CORRECTOriginally Posted by brett
Non members should be able to view but not post.
At the top of the page it states and I quote " the official forum of the FRA"
so that in my opinion is the people it should serve.
Lets be honest £12 a year is the best value for money in any sport.
£1 a month is not a lot for 3 top class mags, a rule book and calandar, discount at some outlets and a top website.
In total agreement Detritus. Why should people be members of the FRA to enter a race?
I'm assuming those that say that would never dare enter a WFRA race or a SHR race?
You should encourage people to join the FRA through things like the fellrunner mag, not encourage them by removing the right of them to race in the fells unless they join and force them into joining.
I agree with you about all the fees, it does add up so you can understand the occassional racer not joining the FRA.
I'm in the BMC, WFRA, Eryri, MLTA, WA, it all adds up, I'll probably join the FRA now for the magazine as I enjoyed reading it.
Totally Disagree
Sometimes good ideas come from people who are outside of an organisation. If you make this forum members only then your are 1) closing your mind to the opinions of others, some of which could be useful and - 2) being very elitist which is not was this forum or fellrunning is about
If you havent got in to the 3 peaks then wish all who have good luck and move on.
I will be trying to enter the Mount Washington race in the USA next year. Its done on a ballot and I am not a member of the USA mountain running organisation - nor should I be to enter. Its always over subscribed and many are dissapointed. If I dont get in then C'est La vie. There are other races
Re: Three Peaks 2008
ere ere, before we know, we'll all be sporting the same mustache and wearing t-towels on our head with silly handshakes to get in to the bar.
I didn't even bother to enter ajohn, but when I first looked on the entry list there were only 15 names
I do wish all the everyone good luck. They will need it to keep working to pay the £20 fee.
Lets face it the race is a classic but in true fell terms should not be an A cat.
It is good we all have different views, but I still maintain championship races should be for member only
If it was a members only championship it should be called the FRA championships not English championships as it wouldn't be open to all and sundry. If you are an attached runner you can run in all the other national champs provided you can meet certain standards so why shouldn't it be the same in fellrunning. I know all thats gone on in terms of UKA but if I remember rightly UKA and FRA are still in some kind of collaberation. Ok fellrunners may not wish to compete at the AAA's on the track but there may be some track runners or road runners that would like to compete at and are more than capable of competing at the English Championships on the fells. To make it members only doing the English Championships would be making fellrunning into what seems like a special group where you'd need secret handshakes and badges. I find it strange that at one end of the scale you have people who don't want to pay fees to run for a club and set up fell ponies and at the other people who want to make fell running elitist by making an English championships FRA only. There seems to be more beurocracy than racing goes on what with talks of independance and then what goes on the forum. Without this forum and being able to post I doubt very much I'd be getting/got into fellrunning. So to make the forum members only posting would be bad aswell. If people are bothered about the forum being for members only why don't you do what another club I'm in does and have an open area and a members only section where member only conversations take place. Although in the members only bit hardly anyone uses it anyhow. i think I've said enough or too much some may think. People have to wake up to the reality that fellrunning is catching up with the other aspects of running change is innevitable. Whether that change is good or not I don't know.
Graeme
On one level the organisers have done nothing wrong - the entry process was open to everyone (who has unrestricted internet access). As I said earlier good luck to those who've got in, I'm sure you'll have a great race. However...
first, as far as I know the only pronouncement about when entries would open was a general "sometime in November". If a date had been quoted then the people who were most keen could have joined the queue in true Harrods Sale fashion. From what I see, entries on this occasion depended largely on whether you happened to access the website on Monday of this week or whether you know someone who did.
second, I feel that a little bit of loyalty wouldn't have gone amiss. I ran the race when there were only 200+ finishers and I've run it for years (although nothing like eg Andy Hauser). Given that 2008 was guaranteed to be a busy one it would have been quite easy to give priority entries to people who supported the race regularly.
third, while it's true that there were years in the mid to late 90s when the entry limit was reached, it was also the case that anyone who was really committed to the race could get an entry. I don't know anyone who missed out then unless they were dopey enough to wait several weeks after entries had opened. There's a bit of a difference between that and the 24 hour window that applied in this case.
To anyone who's entered but finds they can't make it, please PM me and I'll happily take on your entry.
chris is correct in saying if your not in just go and do another race
which i will
but i still say i dont agree that the race should be full before the 2008 calendar has been distributed
Surely if a race is as popular as this, it can't be any good....
I'm becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the suggestion that entry to a race such as The Three Peaks which happens to be an English Championship race in 2008 should be restricted to FRA members only. I had always felt that one of the good things about fell races in general is that they are open to everyone be they a member of the FRA or a UKA affiliated club or neither. It's good if people become interested enough in our sport to join the FRA but not essential and I personally don't like to see people being made to feel unwelcome.It is good we all have different views, but I still maintain championship races should be for member only
One aspect that is in danger of being lost in this debate is that all the races included in the English Championship are first and foremost individual annual races in the FRA Calendar. They are fixtures in our Calendar which will take place whether or not they are selected by the FRA Championship subcommittee for inclusion in the English Championships. What I am trying to say is that English Championship status is an add-on. So why should eligibility to enter an existing event be any different than in any other year? I wonder what many organisers would think if it was.
Not everyone who participates in the Three Peaks Race will be eligible to count in the English Championship - eligibility for most people (see P. 99 of the 2007 FRA Handbook) means being a member of the FRA or an English Club registered with England Athletics (the English part of UKA).
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