I have not been around here for some time and I think I just had to kick myself up the backside to get myself in gear once again.

I finally took part in my first race in like forever because if my memory serves me well, my last race was in August last year… the Adidas King of the Road.  Subsequently, my bum knee has been keeping me from taking part in any runs/races.

I signed up for the 2XU Compression Run last Sunday not feeling 100% but did it anyway after some coaxing from Mel. (I was about to be a DNS)

Met up with some friends with whom I had signed up the race with and I must say, it turned out to be a rather pleasant run.  I managed to complete my 10km with my knee holding up the whole way.  Which is good thing if you ask me.  My timing turned out to be a bit of a disappointment but maybe if I just accepted the fact that I have not been running much and I had a bum knee (which all sound like excuses to me) It was ok.

Now, the reason why I decided to write a blog post about this was because, one thing I noticed on the run, while it was very encouraging to see a lot of people who were running that day, from what I gathered, not many knew a lot about race running etiquette.

One basic rule when running is, if you are not one of those top runners who speed off at the sound of the gun, and if you are getting tired and have decided to slow down, it would be great if you could do the rest of the runners coming up behind you a huge favour and move to the left.  You see, running is like driving, if for whatever reason you need to slow down, move to left and try not to hog the “overtaking” lane.

The second thing I noticed was that many people running that day seemed to have forgotten that there were another 2000+ people who signed up for the race.  If you have/need to get rid of some unwanted spit or phlegm, or if you need to wipe off and fling off that bit of sweat off your brow, please make sure there is no one just behind you, not many people like to be showered with your bodily fluids.

Now, the last thing that bugged me just a little bit was the fact that during the run, there were at least 3 people who ran past me (yes, I was that slow) that “sideswiped” me.  Which brings me back to my driving anology.  If you are going to overtake someone, make sure you have enough space to move into, because, if you don’t, you will “sideswipe” them.  In a car, it would be an accident.  In running, it will be an unpleasant coming together of sweaty bodies.  Now, I don’t know about you, while we cannot help perspiring during a race, I would rather not share/rub my bodily fluids onto another person, and neither would I appreciate someone doing the same unto me.

So yeah, for all you budding runners out there…. go out, get fit, and have fun completing your first race or your 100th race (I always take each race as my first) but remember these few tips I left behind.

Who knows, maybe I’ll see you on the course some day….