Page 4 of 6 FirstFirst ... 23456 LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 55

Thread: Prolific Forumites

  1. #31
    Master DazTheSlug's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    South Manchester
    Posts
    3,861
    looks like I need to pull my finger out to hold my position on the list
    Scramble the rock face through the glare of morning sun — to run

  2. #32
    Master molehill's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Rhandirmwyn
    Posts
    4,109
    Going back to old forumites, Toffer is still going strong riding poncy Italian bikes around south wales, he even wears shades in winter . GB would approve .
    I think he has a whole shed full of bikes, more than I have trainers (not many as I'm a tight ar***d fell runner) but as he represents 30% of my Strava following I don't dare diss him too much.
    Don't roll with a pig in poo. You get covered in poo and the pig likes it.

  3. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by molehill View Post
    Going back to old forumites, Toffer is still going strong riding poncy Italian bikes around south wales, he even wears shades in winter . GB would approve .
    Absolutely. The sun is very low in the sky in winter.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  4. #34
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    964
    Quote Originally Posted by DazTheSlug View Post
    looks like I need to pull my finger out to hold my position on the list
    I deleted hundreds of mine.

  5. #35
    undercover moderator
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    behind you
    Posts
    897
    I changed the settings on mine to only count posts relevant to fell running. I still think the decimal point is in the wrong place.

  6. #36
    Master mr brightside's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Loving it in the Pilates Studio
    Posts
    7,862
    Quote Originally Posted by Witton Park View Post
    How would you see the concept of a Cat B Champs working Mr B and what is the reason behind it?

    I've had discussion before over Inter Counties. Many purists see it as problematic that we have tended to have 6-8 milers usually B cat on mostly marked courses that favour occasional fell runners rather than the purists.

    I'm genuinely interested as I've considered and had discussions about holding a Northern Champs.
    Because of overcrowding in both the English and the British, but especially the English, the same races are used over and over again. The problem being that you always need space for 500 cars, and this rules out a lot of races, resulting in the same races being resorted to, especially at cat. AL (Sedbergh Hills, Wasdale, Ennerdale, Duddon...) The choices are create more races or spread the people out a bit, and creating more races for this reason could be thought of as environmentally irresponsible. Most of the people entering the E and B do so because they like the occasion of it all, not because they are in the running for a medal.

    Most cat. B races are just as hard as cat. A, and in some cases a lot harder. They sort of tend to be in boggy areas like the Pennines and such, where tops are interspersed by rough plateaus which rack up the miles without any height gain. For this reason you get difficult races and indeed whole areas of the country omitted because they can't provide a cat. A course, due solely to the maths of the topography not how challenging the terrain is. You can't get away with being steadily workmanlike in cat. B either, as soon as it flattens out you'll get left for dust by thin people who can't climb for toffee. The whole skillset is different and more mixed.

    I see this being organised by the FRA with the same prize structure as the current champs. If it is done on the back of a fag packet by Stolly and DT with no official standing or PR then everyone will just continue piling into the E/B champs. There has to be an equal sense of occasion and prize list. I suggest the limit of entrants into both be set at 300; this should make a load more races viable in E/B by removing the need to park 500 cars.
    Luke Appleyard (Wharfedale)- quick on the dissent

  7. #37
    Master Travs's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    NE Lakes/Coventry
    Posts
    5,256
    On the face of it sounds a great idea. But i think you highlight the main flaw... people are attracted by the sense of occasion.

    Most of those people also have little to no chance of scoring/medalling in a "B champs" either... i would guess that for their big occasion, they are still going to go for the usual "main" champs races.

    My personal opinion is there are already plenty of alternatives for those who either want a different challenge, or can't realistically sustain a champs challenge so look elsewhere for challenges...

    Lakeland Classics Trophy (which incidentally first attracted me to the sport)
    Runfurther Ultra Champs (with a bit of planning you can run nearly all your counter races on fell terrain)
    Welsh Champs, South/North Wales champs (all favourites of mine)... likewise Scottish, NI
    Regional champs... Shropshire Summer/Winter Series, Kendal Winter League, Kong GP, numerous others.

    I'm not knocking the idea or the reasoning behind it, and anything that thins out the competition a bit is a good thing for me! But i just can't see people taking to it in favour of the usual champs series.

  8. #38
    Master mr brightside's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Loving it in the Pilates Studio
    Posts
    7,862
    Oh, and i don't see this as being necessarily less challenging nav wise either. It's not a champs for people who prefer marked courses per se, all entrants would be expected to know how to cope with equivalent nav challenges to the E/B; maybe an NS race will be available maybe it won't. It's very much a case of what is available on the same day. The unpredictability of this could result in very exciting racing; no longer can the climbers rely on big hills to distance the rest of the field, and if there's no BL then those who rely on a long to get them up the standings are on shaky ground.
    Luke Appleyard (Wharfedale)- quick on the dissent

  9. #39
    Master Witton Park's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Blackburn
    Posts
    8,786
    On the A and B I think that sense of occasion might be missing as Travs has alluded to.

    Perhaps splitting by Gender might work. I know there aren't as many ladies at the champs races but:
    1 It would thin down the field at the mens Champs events by around 20%
    2. Smaller capacity races would be able to pitch for the ladies Champs giving them some interesting options.
    3. Ladies wouldn't have to be racing a mass of blokes.

    I've also thought the VETs being split from the Open might work. I know VETs are competitive in the overall, but then they would have to make a choice as it would be difficult to do both.
    Richard Taylor
    "William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
    Sid Waddell

  10. #40
    Master Travs's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    NE Lakes/Coventry
    Posts
    5,256
    They are all worthy suggestions... and sure there are minor issues with the current champs format (which have been highlighted in posts above)...

    But are the issues really worth changing the format of the champs for? Surely the suggestions above throw up as many, if not more issues?

    Ennerdale/Wasdale on a summers day with 300+ entrants and the cream of the crop battling it out, surely the highlight of the season for a lot of people.

    If it ain't broke...

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •