When runners start competing for more than just the precursory t-shirt at the end of the run or against others (I still am just running to beat my last time ... and to get the shirt, I admit) the rules of a race can be hugely important. I first realized this when running an Envirosports race at Angel Island. I had signed up for the 25k and on race day dropped to the shorter distance. When I finished it turned out my time was the best (woot woot!) but, unfortunately, because I had changed that day the coordinators had to add 12-hours to my time (blech). I found a mention of this after much distraught finally on their site hidden in an About page in tiny print. Shame on me, though, for changing course.
Here's a worse one, though: "At Women's Marathon, Fastest Time Didn't Win."
At the Nike Marathon this weekend, a 24-year old woman (Arien O'Connell) ran the fastest time of her life (congrats) and the fastest time in the race (amazing!) But ... because she didn't start with the "Elite" runners, she couldn't claim first. Rules are rules.
I took a look at the USA Track and Field competition/rule book online (it covers longer races, too) and was amazed to find 341 rules spanning 213 pages. Yikes!
I think I'll stick with running to beat myself and get a cool shirt - not too concerned with the rules (except stay on trail, don't get in the way, no iPods (when that's a rule), have fun).
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