I just had to share.

The little lady is due to do a ‘Race The Train’ running event locally. Basically, there’s a local steam railway with two stations 8ish miles apart. The idea is that in teams of two you race the train from one station to the other (running cross country), and the other member of your team races it back.

So, of course, the obvious way to organise this would be:

– Both team members turn up at start
– On the first leg Team Member A runs whilst Team Member B travels in the train
– On the second, return, leg Team Member B runs whilst Team Member A travels back in the train.

Obvious and easy, yes?

Oh no. They’ve got a much better idea. It goes like this:

– A drops B at the far station
– A drives to race start station (about 15 miles by road)
– A runs first leg carrying car keys
*all this time B is just hanging around in running gear in a station car park, probably in pretty chilly and/or wet October weather*
– B runs second leg back, carrying car keys
– B picks up car and drives to far station to pick up A (about 15 miles by road)
*all this time A is just hanging around in running gear in a station car park, probably in pretty chilly and/or wet October weather*

Genius, eh?

Is there a train before the race?
Is there a train after the race?
Assuming yes, then genius 😀 😀

Not the train race I was thinking of, but I guess they’re trying to make it a single race rather than two half races.

Sounds like a ball ache though!

Matt

– Both team members turn up at start
– On the first leg Team Member A runs whilst Team Member B travels in the train
– On the second, return, leg Team Member B runs whilst Team Member A travels back in the train.

how they going to beat the train if the return runner can only start once the train arrives at B?

how they going to beat the train if the return runner can only start once the train arrives at B?

There’s a train during the race, that’s the point; it goes from the start to the far station, the runners swap, and it comes back again. Each non-running member could sit on the train that’s being raced whilst the other one races it. And surely that’s more fun too, as you’re also kind of racing your team mate?

Tools 🙄

Your way would mean the 2nd person can’t set off till the train arrives whereas their way means the 2nd person has either a headstart or a handicap depending on how the first runner does.

Doing it your way renders the team aspect of it pointless, both runners may as well just set off from the start station.

sorry, is the idea for runners to do A-B-A faster than the train or is it two races A-B then B-A?

what happens if runner one gets to B before the train with runner 2 in it?

how they going to beat the train if the return runner can only start once the train arrives at B?

The first runner beats it one way, the other one beats it the other.

Plus, if you wanted to make it more like a ‘tag-team’ race, the second runner could start running as soon as they got into the far station and get a head start as there’ll be loads of faffing between when it pulls in until it pulls out again.

run “as a team” all run out and back job done 😈

*all this time B is just hanging around in running gear in a station car park, probably in pretty chilly and/or wet October weather*

If they were hanging around in warm waterproof clothes they could hand them to runner A when they arrive, thus avoiding…

*all this time A is just hanging around in running gear in a station car park, probably in pretty chilly and/or wet October weather*

The first runner beats it one way, the other one beats it the other.

but what if one runner is stronger than the other – overall they might beat it A-B-A but not if they have to wait at B for it to arrive?

and you can’t start the return leg of a relay until the out leg person arrives can you – that’s cheating?

how they going to beat the train if the return runner can only start once the train arrives at B?

Looking at the website it looks like a there and back thing.
So race starts at 12:00 along with train with runner B on.
Train gets to winchombe at 12:23 (ahead of runners) and runner B gets off.
Runner A turns up, Runner B starts off.
Train is delayed till 1:20, so A runners can go back.
Train arrives back at start at 1:43, which runner B, may or may not beat.

^^^^^

That sounds like a particularly contrived and pointless set-up.

phil.w – yeah, fair enough

and you can’t start the return leg of a relay until the out leg person arrives can you – that’s cheating?

No, but if you got the train that the were racing there and arrived before them you could still wait for them, and you could have cheered them off at the start.

but what if one runner is stronger than the other – overall they might beat it A-B-A but not if they have to wait at B for it to arrive?

So you stick your stronger runner on the return leg. That way weaker runner arrives after the train that stronger runner arrived on, stronger runner sets off straight away and makes up difference, beating train back.

That sounds like a particularly contrived and pointless set-up.

Is that not most races?

Looking at the website it looks like a there and back thing.
So race starts at 12:00 along with train with runner B on.
Train gets to winchombe at 12:23 (ahead of runners) and runner B gets off.
Runner A turns up, Runner B starts off.
Train is delayed till 1:20, so A runners can go back.
Train arrives back at start at 1:43, which runner B, may or may not beat.

You forgot ‘train is delayed due to leaves on the line’ therefore whole race is rendered null and void 😉

I suspect if nobody turned up/paid to enter they may review their position.

Why can’t you improvise

A+B=C, so C drives to S1, at racestart-x, C-B gets left at start, C-A plus optional X,Y,Z drive to S2 and wait for C-B, once C-B arrives C-A, plus optional X,Y,Z then run to S1 whilst C-B drives to S1 to wait for C-A plus optional X,Y,Z, or they could have a T or P or both depending on facilities once C-A gets to S2 C can drive home.

If I was runner A I would just get on the train and let runner B do all the hard work 😀

That sounds like a particularly contrived and pointless set-up.

It does a bit, doesn’t it? I hadn’t realised that was how it worked.

But still, the runners don’t use the trains to get out to the far station or back to the start, and it seems that they’ll be hanging around at each end for even longer than I thought waiting to run or be picked up.

A+B=C, so C drives to S1, at racestart-x, C-B gets left at start, C-A plus optional X,Y,Z drive to S2 and wait for C-B, once C-B arrives C-A, plus optional X,Y,Z then run to S1 whilst C-B drives to S1 to wait for C-A plus optional X,Y,Z, or they could have a T or P or both depending on facilities once C-A gets to S2 C can drive home.

I don’t know why I never thought of that.

Is that not most races?

This sounds fun 😀
http://britishultrafest.com/

I like the way they don’t show you all the course on the course page to up the suspense as to what the rest of it will be like.

That sounds like a particularly contrived and pointless set-up.

Is that not most races?

To a certain extent but “Man V Train” sounds like a race, “Man V Train but train stops for a bit to artificially make things a bit closer” sounds like something else.

Maybe runner 2 could drop runner 1 close to the start time at A and then drive to B so they get to wait in a warm car.

Runner 2 gets to Station B and has a warm car to sit in and drive back to A?

I do hope there’s some Strava segments for this race.