At the committee meeting last month we had another discussion about paid rounds. We agreed to come up with some statement about these and this is now on the club website - http://www.bobgrahamclub.org.uk/index.php?page=paid
At the committee meeting last month we had another discussion about paid rounds. We agreed to come up with some statement about these and this is now on the club website - http://www.bobgrahamclub.org.uk/index.php?page=paid
Bob
http://bobwightman.co.uk/run/bob_graham.php
Without me you'd be one place nearer the back
Thanks for highlighting this Bob
has there been much uptake on the paid rounds?
Nic Barber. Downhill Dandy
I am glad to see The club take a stance here. I am sure this has been discussed previously and also along with pre marking the route etc. It seems a shame hen it becomes no more than an exec tick list for some. As Ba Ba asks though, I wonder how many people actually pay for guidance/support?
Memory might be quite hazy, but didn't one of the people/companies behind the paid rounds come on here and state his case...?
https://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/show...highlight=paid
The post above relates to it... i'm sure the owner of the site (or a similar site) posted on here and stated their point of view... if I remember correctly they made quite a robust and well-written case for it (whilst not necessarily being one I went along with)
Or maybe I just dreamt the whole thing up...
I may be wrong but I suspect the number of people who pay for a guide to do the BGR is very small indeed in the grand scheme of things. if a small number of people people want to do that, who really cares. it won't make a material difference to the footfall on those hills.
That said, I agree with the club's stance. it has to be true to its ethos and values.
So far there have been two successful paid for rounds, each with a different company. I don't know, since I don't ask, how many paid round attempts there are. It's only if they succeed that I ask and find out.
I'm not privy as to how many ask the companies about it and either don't go ahead or don't succeed. Obviously from the companies' perspective it's in their interests to only take on those likely to succeed.
It's important to note that we aren't stating no paid Rounds, just considering that such Rounds are ineligible for Club membership.
Bob
http://bobwightman.co.uk/run/bob_graham.php
Without me you'd be one place nearer the back
Are sponsored athletes also ineligible?
Back to the lunacy of shamateurs in athletics? Not a direct comparison, but this poses all the same impossible level playing field issues.
Take racing. So is someone paying to enter a fell race disqualified from championships, on the grounds it's a paid race? Or is it only races that use paid results who are clearly employing professionals so " tainted" by " professional help" so not eligible. Should we ban races that use professionals?
Then there are sponsored athletes doing BG : are they professional , if they have an equipment companies resources behind them? Why not exclude them. Kiliam for starters if you use that thinking. Those who are self employed don't get paid to train for it. So they are pure. Those who do it in paid holidays are paid whilst there. Some lucky enough to get entire summers paid holiday. Much easier for them.
It is all total utter nonsense Bob. Meaningless.
There is mo such thing as a level playing field.
Those who live in lakes have big advantage both in access and contacts. Those who live hundreds of miles away at a massive disadvantage on both. So if I bung £50 to supporters to travel is that a problem? If I pay for a taxi to meet me at checkpoints is that a problem too? It's paid support.
Either they get round under their own steam. Or they don't.
Nothing else matters, or can matter. Because the day you question level playing field issues you will enter an impossible maze.
Who is with them is their business. Nobody else, so long as witnessed.
Last edited by Oracle; 27-05-2019 at 04:54 PM.
Fell running is so good partly because it is uncommercial compared to almost any other sport. Paying someone for the petrol they have spent is quite different from paying a company to guide you round a BGR. The club seem to be quite rightly keeping the BGR as uncommercial as is possible and realistic. if people want to pay to be guided round something let them stick to other sports/types of running etc.
I live a fair way from the lakes and I was more than willing to do the BGR in the spirit of it. The whole experience was great, people paying to be guided round the BGR have missed the point and aren't doing a real BGR.
Last edited by LocoAl; 28-05-2019 at 09:38 AM.