Words of encouragement or "jerkish" comments in a race (Page 2)

Had to be a guy from work who was volunteering at transition during my 2nd tri.  He was generally encouraging but during T2 he starts ribbing me about how much time I was loosing tying my shoelaces & how I need Yankz.  As tired as I felt, I could have done without that.

I like the meaningless Seinfeld like comment...

"You are all winners!"


When I did the Chicago marathon a few years ago, I friend I was running with wrote our names on our running shirts. I thought, "great a $40 nike shirt with permanent marker on it"

But all during the race people were saying my name instead of generic phrases,it was my first marathon and a very surreal experience. I framed my race number, and the shirt and smile everytime I see it.

This was during Triple T in Ohio.  It is 4 tris in 3 days, so you see the same people on the course ALOT.

I was solidly a clydesdale at the time.  The run course was an out and back.

This one guy would always say to me as we were going in opposite directions,"Way to go  wide body!"  I am sure he meant well.

That was Memorial Day 2008.  By The first of Spetember last year, I had dropped over 45 pounds.  Yes, that was only 3 months time.  So yeah, he motivated me.
I probably owe him a thank you as now I can place in my AG on the short courses and finish pretty well on longer races, but not placing.

I have a bell on my bike which I ring as a person passes me.

I yell You are DA (man or woman as the case may be)!

Seems to get a thumbs up or a laugh most times.


BTW it seems the same people get the 'jerkish' comments, maybe they deserve them lol

X2 - I can't STAND that comment!!!

I ran a 1/2 M a few months ago.  It was kind of a come-back race for me after taking some time off and I was at the BOP.  I rounded a corner and some ancient looking wrinkled guy with a cow bell (he seemed to be about 90 years old) was standing at the side of the road by himself yelling...."Yer gain'in on 'em, Yer gain'in on 'em".  I though it was super cute!  After seeing him, I ran my second half 1 minute/mile faster than the first half.

I know the comments are well intended, but I really hate the "that a boy" comments.  My first 5K, I did terrible.  Second to last place and was still getting those "that a boy" comments.

Talk about rubbing dirt into the wound.  Like I said, I know they're well intended words of encouragement, but it's hard to take them positively when you're bringing up the rear.

I was doing a race with a 5 loop bike course.  I remember on one of the significant hills, someone yelled "you are FLYING up that hill!". 

So every time I got to the same hill, I would try to get another yell from him...

x3

I wanted to strangle the next volunteer who yelled that with 10k to go in my IM.  All the "looking good!" and "looking strong!" was nice at first, but got very tiresome after 4+  hours of running, bless their hearts.  I responded for the first half and would say thanks.  The second  half?  I was a grumpy, grumpy person and didn't talk to anyone till I finished.

I'm telling you right now.  I'm stealing that!

DUDE!  At Silverman, there is an EMT that says the same thing.  He would say "it's just over this hill and it's all downhill from there".  I got to the top, then saw another, and another, and another.  It took about three hills to realize he was full of it.

THEN the next year he said the same thing (but I forgot about it), and I believed him again but figured it out sooner and remembered him.  He must do that all the time.  Maybe this year I will pull over to smack him...

During marathons and Ironman ( 1st few miles of the run) " Almost there!" and " YOU LOOK AWESOME!". I looked like crap, who are they kidding!

One thing that cracked me up at the last Castaic Lake.

Some clyde saw my designation screamed out in his best WWE pro-wrestler-type voice, "Clyde, you're going down!"

Helped break the tension.

I really hope he was joking and trying to make me laugh.

x a billion.

Someone at the Philly Marathon yelled "Only three more miles!" at me...when I hit the 21 mile mark.

Not that I don't know where I am on the course, but that was hard to deal with, because you're so deep into telling yourself to power through and you KNOW how far it is. Having to process that it's more than "only three more miles" is not mental energy I care to waste. I don't mind the "Looking good!" when I know I'm not. I honestly can't remember, besides from the "only three more miles" comment ever being anything but totally motivated by spectators--complete strangers--cheering me on.

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This could fall into either category...I usually do tris in a tri suit with a tri bikini top underneath (gotta regulate the girls). Now, usually my insulin pump site is on my stomach, and the pump is clipped to the bikini top, to keep the tubing out of the road. I am also not a small girl. I NEVER run in a bra. EVER. So, Pittsburgh Tri rolls around, and it is hotter.than.hell. We're talking muggy and the surface of the sun. During the run portion, I finally decide that I can't handle it, and unzip my suit top and roll it down to run in my bra. Feels better, but now the whole world can see my insulin pump site. Not a huge deal, I don't care...but then a bike medic pulls up beside me as I'm shuffling along and goes, "Ya gonna make it 'betes?", nodding to my pump. and by this point I can just say "Yep, think so. Ask me in 3 more miles".

I laughed about it later, and my husband still says it to me when I'm slow getting started or I look tired. But it could be taken poorly to other people.

I just have to say that I couldn't describe my swim any better than this post has.  This is what I will be thinking in my first Oly next weekend!  Haha

I did a short Duo back in June of this year.  The bike course was out and back being mostly downhill out and uphill for what seemed like forever on the way back.  Near the end of the climb there was a super steep but short hill that crested at a cattleguard and then made a very sharp right turn.  There was a volunteer at the top yelling "Looking Good"  To everyone as they made the turn.  I didn't think anything of it, but I met up with a friend at the finish who is a strong runner but relatively weak on the bike who completely took the comment the wrong way.  He was still fired up 10 minutes after the race:  "Looking Good!?!  What the F@$#% is that supposed to mean? I'm doing like 4 miles per hour, what were the other people doing, 3?"

I guess you'll never know how something will stick in your head during a race when you're suffering.

During a sprint tri in Jefferson, TX, they had some kids volunteering with adults at a couple corners.  One was a left turn from a nice flat stretch of dam road (uh, that's a road on top of a dam) onto the main highway section of the bike leg of the race.

As I came off my aerobars and started to make the turn, while the adult flagged the route and said "left turn, left turn," the kid made a "nnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeowwwwwww" sound... like hearing a motorcycle that was passing by.  The idea that I could generate the Doppler Effect had me smiling for quite a while.

I'd like to think that I was going fast enough to warrant that sound. 

-Joel

In my first Tri a guy in my AG and I kept passing one another on the bike.  By the 4th time he said "I swear I am not doing this on purpose". I said "I'll see you in a few".  We ended up heading into T2 right around the same time and he killed me in the run.

I'm going to go find a marathon, stand at mile 20, and yell, "Here's where the PAIN begins!" Ha, that should even out all the "almost there"s!

(kidding, KIDDING! I've never done a marathon. I think I would die of being my own company that long. But still, it is funny that it is the one absolutely reliable comment that gets under everyone's skin!)

I've often wondered if the person next to me at my first tri thought I was being a jerk/complaining. The run was a nice flat course, VERY gradual, slight uphill and then VERY gradual slight downhill. It was two parallel streets to make a loop, with the turnaround being on a bit of dirt and to get back to the pavement, we had to go up this super short mild hill. Still, it was the steepest thing on the course. I joked to the person I was running next to, "Hey, who said they could put a hill on this course?!" She kinda looked at me surprised, and said, "This is the only one." I said, "I know, that's why its funny." *sigh* Blew that joke!

At about mile 2 on the run portion of my HIM this year, some guy came up beside me and said "keep going, the limo is right around the corner". It made me laugh through a very painful part of the experience!

X2 loved that one and the "You're gaining on them" one

These are awesome! I'm definitely gonna think of the "negative split this bi**h!" for at least the next few races.