Judging by the forum posts I'm looking at runners are very serious about this and I don't feel like being subjected to smug ire from classist elitist assholes. The course in question is 95% public sidewalks and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $75 for a t-shirt, a number, and some snacks (in other words I don't intend to partake in any of them) and I don't even care about placing.

Maybe if I email the organizers and beg they'll give me a fake number so I don't get bullied or something I don't know. Has anyone done this before?

Edit: Thanks everyone you've been very helpful <3 I'm going to email the organizers and try to get a deal and if that doesn't work I'm going to just go for it. Maybe throw in $5 if theres a donation.

  • MF_COOM [he/him]
    ·
    8 months ago

    It's called going bandit. I do this all the time - not only does nobody notice or give a fuck, there's tons of other people who do it, like I got the sense maybe 3% of the people in the last race I did went bandit or just didn't wear the race shirt/bib.

    IDK maybe it's different in different areas but 10ks don't really matter anyways like it's just a pedestrian race. Halfs don't matter either. IDK maybe if you're in the New York Marathon people would care or something but a 10k is just a bunch of people having a fun time and the size of the crowd is part of what makes it cool - you're making it cooler.

    And honestly fuck it use the facilities. Drink water at the stations and eat a banana when you're done they'll just throw them out anyways.

  • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    8 months ago

    What are they going to do, beat you up? Just run that shit. People actually in the race will be too busy not dying to care

    Edit: you won't be able to like line up at the start and stuff obviously but if all you're looking to do is run the course just run the course. Especially if you wait until after the start nobody will care

    • ta00000 [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      8 months ago

      If everyone is going to have a shitty attitude and look down their noses at me then there's no point in running that day. It's a social event.

      • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]
        ·
        8 months ago

        Sorry I thought you just wanted to run the course for like fitness or whatever

        If you want the whole experience there's a good shot if you email the organizers they might let you pick up a discounted ticket or something, they'll have extra shirts and stuff it's not like it would be a big burden

      • UrsineApathy [any, comrade/them]
        ·
        8 months ago

        I promise you that nobody will give you a hard time or look down their nose. Like another commenter mentioned, the only real difference is that you won't be able to be in a corral at the start line of the race without a number, otherwise you can just run the race route like normal.

        Runners in general tend to be a super positive bunch of people in my experience since the entirety of it is based around achieving personal goals. Unless they're marathon qualifiers, road races are almost exclusively charity runs anyway.

  • TrudeauCastroson [he/him]
    ·
    8 months ago

    Congrats on being able to run a 10k, no matter the speed/time.

    My legs would fall off. I tried and failed to get that much into running multiple times

    • ta00000 [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      I can't yet either. I'm at running about 3-4k every other day now and the run isn't until october. Is that an unreasonable expectation?

      • MF_COOM [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        8 months ago

        No. Running long distances is basically the one thing we evolved to do well besides thinking, your body has an incredible capacity to adapt to longer distances and make them feel normal. Honestly you're way closer than October for a 10k if you're running 4k multiple times a week.

        If you only added 10% distance every other week you'd be running 10k by September, but most people don't do their entire race distance when they're training.

        • UrsineApathy [any, comrade/them]
          ·
          8 months ago

          To add to this, just make sure to add a long run day once a week before your rest day that's like 70-80% of your target race distance, so 7-8K, and that's basically a standard race training schedule. Work you way up to this distance at first of course so you don't hurt yourself, but you're definitely a lot farther on your training than you think you are.

      • Wakmrow [he/him]
        ·
        8 months ago

        Honestly I think if you're running that much you could probably do 10k in a couple of weeks

      • TrudeauCastroson [he/him]
        ·
        8 months ago

        I have no clue, the last time I ran far was 5k a few months ago. It's good to have goals, good luck.

        I used the Nike run app and followed their training plan which alternated intervals/fartlek, distance, and light jogs, but also I injured myself because I listened to the plan more than my body so maybe don't listen to me.

  • OgdenTO [he/him]
    ·
    8 months ago

    As long as you don't win, I don't think anyone will care

    • ta00000 [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      8 months ago

      If I managed top 50% I would surprised. What if someone yells at me and then everyone else joins in and they call me a broke boy and throw things at me? soviet-bottom

  • culpritus [any]
    ·
    8 months ago

    If you can get an example of a number before the day, you could probably DIY a passable number to wear. Or just look for a template you can print out perhaps and add some logos from their website.

    Good luck!

    • ta00000 [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      8 months ago

      I was strongly considering this but I don't have a color printer and they seem to change the color each year. Also what if I passed the person with my number? I'm brand new to running just trying to feel out the culture here really, and if there were any real objections because all I'm seeing online is "What can't you afford it with your iphone 15??"

      • ped_xing [he/him]
        ·
        8 months ago

        Printer paper might give you away. I've only been to one similar event and the numbers were printed on something like event wristbands.

  • Commissar of Antifa@lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    8 months ago

    I've run races before with the number underneath my shirt because it was cold so they probably wouldn't notice if you didn't have any number unless it's a really official race.