FRA Members ratio in races

[Witton Park]

Regards to the issue highlighted in the recent ROs email.

The FRA to me has two hats.

1. It is a membership organisation that produces a magazine and calendar for the use of it's members along with supporting website, forum.....
2. It is a National Committee with delegated powers through it's link to UKA/EA to administer fell running in England and offer guidance for the overall management of the sport across the UK.

It seems there is a concern that runners who are not FRA members, are benefitting without contributing.

Many fell running FRA non-members, and I know a few including some at my club, are already paying in to England Athletics through their annual affiliation and now also to Northern Athletics. I think it's now £19 total per year per athlete.
That EA registration is their race license and in the other Home Nations that is how the system operates.

That athlete element of affiliation to EA, something some fell-only clubs/athletes have historically not operated, actually helps contribute to the insurance cover provided by Race Organisers. It also helps contribute to the coach education, national squads....

So I would just urge that care is taken in the handling of this matter. I contribute to Fell Running whether I have paid my FRA membership or not.
Over the years I have:
Paid my EA license to race.
Paid my FRA membership for the informative calendar/handbook, and the excellent articles in Fellrunner.

Moves to make FRA Membership a condition for race entry, or priority race entry, is wrong in my opinion.

[Dave_Mole]

Moves to make FRA Membership a condition for race entry, or priority race entry, is wrong in my opinion.

and have not been made clear to the membership.
Is this actually being considered?
It will be to the detriment of fell racing if so.

[Wheeze]

Cant believe that's really on the table WP....or am I being hopelessly naive??

[Witton Park]

Cant believe that's really on the table WP....or am I being hopelessly naive??

I must admit I'm not sure if there's a protocol here. As I'm an RO I've been given the meeting notes although I didn't attend as I only tend to do the one race a year at the moment, so I don't want to be seen to be whistle-blowing or anything. That's not the intent, but yes I do see a danger of this happening.

There are entry forms out there for FRA members and non FRA members now and ROs are being asked to use them and report back on the numbers from their races.
At this stage it is certainly only to gather info.

"We know that many people join the FRA purely to support the sport and the FRA, its governing body in England. However, many others do not join the FRA because they do not see a personal benefit, especially now that all race information is available online (meaning that the FRA Handbook does not provide the same incentive to join the FRA as it used to). Many members have told us (with justification) that they feel they are subsidising non-members."

But this bit concerns me and hence my comments.

[Travs]

On a couple of SI Entries race entries there is now a box to fill in your FRA number. It is not a compulsory bit of info, and there appears to be no penalty if you forget, or are not in the FRA.

Edit: just seen WP’s comments that this is purely information gathering (as suspected).

[DrPatrickBarry]

IMRA membership is compulsary in Ireland. It is a right pain if I wanted to time a visit back there in the summer and do a single race.

The requirment is related to insurance.

[brett]

Where is that stated?

Moves to make FRA Membership a condition for race entry

[Llani Boy]

Why should runners with no club affiliation benefit from insurance cover paid for by others?

I would not want to stop non members running in FRA registered and permitted races but perhaps a levy of, say £2, be charged to cover them. This happens in some road/trail races and a cyclocross league I have occasionally ridden in.

It might even encourage runners who do five or more races to join the FRA but still allow a casual runner to race.
We already have different race entry fees in force as shown by the difference between pre-entry and pay on the day prices so a levy to cover insurance, landowner fees or whatever would not be too much to ask.

[brett]

Are you a member of the FRA?

Regards to the issue highlighted in the recent ROs email.

The FRA to me has two hats.

1. It is a membership organisation that produces a magazine and calendar for the use of it's members along with supporting website, forum.....
2. It is a National Committee with delegated powers through it's link to UKA/EA to administer fell running in England and offer guidance for the overall management of the sport across the UK.

It seems there is a concern that runners who are not FRA members, are benefitting without contributing.

Many fell running FRA non-members, and I know a few including some at my club, are already paying in to England Athletics through their annual affiliation and now also to Northern Athletics. I think it's now £19 total per year per athlete.
That EA registration is their race license and in the other Home Nations that is how the system operates.

That athlete element of affiliation to EA, something some fell-only clubs/athletes have historically not operated, actually helps contribute to the insurance cover provided by Race Organisers. It also helps contribute to the coach education, national squads....

So I would just urge that care is taken in the handling of this matter. I contribute to Fell Running whether I have paid my FRA membership or not.
Over the years I have:
Paid my EA license to race.
Paid my FRA membership for the informative calendar/handbook, and the excellent articles in Fellrunner.

Moves to make FRA Membership a condition for race entry, or priority race entry, is wrong in my opinion.

[Llani Boy]

Are you a member of the FRA?

If you are asking me,yes and the WFRA and EA.