From the article: How to Make Your Race Walker-Friendly - Or Not
There are personal best finishes and personal worst finishes. Many walkers are non-competitive and content to just finish a walking/running race in under the time limit. But doing worse than you expected, or bringing up the rear can hurt your ego. Were you a tail-end Charlie or "Lanterne Rouge?" or did you just do much worse than you thought you could? What would you do differently? Share Your Story
My personal worst was my personal best
- I walked a full 26.2 marathon. It took about 8.5 hours and I came in dead second to last. I got a medal!
- —Guest Frogee10
Last Place
- I finished last in a small 5k event, but got a medal for 2nd place in my age group!
- —Guest Hannah Scott
Tail End Charlie on Walk for Wildwood
- I entered the 20-mile Walk for Wildwood through Portland's Forest Park a few years back. I was in training for the 3-Day Breast Cancer walk, which is 18-20 miles a day, so I needed the distance training. Most other participants were runners and I made the mistake of being on the first bus to the trailhead and going up the trail. Thundering herds of trail runners overtook me for the first 30 minutes on the single-track trail. But soon enough they were gone by and I had hours of walking the trail through the forest, listening to books on my MP3 player. It was a fun experience. But I was the slowest person on the course. However, I knew they actually had a prize for the "Lantern Rouge" last-place finisher. I made it out in under the time limit. I had a few blisters but it was all good for training. I got a prize package that included a 2-night hotel stay. I was happy that I finished in under the time limit, even though I was last.
- —Guest wb
