Quote Originally Posted by OB1 View Post
Yawn.
We can (and indeed should) debate the wider context of junior training and racing, and indeed FRA rules, ’till the cows come home, but perhaps on a different thread (?) rather than hijacking a simple request / reminder regarding current 2012 FRA rules (1st post). Yes, it’s clear the first post riled some folk to question and or ask for the rules (and the '18 b'day quirk') to be clarified (that means ‘made clear’ by the way, not ‘please introduce other diversionary discussions that have nothing to do with trying ones hardest to understand and obey the existing rules’)...
The purpose of the original post (I believe, but am willing to be corrected) was simply to remind folk what the FRA 2012 Junior rules (like in 2011, and 2010, and....) are, two simple rules relating to age and distance, with an adult-quirk at 18. Basically, as things currently stand (for the 2012 season) the FRA rules are pretty straightforward, once ’read and digested’ rather than ‘read and spewed up’. Certainly not rocket science. Outside FRA, in training / other races, ‘we can do whatever we want’ relative to our own beliefs / other rules. Inside FRA , we can exchange views so as to influence what happens in 2013, 2014, ... 2050, but let’s leave and accept 2012 rules as 2012 rules. Hence why, a reminder to follow 2012 rules for 2012 (1st post), seems pretty straightforward as a standalone request ... to me at least.
As a FRA member, part of a family membership, and parent to 3 Juniors, but with no coaching credentials, that’s pretty much all I need to know for FRA Junior rules for 2012, along with the other helpful website material. I would think the majority of the parents, once familiar with the rules, are the same, and it’s maybe a minority of parents that ‘don’t get it’ and hassle the RO for dispensations. Don’t tar us all with the same brush.
Yawn.
Obiwansikobe.
PS. Kenyan youth (as in many other countries), often (normally) travel several km to and from school each day on foot, and often ‘run’ rather than ‘walk’, but rarely ‘race’; it’s just part of the daily commute. Glad my kids, even in Tameside, at the boundary of their school catchment area, walk / run the 1 mile to / from school 50% of the time. Unlike many others. Our school’s only at 250m rather than 2500m, so they lose out a bit on the altitude training, but they don’t seem to complain.
Your argument is in my opinion largely undermined by the sarcastic tone and seeing as it makes you yawn so much I doubt you'll even read this.

Threads meander - that's the nature of them.

The original point of the post was challenged because of what you refer to as a quirk. It wasn't a reminder, it was a threat of disciplinary action. If you make a threat, it is best to make the grounds for that threat clear and watertight. Other areas of athletics do have rules that declare precisely when an athlete becomes a senior. We also have to declare the age details for each race accurately in the published literature.
I don't really want to go back to that as it's been dealt with and the grandees of the FRA can discuss this, as Graham has indicated they will.

Like you, I'm part of a family, with juniors and I do have coaching credentials. I am also a RO. I think debates such as this are right and proper, stimulate ideas, challenge entrenched opinions and will hopefully help us all keep our fantastic genre of endurance running moving forward in the right way

CCR is similarly a coach and RO, Wycoller a parent and coach. We coach junior internationals and FRA Champs and medallists, so we are doing something right, but still have a lot to learn. I think what we are looking for is the chance to offer a few limited opportunities for capable juniors to challenge themselves. If you ever attend any FRA Junior race you will find that the front end is often exceptional. Yet a junior U18 moves from a 6 mile cap to no cap in terms of distance overnight. Often the U18s are also pitched in with the U16s as well meaning they end up running only races up to 4 miles for the top 4 years of their junior fell experience.

We have a situation where a male U16 athlete can qualify for the World U20s and has never been allowed to run over the distance of the worlds in race conditions on the fells in this country.