We have all been there: you finally find a hobby that makes you feel like a functional adult, and you’re stoked to share it with your partner. But one 36-year-old runner on Reddit just learned the hard way that “couple goals” can quickly turn into a total sh!t-show when one person decides to train for a race and the other thinks “skip-galloping” is a legitimate athletic strategy. If you have ever had your workout ruined by someone who refused to take it seriously, this story is going to make you want to sprint in the opposite direction.
The Original Poster (OP) caught the running bug some time ago and has been crushing 25 miles a week ever since. He signed up for a local 5k, paid his entry fee, and set a very specific goal for himself: finishing in under 27 minutes. When his girlfriend of two years asked to join, he was excited but gave her a very fair warning. He told her she’d need to train because he was actually trying to compete, not just leisurely stroll through the city.
The red flags started appearing almost immediately. Despite saying she wanted to train, she couldn’t be bothered to wake up for a single 5 AM run. In two weeks, she managed to get out of bed exactly once, and she was miserable the entire time. At that point, the OP basically had to forfeit his own workout just to keep her moving. By the time race day arrived, he was understandably skeptical, but nothing could have prepared him for her secret weapon.
Fast forward to the morning of the race, and the girlfriend decides to unleash the “skip-gallop.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with this elite Olympic maneuver, it’s apparently a bizarre side-stepping motion that looks like you have casts on both legs. Unsurprisingly, two minutes into the 5k, the “skip-gallop” failed her. She was gassed, struggling, and started begging the OP to walk with her. Instead of throwing away months of training for a side-step, the OP told her he loved her and took off like a literal rocket.
The OP ended up hitting his goal with a time of 26:43, which is objectively awesome for a new runner. But the victory lap was short-lived. When he finished, he tried calling his girlfriend, only to realize she had ghosted him at the finish line. She didn’t just walk to the car; she actually drove home and left him at the race! He had to take an Uber back to their house, only to be met with “cry-shrieking” about how he was a total ahole for ditching her.
Let’s be real for a second: if you show up to a race with zero training and a move you haven’t used since middle school, you cannot be p!ssed when your partner actually tries to run. The OP was extremely transparent from day one about his time goal. Staying behind to walk with her wouldn’t have just been “nice,” it would have meant he wasted his registration fee and his entire training cycle because she couldn’t be bothered to be an adult about her fitness.
The fact that she left him at the race site is the ultimate b!tch move. It is one thing to have your feelings hurt because your boyfriend is faster than you, but it is another thing entirely to strand someone in the middle of the city without a ride. That is a level of pettiness that goes way beyond “feeling ditched.” She tried to sabotage his hobby from the start by refusing to train, and then she punished him for succeeding.
Now, the OP is getting the silent treatment, and he’s wondering if he deserves it. Our professional opinion? Absolutely not. You are not a human crutch for someone who treats a 5k like a joke. If she wanted to walk a race together, she could have looked for a “Color Run” or a charity walk where the vibes are more about the vibes and less about the sub-27-minute goal. Expecting an athlete to “skip-gallop” with you is honestly kind of insulting to the work they put in.
There is a weird trend in relationships where one person feels entitled to hold the other back so they don’t feel “left behind,” and this is the textbook definition of it. The OP didn’t k!ll her spirit; she k!lled it herself by being delusional about her athletic ability. If she had just run at her own pace and met him at the finish line with a Gatorade, they could have had a great day. Instead, she chose to make it a test of “loyalty” that she knew he would fail.
The “skip-gallop” might have worked in middle school, but in the real world, it’s just a great way to get a cramp and an Uber bill. The OP should stop apologizing for having a goal and sticking to it. If his girlfriend wants to be part of his running life, she needs to put on her shoes and actually run—or at least learn to lose with a little bit of grace.
So, NTA (Not the Ahole). The OP crushed his race, and he shouldn’t let a “shrieking” session ruin his new personal best. If she’s still giving him the silent treatment, he should probably use that quiet time to go for another run. Maybe he can find a partner who understands that “training” isn’t a suggestion, and that galloping is for horses, not 31-year-old women at a timed event.
What would you do if your partner expected you to walk a race you spent months training for? Is he a “jerk” for leaving her in the dust, or is she the ultimate ahole for driving home without him? Let us know in the comments if you think the “skip-gallop” is the next big fitness trend or just a total disaster!
NTA he did nothing wrong ! Hope she enjoyed her walk