Runners do you line up where you "belong" just before the start of a big race?

Question

Say it's over 300 people, do you start in about the same place you finish(place wise)?

Answer 1

yea..if you know your not gonna beat people behind you,you should move back becuase it may be hard to get around you during the race....i know im not the fastest but i always start up front..no one passes me but the others up front get ahead of me

Answer 2

Not always, but you should start in a pack where you think you need to be .  If you are slow be in the back, mid-packer in the middle and speedster like me in the front.  Just get where you need to be, people won't complain, they know that you are going where you need to be.  In a official track race you are lined up in a lottery picked order.

Answer 3

yes, if you're fast get in the front, otherwise it will be too hard to get around people if you are in back.  

Answer 4

Usually in any race, top competitors are in front. If you feel that your 0ne of them you try to place yourself in front so that it will not be hard for you to chase. But if your intention is just to compete or have fun, it really doesn't matter where you put yourself into.  

Answer 5

I try to get the best possible position -not trying to be selfish

I know from experience that in a cross country race and you are at the back you get trampled on so it is better to be near the front so people dont trample on you- but you gotta go fast!

Answer 6

In a high school XC race (some of which get that big), you generally have starting area for each team.  Your team will decide who starts on the first line and who has to start in back.  Usually that is done by the faster people up front.

In a weekend road race, it is good form to try to get where you "belong".  Race organizers will try to help this by placing signs with suggested paces.  You go stand by the right sign, you should be starting with people who run a similar pace.

Some bigger races are now even forcing you submit qualifying times to get towards the front of the start.  They are calling them "start carrels".

With more and more races going to chip timing, it is becoming less of an issue.  But it still annoying to people who are running all out to get stuck behind someone who started to walk less than a mile into a race.  

Answer 7

yes, basically. during those runs where there are a lot of people (100-15,000) i try to start near the front because i am faster than a lot of people (not being arrogant thats just the truth) and it would be difficult to have to work my way through hundreds of people slower than me. i would expect it to be the same for people of any skill level. the average runner to start in the middle, the slower runner to start at the back.