Which team? I've already asked on behalf of wharfedale.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Foot
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Which team? I've already asked on behalf of wharfedale.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Foot
Airedale Athletics please! We're a team of tryers not superstars so some of the lads must have run out of their skins (not to mention their waterproof tops!!) to be in the top 5. Many thanks if we can get the leg times.
I'll try.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Foot
Much obliged ! We had a great day in any case; Cheers to everyone at Halifax who makes it happen !
Apparently the times have been emailed to someone at your club...presumably the person who does the entries.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Foot
That'll be the lad who lost his top!! Thanks very much, hope he's not lost the e-mail! Cheers.:thumbup:
Cheers for helping with Jack Dan it was very much appreciated - he was gutted to not reach the clean underfoot running he'd been look forward to from the start! I was his partner and as you say we were a little shy of the road by the time i set off again, def lost 5 min+ though...haven't read back or checked the results yet...were we dq'd?Quote:
Originally Posted by dantodman
The present rules are pretty clear, it's only through people trying to around them that there is a need for ' clarification' I'm sure that Graham and his fellow sub committee are well placed for the job in hand.Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham Breeze
The rules are very clear and that's fair enough (I also don't know what all the DSQ's were for) but I hope everyone reading this thread doesn't think that the disqualified teams/individuals were deliberately seeking to get round the rules.
There's a world of difference between leaving/losing/dropping kit and going out of one's way to seek an advantage.
Not if you die of hypothermia.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Foot
I don't think anyone is suggesting anyone has done it to gain an advantage. On the other hand some people are saying the rules may be over the top. When the event is as big as it is it must be hard to Marshall thus the need for every bit of kit because if someone does hurt themselves then they could be stuck for sometime. It's the same every year, for every team and its the individuals fault. It says all over the website that you need every bit of kit and when I registered at my leg we were warned again. So the organisers can do no more than that. I think people will have learnt th hard way this time and won't forget next year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Foot
Indeed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chewbacca
The FRA has rules.
A Coroner has these along with Cumbria Police, UKA, the Insurance company etc.
If a RO wants his race registered in the FRA Calendar/ Insured by the FRA he agrees to comply-or his race will not appear.
If a runner competes in a FRA registered race he/she agrees to comply or they risk being banned from future FRA events.
It is that simple and "the dog ate my map, chewed up my cagoule, ran off with my hat ..." doesn't work anymore.
What is very refreshing to see is that not one of the teams DQ'd are on here complaining; only apologising to their team mates, explaining the situation and acknowledging the need for the rules, even if requesting clarification. Hats off to you all (it must be a hat not a buff :D!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by alfa_scud
Buffs were allowed as hats. :-)
Buffs ARE the new hats!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rozzer
I've been told that a few years ago, when this was held in winter, a runner left his partner behind. He subsequently got injured & got hypothermia on the tops. Ironically, he is in one of the teams that got DQ'd on Sunday !!
Unfortunately certain DQd teams are harrassing the Race Director and don't appear to accept the decision at all. Very disappointing.Quote:
Originally Posted by alfa_scud
It's ridiculous really. Rules are rules. I carried all my kit in my bumbag, why should anybody else be any different ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by manothemoors
Fair comment from everyone - Alfa Scud has summed up all I was trying to put across - just worried by the repetition of the phrase "rule bending" which sounds awfully like cheating to me!!
Pretty sure no one from Airedale has been harrassing anyone, we're just looking forward to having another crack next year!
Sadly Brad it was, though I think it has been smoothed over now. Shame about the headline in the T&A...which actually didn't reflect the content of a very good race report.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Foot
Theres a simple solution to that. Ban them from future events there is no reason at all why RO's should be getting hassle for imposing universally known and accepted rules.Quote:
Originally Posted by manothemoors
I'm really gutted to hear it was us, Manothemoors.
I can't really apologise on someone else's behalf, but certainly would if I could. To the best of my knowledge that doesn't reflect the way the vast majority of the team felt about it! I've only spoken to 3 or 4 of the lads since but certainly none of us was asking anyone to dispute the decision.
Most of us only found out we'd been DSQ'd on Tuesday morning, and I'd certainly agree with Clashcityrocker that RO's shouldn't be getting hassle. It's no doubt the last thing needed having successfully organised an event that size.
Think I'll slink off quietly to the Austwick Amble thread now before I make myself look an even bigger fool!
No worries, the RO is much more chilled now and we're all looking forward to next year. We'll try to avoid fixture clash next May if we can. Have a good run at Austwick.
MOTM - I'd urge you to avoid the Leeds Half Marathon weekend, like this year, again though. It might not affect some of the "all-out" fell clubs, but it decimates our team and quite a few of the other leeds-based teams if they're on the same day. Not only because of those running it, but also because we provide marshals for the race.
...and the FRA Inter Counties which took the best runners from various Fell running clubs.Quote:
Originally Posted by fozzy
Indeed, we will try to liase with those organisers.
Why dont you put it back to December?
Everyone in all types of running knew that was a special weekend.
And it didn't clash for the above reason.
:thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Stagger
True Stagger, I was at Goatfell this weekend, loads of other stuff on in May.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stagger
There are very many reasons December became untenable. It won't go back. We'll get the fixture conundrum sorted and it will become just as special in the spring as it was in December. 1000 runners had a great event last week.
Of course for many athletes both the Calderdale and the now sadly gone PBR were great winter events, fitting in perfect on the Winter dates as the long Sunday run, often after a XC Saturday.
But with the demands on ROs these days, I also have great sympathy for the ROs who could well be faced with a cancellation 1 in 4 or 5 years and they cannot afford to take the hit, both financially and emotionally.
The year we lost the RV10K, my friend who leads the efforts to put the race together was just wiped out emotionally and we shouldn't under-estimate this effect on the organising team.
That is a very large part of it. We also rely upon our own runners to help with the marshalling of the event...which is difficult enough, logistically, as it is. Add snowy roads and traffic delays into the mix and it would be impossible. Then, if you are running Leg 6, do you really want to prepare by standing up at Blackshaw head in the teeth of a Northerly in freezing rain/hail/snow etc for two hours?
It's also an event which is a "first fell race" for many competitors. In benign conditions, that isn't a problem. However, we had runners get detached and lost in benign conditions last week...the risks of that happening to an inexperienced runner on the moor tops in a white out are just not acceptable. We'd never get anyone to take on the RO position.
As for the emotional investment...to give you an idea, the process of putting next year's race together starts this Tuesday night.
We all understand why it was great having it in December. These are just a few of the many reasons why, especially with greater demands upon the RO these days, we had to move it. We hope runners and other clubs understand. It is still a great event, as the competitors last week will tell you. Once we sort the fixture date clash out it will be even better....and we might be in danger of paying out a few more bonus prizes.
Bring Linda Crabtree back, appears to have struggled since she stopped organising it.
Agreed; I remember waiting at the Leg 2 start for the PBR a couple of years ago absolutely freezing my nads off in horizontal snow/hail - not an experience I care to repeat. The Calderdale was cancelled at its last winter incarnation because of snow and ice in the days leading up to race day and plenty of club runners can tell tales of near hypothermic experiences waiting for changeovers/lifts back etc. Mass entry relay races like this just aren't suited to winter. Perhaps one of the 'oh so important' fell races could be moved to winter instead - then we'll see just how important they are to the grumblers!Quote:
Originally Posted by manothemoors
Linda will tell you exactly the same as I just have. I know this because it was Linda who explained much of it to me. The race hasn't struggled at all. Most runners who take part couldn't give a monkeys about elite runners from Bingley or CVFR, they are there for their own enjoyment. Standing in the sunshine at Heath Rugby club amongst smiling faces, quaffing pints of ale and noshing hungrily on their mushy peas, the race Director could reflect on a successful event.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stagger
I do think relays have a part to play in Winter, they are a great day out. But not relays on the scale of PBR and Calderdale.
exactly I also loved the event in december but with the stricter rules and the difficulty in getting sufficient marshals at least a spring fixture guarantees the future of the relay whether the elite numbers are down or notQuote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
Some of the thrill is running a leg with the elite.
You need the top runners to buy into the event other wise why not just label it as a beginners and average runners relay.
Everyone wants to see records broke ar pushed close to and Holmsey and Jebby stood on Blackshaw head with the rest.
Like WP said there is room for a good relay BUT NOT in the middle of the season.
Come on guy's have a re think, yes earlier spring or later autum but not the middle of the season.
Trouble is Stagger finding a date - you can in effect rule out anyone pitching for Dec, Jan, Feb due to weather risk.
If you go for March, it's still risky and you are up against big cross countries and the start of the marathon prep with big HMs etc and the road relays.
Go in October and we have similar clashes with Road Relays, Ian Hodgson, National Fell Relays.
As already mentioned as well, course knowledge is vital and so these races are popular amongst local non-elites as they have the time and inclination to recce.
I think if you want a relay that may draw in the elites, you would have to host something where the legs are from one base, out and back with perhaps fell that isn't quite as exposed and reliant of mid-pennine minor roads being open.
eg. Somewhere like Darwen with routes from 3 miles - 6 miles per leg, just off M65, or Rivington where you have the Pike and Winter Hill and could do out and backs from the school grounds, or even Pendle perhaps.
There is scope for a winter event, but I wouldn't want to be the RO that tried to get a PBR type event of the ground.
I'm very confident that we can sort the fixture issue out and attract the faster runners back in the future. And Stagger, don't be trolling now.