Novice Gasparilla runners should find middle ground

I'm one person you will never see at the starting line of a road race.

When I run, I prefer to be safely situated somewhere in the middle of the pack as the starter's gun goes off. That's because I know my pace, and I have no interest in getting run over by hordes of people who are faster.

That's especially the case at big races, including this weekend's Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Distance Classic. As of Wednesday morning there were close to 25,000 runners registered for the Saturday and Sunday races. There are about 8,000 signed up for Saturday's 5K alone.

Gasparilla Race Director Susan Harmeling says she's a wreck before the start of the 5K, a 3.1-mile trek along Bayshore Boulevard. At the front are elite, Olympic-caliber racers vying for cash prizes. But there's also a chance that others will be caught up in the front-of-the-line surge: slower runners, occasional joggers, avid walkers, parents with baby strollers and even people playing a running/drinking game.

"The start of the 5K is always scary," she says.

Harmeling has seen amateurs who burst into a sprint and peter out less than a mile in, and worse, people who face plant on the asphalt and literally get run over by the thousands coming up from behind. No finish line or personal best for them.

Starts at large races can be several blocks long, and organizers almost always have signs suggesting where a runner should start. Run a 5K in 30 minutes? Hang out near the 10-minute mile sign. Need about 35 minutes? Try the 12-minute mile area.

Gasparilla even added a walking division a few years ago, acknowledging that a lot of people enjoy the fitness experience at a slower pace, or with their child in a stroller. Harmeling says people who take 45 minutes or more to walk the 3.1 miles should consider themselves walkers.

Still, this commonsense concept apparently doesn't register with some people, and I think it's irresponsible. Last year, a friend witnessed three women walking the Gasparilla 5K carrying Big Gulps and sandwiches. They didn't start their trek in the back of the line, meaning runner after runner nearly collided with their ham on ryes.

Look, I'm all for getting people out and exercising. I'm fairly passionate about it, and I love that there are more people than ever participating in road races. But thinking you're the center of the fitness universe is inconsiderate, and it's a safety hazard.

And it isn't just the slow pokes I blame. People who start far off their usual pace are just as bad. But at least most of them know the major rule of the running road: Slow runners stay to the right; pass on the left.

What makes this even more ridiculous is that every large race features timing chips, which means your race time begins only after your body crosses the starting line. You can still be at the back of the crowd and run a personal best if you want.

It's been nine years since I started running, and I'm happy with my roughly 12-minute-mile pace. It's been my friend through a marathon, a handful of half-marathons and loads of 15K, 10K and 5K races.

Despite my recognition and respect of my current pace, I find that hardcore runners clump me into the same category as the inconsiderate racers. Veteran marathoners shun anyone who spends more than five hours running the 26.2 miles. I argue that it's the respect for the race that matters far more than a finish time.

But this concept isn't likely to go far as long as people keep showing up at the starting line with a Big Gulp or misguided expectations. If I'm lucky, these folks will at least veer to the right, and I'll cross the finish line a little less irritated.