mass start
All begin together
A mass start is a race format where all competitors begin simultaneously rather than in staggered intervals.
Common in cross-country skiing, cycling, and running events: The marathon uses a mass start, with thousands crossing the line together.
The format creates immediate tactical racing but can cause congestion and crashes at the beginning.
Dense pressing crowd
- jostlePush roughly against
- packGroup or compress
- congestionExcessive accumulation causing blockage
- crushCompress with force
swarm · cluster · bottleneck · squeeze · elbow · positioning · surge · funnel
Main cycling group
- packGroup or compress
- breakawaySudden separation from group
- sprintBrief maximum-speed effort
- paceSpeed of movement
drafting · surge · marathon · biathlon · cycling · cross-country · skiing · speedskating
Competition of speed
- competitorsThose seeking same goal
- rivalryOngoing contest between opponents
- podiumRaised platform for speakers
- championTop competitor, or advocate
victory · defeat · ranking · contestants · field · qualifying · seeding · heat
throng
Dense pressing crowd
- jostlePush roughly against
- packGroup or compress
- congestionExcessive accumulation causing blockage
crush · swarm · cluster · bottleneck · squeeze · elbow · positioning · surge · funnel · chaos
peloton
Main cycling group
pace · drafting · surge · marathon · biathlon · cycling · cross-country · skiing · speedskating · runners
race
Competition of speed
- competitorsThose seeking same goal
- rivalryOngoing contest between opponents
- podiumRaised platform for speakers
champion · victory · defeat · ranking · contestants · field · qualifying · seeding · heat · elite
countdown
Backward enumeration to zero
- gunshotFirearm's explosive report
- lineupOrdered list of participants
- adrenalineEmergency response hormone
jitters · focus · preparation · ready · tension · waiting · signal · horn · whistle · flag
stamina
Capacity for sustained effort
distance · cardio · exertion · perseverance · conditioning · aerobic · threshold · bonking · fueling · hydration
- racingrace, racing, race track, racetrack, lap
- Winter Olympicsalpine skiing, biathlon, bobsled, ski jumping, cross-country skiing
- winter activitiesskiing, skating, tobogganing, sledding, downhill skiing
- Triathlontriathlon, T1, T2, bike mount, Kona
- Nordic skiingcross-country skiing, cross-country ski, ski jumping, ski poles, ski trails
- Speed Skatingspeed skating, short track, oval track, 1500 meter, 5000 meter
mass, start, masses, massive, massively, massiveness, massed, massing, starts