so picked up a curry on the way home and a bottle or 2 of beer to go with it.

So woke up the following morning with a hangover and after effects of the curry meant I spent a good portion of the morning on the toilet.

The weather was hot and I was already pretty dehydrated. I started out fast, too fast and after 2 or 3 km I was struggling to keep going. I was starting to get shin splints and the dehydration was really kicking in.

I struggled around and finished in 44:53. Slower than I'd ran the previous year on no training, almost 3 mins slower than I'd ran in a training run the previous Thursday when I was taking it easy.

Worst race experience ever. Felt I'd completely wasted all the training I'd done. I'm now pretty strict about what I eat and drink for about 1 week before a race.

Lesson learned.

I'd like to race this distance again just to see what my time should have been.

scheister

decided last year to run the kildare half with maybe a months training had not run at all in about 6 months and longest i ran in the training was 5km. Somehow found the line and came 3rd last including some lad in his 70's id say passing me at the end with piles of energy and my crawling to the finish line.

Timmaay

Hmmm went on a 40min "easy" run with a friend the Monday after an Oxegen weekend spend on the booze. My friend wasn't at Oxegen, so was in flying form. I lasted 25mins before the stomach, bowls and everything else calved in, from being on the booze for the solid previous 3days! I bailed out and just about made it to the nearest toilet without, eem, staining my underwear!

digger2d2

Despite being warned of the risks I ran a PB in the Rathfarnham 5k one week before my goal race of the Berlin Marathon, stupid is as stupid does!

Hard Worker

digger2d2 wrote: »

Despite being warned of the risks I ran a PB in the Rathfarnham 5k one week before my goal race of the Berlin Marathon, stupid is as stupid does!

The thread title is: The Most Stupid Thing You've Done as a Runner?

I don't get what was stupid about above.

Peckham

Boston 2012. Had done okay, not great, training. Maybe enough to set a PB, maybe not.

Trained through an Irish winter/spring, arrived in Boston to be faced with incredibly hot weather (probably about 15 degrees hotter than what I left behind in Dublin). Organisers issued warnings that those not used to warm weather running should think about deferring until next year, and if they start should not even consider racing it. Of course, I went for the Irish attitude of "give it a lash". Was walking by 15 miles, finished an hour outside goal pace, couldn't stand up after crossing the finish line, and then spent a few hours in the medical tent on a drip.

Have thought about that day every time I've laced the runners up this week. Respect the weather folks!

average_runner

tunguska wrote: »

More nuts than stupid this one, but I once went into elverys with a weighing scales and proceeded to weigh several pairs of runners. The guy working there just stood back and let me at it with a confused look on his face. To be fair he didnt know the weights of any of the shoes I asked him about, so they had it coming I reckon.

As for injuries.........ran rathfarnham 5k last year which is about 6 weeks before DCM. After the first mile I felt my achilles go but I finished the race(puked all over the finishing area). Had a 22 miler planned for straight after with training partner and the sensible thing to do wouldve been to knock it on the head and rest achilles for a week or two. But the stubborn part of me that refused to deviate from the trainng plan kicked in and I did the 22miles on a very dodgy achilles. But that wasnt the worst of it. Ran the next day, did 10miles literally hobbling on one leg, took me 1h 30mins. Absolute insanity, ruined my DCM as a result.

Thats something for republic tv!!!

I presume everyone did the cotton teeshirt thing at one stage or other.

I think the ultimate in stupidity would be the person who starts a story with "the second time I wore a cotton teeshirt with no protection"...

I guess mine was increasing my training from 25 miles a week to 50 miles a week about 2 or 3 months before the DCM last year. Something went, foolishly I tried to run it off after a week or 2 and it went again, and still feel it every now and again. Learned the hard way about the gradual increases in training.

hypersonic

did my first oly tri and a wet mucky imra mt leinster run in the same weekend, ended up needing a few stitches in my head. fun times

MisterDrak

Ran a 13miles LSR on a Sunday (July 2011). On the recovery Monday (3 miles @ 8m/m), I happened upon a Vibrim presentation in ALSAA, where i took it upon myself to forget all about the recovery run and instead did several 400m at interval speed wearing the Vibrims for the first time...

Didnt run for 4 months after that, achillies destroyed !!!

BobMac104

MisterDrak wrote: »

Ran a 13miles LSR on a Sunday (July 2011). On the recovery Monday (3 miles @ 8m/m), I happened upon a Vibrim presentation in ALSAA, where i took it upon myself to forget all about the recovery run and instead did several 400m at interval speed wearing the Vibrims for the first time...

Didnt run for 4 months after that, achillies destroyed !!!

ooohhhhhh ouch!!!!

Cartman78

Ouch indeed :eek:

That certainly puts my extreme gas/beer sweats into perspective

hardCopy

Peckham wrote: »

Boston 2012. Had done okay, not great, training. Maybe enough to set a PB, maybe not.

Trained through an Irish winter/spring, arrived in Boston to be faced with incredibly hot weather (probably about 15 degrees hotter than what I left behind in Dublin). Organisers issued warnings that those not used to warm weather running should think about deferring until next year, and if they start should not even consider racing it. Of course, I went for the Irish attitude of "give it a lash". Was walking by 15 miles, finished an hour outside goal pace, couldn't stand up after crossing the finish line, and then spent a few hours in the medical tent on a drip.

Have thought about that day every time I've laced the runners up this week. Respect the weather folks!

It could have been worse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C51KIiwOH8

lway

Another stupid injury story

I always wear a pair of Under Armour tight/compression shorts under my running shorts to avoid chaffing. Put them on one day before training with the club and noticed a hole in the seam on the inside leg, my backup pair were dirty from the previous day's run so went ahead anyway.

Just over half way around a 5k Club run I could feel a stinging on my inside leg but carried on anyway, whan I got to the end the stinging was unbearable, lifted up the leg of my shorts and it looked like someone had taken a cheese grater to the inside of my leg, blood everywhere. Out for over a week waiting for it to clear up.

Lesson learnt, ditch the shorts when the seams go.

rainbow kirby

Wore shorts I'd never worn before for a race. Too short AND they rode up.

Still PB'd though :cool:

digger2d2

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Wore shorts I'd never worn before for a race. Too short AND they rode up.

Still PB'd though :cool:

Ah Jaysus J, that's TMI :eek:

Jk_Eire

Felt really strong and fit about this time last summer and got into a habit of not stretching enough, random long runs, tempo runs, sprints, and running up mountains over the course of a month. Zero consistency in my training.

The physio giving free rub downs after the Fingal 10k last year warned me I was on track for an Achilles injury.

Ended up with Achilles Tendonitis. No running for 3 months and it still affects me a bit 12 months later.

Definitely became a smarter runner as a result though. Knocking out PBs all summer

hardCopy

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Wore shorts I'd never worn before for a race. Too short AND they rode up.

Still PB'd though :cool:

I've done worse with shorts that were too baggy with no inner lining.

I tore a ligament in a place that I didn't think had ligaments.

fruit pastille

Stupid things ? Where do I start ???! Worst was Waterford Half last December - had been fighting a cold for a few days but thought "sure I'll be grand" and popped 2 sudafed before the race. Ran fine for the first 6 miles then started feeling shivery and achy. Kept going for 2 miles (all uphill) and collapsed at 8 miles. Had to be brought back to the finish line by a friendly local in her car. She said I had been weaving for a mile.I was totally delirious And I was wondering why everyone was passing me!

Anyway to try and forget the shame of it I went out that night and had several large drinks and then got up the next day to do a 2 mile club cross country race. another disaster - got lapped. Ended up developing a chest infection followed by laryngitis followed by flu followed by another chest infection. Couldn't run for 6 weeks

Pure stupidity!

dave04

Out running in home town in wales , decided to run through local school fields as was during school hols . Saw a rugby ball on the pitch and though it a good idea to pick it up and boot it through the posts....missed the kick completely and landed on outer aspect of right foot fracturing tib and fib... was trying desperately to attrct attention of council workers in their van 300m away as no one else around and couldn't stand up !! they eventualy drove over and put me in the van and drove me to local hosp. still cant get over looks on their faces when trying to explain what happened.
This was at the start of two week holiday at home , for the large part spent in bedroom!!
Had to deffer starting new job for 4 months
hobbling to dole office on crutches
Ditched by then girlfriend [ though may not have been directly responsible!]
travelling back to London via BRand tubes on crutches , with rucksack[ I will never forget it]
running for the last 20 years with right foot at 2 o' clock position ...was never able to correct it!!
went from 33 min 10k to never running sub 40 ever again !
but still run today ..though this post has brought back some memories alright !!

shels4ever

dave04 wrote: »

Out running in home town in wales , decided to run through local school fields as was during school hols . Saw a rugby ball on the pitch and though it a good idea to pick it up and boot it through the posts....missed the kick completely and landed on outer aspect of right foot fracturing tib and fib... was trying desperately to attrct attention of council workers in their van 300m away as no one else around and couldn't stand up !! they eventualy drove over and put me in the van and drove me to local hosp. still cant get over looks on their faces when trying to explain what happened.
This was at the start of two week holiday at home , for the large part spent in bedroom!!
Had to deffer starting new job for 4 months
hobbling to dole office on crutches
Ditched by then girlfriend [ though may not have been directly responsible!]
travelling back to London via BRand tubes on crutches , with rucksack[ I will never forget it]
running for the last 20 years with right foot at 2 o' clock position ...was never able to correct it!!
went from 33 min 10k to never running sub 40 ever again !
but still run today ..though this post has brought back some memories alright !!

I think we have a winner ,

Ruu

Ran 4 miles to the start of a 5k, ran 5k, ran 6 miles back to my car....in near 100F heat.

hardCopy

Ruubot2 wrote: »

Ran 4 miles to the start of a 5k, ran 5k, ran 6 miles back to my car....in near 100F heat.

Did you leave the handbrake off?

kit3

Not in the same league as some of the above but right now I think it was signing up for the half marathon as part of the Achill ultra in August before checking out the course properly from a running perspective (know the area v well but have only ever driven it to look at the spectacular scenery). Drove the course ther and holy sh*t - hill after hill after hill - makes the other Achill half look like a walk in the park ! Think I'll be spending the next few weeks on the hills ! Not fast at the best of times - think I have a good chance of coming last In this one

vinny1313

Back in my track days when I was a young fella many moons ago, I was so disgusted at only finishing third in a 4x100m final that I threw the baton into the track whilst still in full stride crossing the line. I wasn't expecting it to bounce so far and high, actually I wasn't expecting it to bounce at all. I was lucky it didn't clobber anyone in the face.

Ruu

hardCopy wrote: »

Did you leave the handbrake off?

Well played.

CD8ED

Took my first barefoot run on the treadmill, supposedly better than with runners......

Now I have blister covered feet....

thirstywork2

Id have too many to list

last year after 9 weeks of no running I decided to go on a bender(15+ pints)
I was working at the expo all weekend so on my feet all day.
That evening I stopped in Temple Bar and had a burger and chips and a can of coke(don't think I drank any water in two days)

The next day I woke up and having made a silly bet was lined up on the start line for the Dublin marathon.
The plan was to run with the 3hour pacers but me being me put the hammer down after 5miles.got to halfway in 78minutes and on pace for 2.38 at 21 miles and then the s#it hit the fan.
Walked and had to be pulled up the finishing straight by a clubmate who told me I was running into the barriers.
Finished under the 3hours but f#uck me I did it the hard way.


2.Ran a club cross country race and my spike came off,instead of stopping I ran on only to punture the sole of my foot and got 7 stitches.

3.lost my bag(PASSPORTS,KEYS AND MONEY) in Sydney as all the bushes in the park looked the same.Ended up running 38 miles.

rom

thirstywork2 wrote: »

3.lost my bag(PASSPORTS,KEYS AND MONEY) in Sydney as all the bushes in the park looked the same.Ended up running 38 miles.

Did you find it.

thirstywork2

rom wrote: »

Did you find it.

Went back about a week later and found the bag.My vitamins had been eaten by ants but my Passport was ok and the money was covered in moss.

sideswipe

Ran my first ever official race at the Dublin half in the Phoenix park in 2009. Was really nervous/excited the night before and was obsessing about having my gear ready.
I was like a child, checking everything over and over again. My wife was doing some ironing and I thought my already attached, perfectly pinned race number look a bit crinkled on my shirt. I decided to give it a rub of the iron, you know, just to have it perfect. Of course I didn't realize it was in fact made from a paper like, plastic material and so as soon as I put the iron on it it melted the race number:o:o.

hardCopy

sideswipe wrote: »

Ran my first ever official race at the Dublin half in the Phoenix park in 2009. Was really nervous/excited the night before and was obsessing about having my gear ready.
I was like a child, checking everything over and over again. My wife was doing some ironing and I thought my already attached, perfectly pinned race number look a bit crinkled on my shirt. I decided to give it a rub of the iron, you know, just to have it perfect. Of course I didn't realize it was in fact made from a paper like, plastic material and so as soon as I put the iron on it it melted the race number:o:o.

I left my number on the threshold of my bedroom door last year before the Dublin Half "so I couldn't forget it" and then stepped over it on the way to the race.

I ended up running the race as a bandit and got the shepherd's hook as soon as I crossed the line, couldn't even get a banana at the finish chute.

Cabaal

Just spent two weeks in germany, second run I did was on forrest trails and I fecked my ankle abit, so that sorted itself.

what did I do the day before I left, run the same forrest trail and managed to hurt my other ankle!
stupid thing to do when your not used to trail running.

rom

hardCopy wrote: »

I left my number on the threshold of my bedroom door last year before the Dublin Half "so I couldn't forget it" and then stepped over it on the way to the race.

I ended up running the race as a bandit and got the shepherd's hook as soon as I crossed the line, couldn't even get a banana at the finish chute.

Why not pin it to your top the night before or the week before in my case.

hardCopy

rom wrote: »

Why not pin it to your top the night before or the week before in my case.

There was some reason why I didn't, I think my lucky tee-shirt was still drying after a wash.

PVincent

As a 19 yr old was training for the Dub marathon 1981. Was in good shape ,did a half in about 85 mins out on the nothside / finglas area, so was hopeful of a decent time . ( although I was a little green at that age). Anyway as a rugby player at that time I had told my club (Old Wesley) that I would not play till after the marathon . ( I was not a great rugby player I might add but I loved the game) . Anyway I recall that I was in the taper and I went to watch one of the under age teams (u 19s) play a match in Stepaside. They were short, I had gear...the rest is history..a tackle out on the wing resulted in a kneecap dislocation,torn tendons and ligaments, and all of my quadriceps muscles. A large 8 inch scar highlights the different surgery approach in those days. So that ended my marathon. I did go back the following year and run it but struggled badly to 4.10 ish with not enough training. I didn't return to running marathons until 2003.

cianc

First time ITB reared its head, I tried to run it off. Couldn't walk for about week afterwards, couldn't run for about three months.

Daithi 1

My first ever run, I had a hangover and brought the two dogs with me to the park. After a couple of short laps I was wrecked and noticed I had lost the dogs. I was to in bits to go looking for them so I struggled home in the hopes they would follow me eventually. The got impounded and I had to pay out 180 euro.

Big Logger

Went out for a run whilst not over a virus. Collapsed at about 7 miles on the concrete. 10 stitches to nose, couldn't chew food for weeks, face all cut up and couldn't walk properly for a few months, out of running for 8 months.

elvis jones

In 2011 i turned up to do the Athlone 3/4 marathon only to get changed and find out that i had left my runners on the table at home:o That was a shameful drive home. Ah i still did 27k when i got home in my lovely 3/4 t shirt:D

Cartman78

Signing up for the Dublin Marathon last night at 11.45pm may in time prove to be a stupid decision.

Forgot another major folly that I should have deffo mentioned in my OP:

Put in a huge (for me) training base in winter 2011 ahead of the London Marathon in 2012. Was really flying it and in great form and decided to have a craic at the Dungarvan 10 miler in late January.

Worth mentioning that around this time that my car (a Ford Focus) at the time was acting up a wee bit - it had cut out a couple of times with all sorts of warning lights,messages etc flashing. Anyway, hit off from Limerick on the morning of the race and stopped for petrol about 10 miles from home...filled up and went to drive on and bingo...car wouldn't start, warning lights etc. Gave it a couple of mins and it started fine.

Now, in hindsight, the obvious thing to do at the point would have been to spin back home, hop into our 2nd car and get the Focus to the garage first thing on the Monday. But no, we belted on to Waterford, mainly due to me having my runner's brain engaged...going back to the gaff would mess up my warm up time right?!??

Anyhoo, ran the race, set a massive PB, cooled down - hopped in the car and...yep...lights flashing all over the place and car as dead as disco. Long story short...ended up paying €300 for a tow back to Limerick and also strained my back attempting to jump start so needed a couple of expensive and painful dry-needling sessions to sort out.

But worse than all of that was having to spend 3 hrs in the front of a tow truck making awkward small talk with the driver with the missus absolutely fuming in the seat next to me. Used up a helluva lot of brownie points that evening and still can't mention the words "Dungarvan" and/or "Ford Focus" without getting a dirty look. And, of course, deffo can't wear my snazzy race t-shirt aroudn the house.

Still worth it all for a 10 minute PB? Right..?

Cabaal

Oh forgot this one,

I ran my first half marathon on the date of my first wedding anniversary, still hearing about that one.....
:pac:

crazyderk

ate a mizzonis pizza then went for a run shortly after........sick as a dog!