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?

People going around stabbing each other and you give a crap about someone posting on MN?

Get a grip.

So, no one is allowed to post anything of Mumsnet then?

That's so funny. No deary, giving a crap about someone would mean I go away and think about them and make a long MN post about it.

You should be fucking ashamed of yourself.

'perhaps see it as an incentive to try to go faster'?! Wtf?! People can run/jog or even walk whatever speed they are comfortable and I'd wager you haven't done a HM to just casually suggest to someone to 'try to go faster', its a feat of endurance not bloody speed.

As opposed to you, who is clearly the epitome of being easygoing and down to earth.

Let the OP be annoyed, this woman was really annoying. It doesn't matter what else is going on in the world. This bugged her and she is allowed to talk about it. Don't respond if that bothers you.

'Deary'?

Do you often say 'larks' and use ye olde wordes to be mean? I shall consider myself chastened and flagellated.

Everyone wants to be a hero these days. Mainly so they can post about it on Facebook.

I'm relieved that the majority of posters agree with me.
I really don't think I'm a difficult person, I just wanted to complete a run in my own way in my own time 😂

That's a fairly low bar to have - Oh well, at least she wasn't stabbing me

Well done you. I do occasional half marathons and they really are pretty hardcore. I don’t know anyone outside my running circles that would even think about it.’

sometimes people are put at the back to deliberately help along the slower runners that need encouragement but it sounded like you didn’t and she should have taken the hint

don’t let her spoil your great achievement you did great!

I've done 2 HM's in my life, hated both, and though not fast as such (I got in under 2 hours in the second one)I absolutely would have despised this. I do not interact with anyone when I'm in a running event, except a "thank you marshall" to the volunteers who have given up their time to marshall the race.

She was intrusive and weird.

I would be fuming!!

Congratulations to you OP - a half marathon is a real achievement and even more so for the slow runners - you’re running even longer than the guys at the front and for less praise!

Well done to you, and forget about that wannabe do-gooder! She sounds like an absolute torture. Hopefully in time you’ll look back on it as a funny story and the photos with her will give you a giggle.

This made me laugh out loud! I might adopt this for everyday life - could be worse eh? 😂

Tell her you object to people stealing your thunder or taking credit for your achievement. Surely that makes it clear.

If we take your logic then no one should ever be annoyed about anything because there are wars in the world/innocent people dying/violence. We would all just be walking around in our fake euphoria because at least we are not dead.

I find loads of things annoying when I'm running, people with jangling coins/keys, people with really stompy feet, people with BO (usually men) farting (also usually men) people who have really gasping breathing....but this person sounds like she tops all those! I'd definitely find that annoying (after the first time).

Probably this! Well done OP. I'd just laugh this one off and keep it up my sleeve as a good story 🙈🤣

I HATED this when I used to run. So patronising and 100% about their own assumptions and prejudices, not about respectful support for another runner. I had a coach once say to me "I bet you didn't think you could make it up that hill" - I was a half-marathon runner! And a bloke who insisted on running with me on a parkrun to "encourage" me round. He said "It will get easier every time". I said "This is my 126th parkrun..." I was a plodder, but I always got there. I would have wanted to tell her to do one.

She’s lucky you were saving your oxygen for running.

That is over-bearing behavior. I think I'd have found it difficult to remain civil after the 2nd attempt. Well done for a) finishing and b) not telling her to F off.

I can never believe how passive so many of the people on here are. I don’t think of myself as a particularly assertive person, I hate confrontation, but the second time she approached me I would have said “I’m fine, leave me alone please. Don’t come near me again. You’re putting me off” and if she came near me a third time she would have gotten told to fuck off tbh. Maybe it’s a cultural thing.

Well done on your half. I was always a slow runner. People often assume you are on your first run, or need encouragement or tips. When I'd actually been running 10+ years, 10ks, half marathons, full marathon, parkrun. The Slow Runners Facebook group is a great antidote - their rule is you don't bitch about anyone's pace (so if an objectively fast runner joins the group and posts their times, you celebrate them too). You're allowed to want to get faster, or to not want to - just don't criticize others. It's brilliant seeing all these amazing runners all over the world running at slower paces, because the truth is, lots of people are slow runners naturally, but they don't participate because they think they are too slow, so pace averages are skewed. Most people would be slow runners, they just don't mostly run! I was always respectful of not entering races with a cut off I couldn't make. The 10 k slogging up a hill with the race ambulance following me and this bloke was funny. The way I see it, my marathon is like someone else's Ultra. Can't believe she did that to you, very irritating behaviour.

People going around shooting each other and you give a crap about someone doing a little bit of stabbing.

Unbelievable.

You don't run, do you?