<[email hidden]> wrote
Quoted message said:...[ good observations from in the pack ]...
I've always hated packs. My preferred mode is to be alone and gaining on
the person in front :-)
I may be pessimistic, but my general feeling is that only one person in a
pack is running the "right" pace. If I find myself running with others
during a race, I listen for their breathing. If they're breathing harder,
they'll probably die and I will usually let them hang with me awhile before
I burn them off.
If someone is breathing easier than I, then I won't fight to stay with
them -- that's usually a sign they're a ringer starting slow or working out.
If we're breathing about the same, well, that's what racing is about, isn't
it?
Of course, I run in ultras which typically have no more than a 2-3 hundred
runners, so we're pretty spread out. In a race of 1000 runners, it's almost
impossible to avoid the human soup.