Non racers in the race/course

Often I've noticed when doing all sorts of events that you get people doing the course but who haven't entered the event ( no number, don't clip at check points, freely admit they are not in the race but just following the course )

I can kinda understand this if the event has been a sell out, but yesterday at the Long Mynd the race wasn't full to capacity, so it seems quite odd to me for someone to do the whole course and not be in the race ? :confused:

Is it a cost thing, as it was only 6 pounds ? or is there a certain train of thought I'm not privvy to going on here ?:confused:

What if everyone decided to just follow the course?

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Originally Posted by skennaugh

What if everyone decided to just follow the course?

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Quite!

I guess it comes down to what competitors are actually paying for.

Side runners wont get t-shirts etc (but then; how many t-shirts do you actually need!)

In theory they wont get a placing, but in truth, with internet results they can compare themselves to the field anyway.

The big thing that they wont get is the drive to compete. I'm doing the edale skyline next month; there's no way i'd put myself through that at race pace if i wasn't really entered. Others may think differently though.

I wouldn't like to see any kind of dictatorial move to discourage side runners. There are few of them, some may be out on their regular training run (i know i use the routes of several local races for some of my sessions) and some may be thinking of entering in the future but want to see what it's like first.

Not a fell race, but yesterday at the Winter Warmer 10K in Blackburn, I and Mrs WP ran.
Unfortunately the 10K was minimum age 17 for some reason - UKA is 15.

WPette was therefore disappointed that she could not take part, as she trains in the area and has always wanted to take part.

So she set off with her Mum, without a number, and dropped out just before the line.

No problems from anyone and she enjoyed doing one of her regular training runs in a group environment.

I was not there, but the other point to remember is that someone, say coming back from injury, might have travelled down to the event with a friend/clubmate and fancied having a bumble round the course just to get a measure of their recovery. They might not even cover the whole course, but cut a corner at some pre-determined point.

There is a problem for the organisers when instead of cutting off just before the finish they choose to run through the finish funnel. Causes all sorts of problems and sometimes incorrect results for everyone else.

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Originally Posted by Norman Bates

There is a problem for the organisers when instead of cutting off just before the finish they choose to run through the finish funnel. Causes all sorts of problems and sometimes incorrect results for everyone else.

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Here, Here!

There's also a problem when a course crosses private land. The race organisors organise races for people to enter, not to take advantage of a land owners generosity. If the "bandit" were to cause damage how would the land owner know that the person concerned was not part of the event?

I'm pretty sure there would be insurance implications too? I'm sure quite a portion of monies paid goes towards insurance?