Corral

Corrals generally refer to athletes being grouped together during the start of a larger run with many participants. Corrals, or waves, allow race organizers to keep faster athletes at the front and slower athletes at the back, avoiding congestion on the race course. In order to be seeded into a specific corral, some race directors require a validation of a specific finish time from a prior race. In order cases, athletes are allowed to self-seed into a corral that they deem most appropriate given their predicted finish time. The word corral is used, but much less frequently, in cycling and triathlon. In cycling, the term Wave Start is more common, while triathlons generally use mass starts, rolling starts or age grouper starts.