Would it be considered 'cheating' to carry a gps unit on a fell race to use as an emergency? I was thinking of carrying mine in the Borrowdale fell race, not to navigate with but as a safety precaution. What do you guys/girls think?
Would it be considered 'cheating' to carry a gps unit on a fell race to use as an emergency? I was thinking of carrying mine in the Borrowdale fell race, not to navigate with but as a safety precaution. What do you guys/girls think?
Doh! See the Edale Skyline thread for more on thisOriginally Posted by Stratfordrunner
. It won't be cheating though and you would probably run slower trying to use it.
If you need a GPS to get you home safely then perhaps you need to consider whether you should be entering races like Borrowdale. In what particular situation do you think you will be unable to get back to the finish simply using a map and compass?
I was only suggesting carry one to use when navigation with map and compass wouldn't be possible. What would you do if your compass and or map became lost? I am not condoning using it because you can't navigate but why not have it just in case? Can't be a bad thing to have can it?
How are you planning to loose your map and compass?
I have to admit to putting check point refs in my Garmin and found this useful in the mist, just a hi-tech way of dialling in a number on a compas. In fact the Garmin screen acted like a compass with a big thick arrow pointing the direction and also giving the distance to next CP. Map & proper compas stuffed in bum bag though - just playing about with technology
Yeah, but then people will start putting short cuts either they or a mate have found on a recce and following that in the mist, which would be cheating if you ask me, or at least not in the spirit of the thing. A guy in my club has a 305 and reckons he can run at race speed following a course on it (and he's fast). He also thinks that to do so in a race would be cheating.
To avoid losing time reading the Garmin why not have a radio earpiece and get someone to plot your route on a map back at base and give you satnav type instructions...
I mean hey! you might gain a few places in the field.
I reckon all courses should be flagged with marshals to point out the rocks every ten metres.
What's the difference between following a compas bearing on a compas and following the same bearings on an electronic display? Have you never written a list of bearings on your hand to dial into your compas at set points on a route to give you the best line/most appropriate line? The only advantage I could see was that it told you have far off the target bearing you were. I'm not talking about following a pre-loaded route from a gps device, that's a different thing altogether.
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