What is the most dismal finish of a race which you have done?

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Derby Tup Dec 2014 10:03pm, 29 Dec 2014 14,011 posts	0 Derby Tup I had to nip behind a bus-stop at the London Marathon for a big job. I was riddled with cramp and was so upset approaching the finish I thought seriously about stepping off the road and DNF'ing. I did finish but the photographer had a real job getting me to look at the camera with my medal round my neck
Johnny Chestnuts Dec 2014 12:04am, 30 Dec 2014 21,984 posts	0 Johnny Chestnuts Sliding down the final hill at Beachy on my arse after six hours mainly walking, getting pissed on and freezing my bollocks off, to absolutely no crowd reception whatsoever because no one was stupid enough to stand out in the bastard freezing rain.
Derby Tup Dec 2014 12:10am, 30 Dec 2014 14,017 posts	0 Derby Tup Which reminds me: finishing the Wadsworth Trog with the customary lap of the cricket pitch, hearing applause and naively thinking it was for us back-markers then realising it was now the end of the presentation and the applause was for the race organisers
Diogenes Dec 2014 12:17am, 30 Dec 2014 8,236 posts	0 Diogenes The ill-fated and short-lived race at a school which ended in everyone getting lost and runners approaching the finish from all directions. There were no awards and the medals and bottles of water went unpresented as angry runners assailed the organisers who went and hid. There was no second running.
Velociraptor Dec 2014 9:00am, 30 Dec 2014 31,782 posts	0 Velociraptor The Birmingham half marathon a few years ago. I ran with RMo3B and with a specific time target. The time by which we missed the target was almost the same as the number of minutes we spend stuck in a huge crowd of runners waiting to cross the finish line because the finishing area had been so badly designed. The queue in the stadium at the end of the Reading half marathon was after the finish line but was enhanced by mass hypothermia and nothing edible in the goody bag. And, on a bike, the Wiggle Dragon Ride. Over 100 miles of beautiful Welsh mountain scenery, then about ten miles on dual carriageway overlooking unscenic Port.Talbot.
Bazoaxe Dec 2014 9:31am, 30 Dec 2014 7,841 posts	0 Bazoaxe I cant beat the C2B finish, but the CAAC 5 does finish in the 'small; car park of an industrial estate type place which isnt great. I always find parts of the Glasgow Half demoralising when you are running of coned off sections of the M8. I do have pretty dismal start though. The Forthside half it was called, the first Half in Edinburgh that I recall. It started beside Ocean Terminal in its first year and the route took you round the back where the service drop iffs were and then past the Royal Yacht Brittania. Only at the back of ocean terminal there was a barrier that no one had though to raise which caused much congestion. Two years later the start was moved towards Cramond on what is now the Edinburgh Parkrun course. Loads of wide open spaces and the portaloos either side of the start....but facing inwards. The Qs of people waiting were still there and across the race route when we started....
Son of a Pronator Man Dec 2014 9:42am, 30 Dec 2014 7,906 posts	0 Son of a Pronator Man The Baker Hughes 10k in Aberdeen has a fairly poor course. The start and finish aren't too bad, as they are at/near the beach, but a lot of the middle is through industrial estates. I remember a lot of high steel fences topped with barbed wire and the inevitable collection of snagged plastic bags. I understand this area is Aberdeen's "red light" district by night, of course I would not know anything personally about such things.
Phil70 Dec 2014 10:58am, 30 Dec 2014 680 posts	0 Phil70 I can't think of a particularly bad one although the Downlands 5 (now known as the Downlands Dash) comes to mind. Not a bad run through fields, over stiles and quiet roads. The start and finish was generally following a twisted painted line across the school field, in and out some trees. The reward for finishing was just a cup of water and a key fob or mug. Sometimes, due to building work, the race was shortened to 4.6 miles instead of the full 5. Not run it since 2006, so thing might have changed.
PaulaMc Dec 2014 11:06am, 30 Dec 2014 2,955 posts	0 PaulaMc I did a 10k around Wembley once, think it was a Nike organised thing. It was run around an industrial estate, in the dark, with puddles, and by the time we'd finished the people giving out tshirts had given up and left them all in a massive pile which by then was wet, dirty and mixed up. That was the last Nike organised race I took part in.
santababy Dec 2014 11:15am, 30 Dec 2014 71,302 posts	0 santababy Baz, if you were unlucky enough to be as slow as me you'd have fonsihed the forth side race and not got over line because of the back up of runners trying to get through the narrow finish and pick up medals etc. also did balloch thinking oh what a lovely race that would be, it's probably most hideous run ever. Well, if I don't take into account East Kilbride 10k, round a track, along a dual carrieway, turn, do same again and get nothing at end. Oh sorry, think we got cup water.