Pre-race rituals are the actions we take before any performance which we could not feel comfortable doing without. Ranging from absurd tasks and minute details to a runner's typical warmup, a ritual of this sort comforts the athlete to feel composed on the line before the gun goes bang.
Here are some of the wackiest rituals of many pro-runners:
Phoebe Wright: Holder of the 7th fastest 800m time in 2010 of 1:58.22
"Lots of Netflix. And I shave my legs the day before. It works for swimmers, so I'm thinking it probably works for runners too." -FloTrack
Lauren Fleshman: 2x 5000m USA Champion
"Most of my races are in the evening so I wake up with my heart beating out of my chest. Maybe do a 15 min shakeout run to calm down. Eat. Distract myself. Eat. Take a nap and set alarm for 35 minutes before I have to leave for the race. When it goes off I shower, braid my hair, get my kit on, quadruple check my backpack, and leave. I like to get to the race 90 minutes before the start so I can just chill out and listen to music or joke around with friends. 50 minutes before the race I warmup. " -FloTrack
Jenny Simpson: 4x World Medalist 1500m
"An hour before I leave the hotel for the stadium I always put on some upbeat music (actually, Jason usually puts it on) and it cues me to get up and begin the countdown. I usually shower, put my hair up, organize my backpack, check my uniform and spikes, and have a last little snack. It's from this point until the start of the warmup that's the most difficult on my nerves. Once I get to the track I usually begin my warmup pretty quickly. I stretch, jog around for 15-20 minutes, get some snappy strides in and then report to the call room. From high school to today the race day ritual hasn't changed much!"- FloTrack
Robby Andrews: 2017 1500m USA Champion
"Right before a race I will say a prayer and then jump as high as I can to intimidate my competitors, because how high you can jump is directly correlated to how fast you can run. And I wear either a black or white undershirt depending on the mood I'm in."- FloTrack
Tommy Awad: USA 1500m Olympic Trials Finalist
"I don’t really have one. I just do everything that I need to be ready by race time. That could change day to day depending on how I feel. It’s important to read how your body feels, so you can make adjustments to your current needs."- FloTrack
Patrick Tiernan: NCAA XC Champion & 10000m 2017 Finalist
"A fairly hefty meal around 3 hours before the gun goes off, followed by some down time in the hotel room. We'll usually head over to the course/track about 90 minutes before the race, so I'll usually listen to some more upbeat remixes, but not too adrenaline pumping (Kygo is the pick for this year). Go for a jog an hour from start time, usually around 15-20 minutes. Stretch, do some drills, change my socks, put my spikes on, and get crackin."- FloTrack
These are some of the rituals of the pro's. My personal ritual is lying down before my race while reading Quora.
Tom Slattery
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