Runner 'helping' me during a run.

[Thorilicious]

I completed a half marathon this weekend. Fully admit I was slow, but don't think I looked like I was struggling, just gently plodding along, one of the last, but still within the time limits of the event.
At mile 7, a lady appeared at my side. I thought she was a volunteer at first, but it turned out she was a runner, and she wanted to check in on me. I thanked her, explained I was ok, and she continued on. Half a mile later, she came back and offered me some food. I declined, and explained that I knew I was slow, but I just needed to keep my head down and keep going. Over the next couple of miles, she kept coming back to offer encouragement and said she was going to get me through, despite me saying every time I didn't need help, and I just needed to be left alone. At around mile 9 she appeared again, and this time I said quite firmly that I really just needed to be left alone. She left me alone after that, although I kept expecting to see her around each corner!
Crossed the finish line, and I heard someone say 'I told you I'd get you through!'. It was this lady again! I guess I should be impressed that she had the strength to keep coming back and forth, but it had me on edge for the 2nd half of the run that she was going to turn up, which really affected me. I made it quite clear I didn't want her to run with me, but she ignored me! She's also in most of the photos of me crossing the finish line 😂
I think she wanted to be able to say she really helped someone, but surely it's not helping if the person has asked you to leave them alone?

She sounds annoying!

She was! I don't know how I could have made it any clearer to her to just leave me alone.

'I told you I'd get you through!'- cheeky cow! Congratulations on YOUR achievement OP!

She must have messed up her own time if she kept coming back to you though. Maybe she was struggling herself and she wanted a reason (excuse) for her slow run?

She sounds insufferable. Well done on your achievement, OP.

She wants to be in a reel on FB. There are so many 'awwww look at this generous runner' ones. I need to be left alone running also very slowly and she would have driven me batshit.

To possibly give her the benefit of the doubt how did you look? If I feel a bit off colour I go really pale and have had a few occasions in life where I've received unnecessary assistance because I looked about to collapse - the most memorable after giving blood

Could she have thought you had a condition and was trying to be helpful?

A good decade ago my mother had a similar thing happen 3 consecutive weekends in a row after she decided to take up running.
It turned out the helpful woman had mistaken her for someone with learning disabilities.

Well done on your hm. That is really annoying! No one wants someone in their face when they're just getting on with it. Talk about making your achievement all about her.

If you can see her number in the photos I'd be tempted to find out her name and do a bit of social media stalking to see if it's something she makes a habit of...

I genuinely thought I looked ok, slow, but ok! No one else seemed concerned about me anyway 😂

I am proud I completed it, despite outside help!

Was it that race angels group?

If you were slow then that in itself would suggest you were struggling and it sounds as though she did stop once you told her to. Can appreciate it was annoying though. Perhaps see it as an incentive to try to go faster.

Why should she? Someone has to be the slowest! Running a half marathon is amazing even if your feet are barely both off the ground at once as long as you're doing it!

She finally left me alone after at least 5 occasions of me asking her to just leave me be. After maybe the 2nd time, I feel she should have respected my decision and done as I had asked.
I may be slow, but that's how I run. I'm perfectly happy being a plodder, and as mentioned I was still within the time limits of the event, so while slow to other people's standards, I wasn't too slow to finish.

Everyone has their own pace though. If there isn't a cut off time, and OP is confident in her training and fitness to finish then no one should be encouraging/forcing/incentivising her to go faster!

Not that I'm aware of, she was just an individual runner.

I'm slow but I don't 'struggle'. I don't push it and I don't get injured, unlike all the people I know who do.

Bloody cheek thinking you should have an opinion on another runner's pace. <hoicks bosom>

No, going at a slow pace does not suggest a runner is struggling 😂 It suggests that a runner is doing the pace that is right for them. Falling onto the ground clutching at their chest, suggests a runner is struggling, not maintaining a pace slower than some random other runner thinks is ideal.

Perhaps see it as an incentive to try to go faster.

This is a terrible idea. The last thing you want to do at mile 7 is start picking up the pace, if that's not the pace you've trained for. It's the quickest way to a DNF.

I should add, I wasn't the last over the line, so I wasn't the slowest either. (Not that there is anything wrong with that, someone has to come last, but they'll still have finished a half marathon!)

Oh, fuck off.

She is perfectly entitled to run at her own pace.

Ugh there's always one 🙄

I've been the slowest at a very new Park run. I was pretty unwell and there weren't a lot of runners so they were the keeners.

As the saying goes; last is better than DNF, and DNF is better than DNS.

Are you kidding me?! Why should anyone be hassled into running faster for no reason? I run slowly, with a group of friends who also enjoy running slowly. We chat, we laugh, we have a great time. I'd be mightily pissed off if someone came along and tried to goad or incentivise us to speed up for no apparent reason.

We're doing an ultra together soon, and provided we make the checkpoint cutoff times (we will!) it's nobody's concern but our own how fast we run.