DQ the cheats

[Woodzy]

why do "some" people think its ok not to carry kit when a RO STATES its to be carried!
the weather may be good, the race my be short, they may no the route with there eyes closed, tuff.
its cheating sorry but it is, its an unfair advantage it also puts them and others at risk in an emergancy and the RO could find himself in a court of law! it needs to be stamped out
they should be DQ'd named and shamed in fellrunner mag and results.

[sore legs]

I believe that there should be a lot more kit checks - when you see the size of some peoples bum bags, you would certainly question what they are carrying in there.

Any people failing kit checks should be dealt with appropriately - publically named and banned.

[sbrt]

Two volunteers to help ROs with kit-checks, cool:thumbup:

[IanDarkpeak]

why do "some" people think its ok not to carry kit when a RO STATES its to be carried!
the weather may be good, the race my be short, they may no the route with there eyes closed, tuff.
its cheating sorry but it is, its an unfair advantage it also puts them and others at risk in an emergancy and the RO could find himself in a court of law! it needs to be stamped out
they should be DQ'd named and shamed in fellrunner mag and results.

I believe that there should be a lot more kit checks - when you see the size of some peoples bum bags, you would certainly question what they are carrying in there.



Any people failing kit checks should be dealt with appropriately - publically named and banned.

Most will know my thoughts on the subject but yes I totally agree, down to the RO's to enforce though.

[sore legs]

Two volunteers to help ROs with kit-checks, cool:thumbup:

I would be more than happy to help out a RO - setting and maintaining standards is very important.

In fact I would go further than just punish the individual - should they belong to a club (accepted that not are) - then impose some form of punishment to the club.

[simgreen78]

I ran a fell based Ultra a few weeks ago, the pre-race info was very strict about what must be carried. Lo and behold, no kit check whatsoever. I was very surprised.

Got to be realistic about logistics and its easy for me to theorise as I've never (yet) organised a fell race, and in your average evening summer shorty it could be construed as overkill. In short races, the exisiting rules of RO discretion works just fine. But I would like a scenario where in races over a certain distance, lets say 12 miles, a kit check table is in place and EVERYBODY gets checked. The Edale Skyline setup works really well. Same at Nine Edges. And if you haven't brought the kit, you don't get to race. Simple.

And on the short races, if a runner isn't complying with whatever the RO has stipulated, then yes, some sort of penalty should be applied. A DQ seems fair. Perhaps a list of race DQs in the preceding months in the Fellrunner would encourage people to just do the simple and fair thing and carry what they are asked to? I don't think not carrying the kit when asked to necessarily hands the runner an advantage as such, I just think it demonstrates a lack of respect towards the race and the RO.

With respect to Sore Legs' opinion about the clubs though, I don't personally think there would be a lot of merit in punishing an offender's club. It's not Dark Peak's or Porter Valley's fault if I flaunt a RO's rules. I know what I should be doing.

[sore legs]

With respect to Sore Legs' opinion about the clubs though, I don't personally think there would be a lot of merit in punishing an offender's club. It's not Dark Peak's or Porter Valley's fault if I flaunt a RO's rules. I know what I should be doing.

Very true it is not the clubs thought - but it was just an idea that it may make the individual think a little more if he is going to create an issue and embarrasment to his club, in which he is intimately known - as you say potentially not much merit in it. Just public humiliation within the FR community should be enough.

[sore legs]

is not the clubs [B]thought[B] -

[B]fault[B] even - edit post is not working on my system.

[Alexandra]

What does DQ'd mean? (Drawn and quartered, but without being hanged first?)

[not mad enough]

Clubs do have a large role to play in this. A culture will develop on club runs and at races of carrying planty of kit or otherwise. New members will usually pick up on this culture and fall in with it. For example, almost invariably a new runner will ask more experienced members what they should bring to races.

Clubs are in the best position to influence behaviour, so surely this is an ideal place to apply pressure. If club members were frequently getting caught out in kit checks, then the threat of, say, reduced entry in the FRA relays would soon get the issue addressed at an AGM. This might seem harsh, but when you run for a club you are by choice throwing yourself in with a community and hence take on some collective responsibility.