101 uses for a mobile!

[daz h]

Indeed the FRA did. I drafted it.

As I recall mobile phones were not raised at the relevant FRA Committee but there was a debate on the definition of waterproof rather than windproof and what is "full" body cover.

I did Edale in 2007 and I have raced in even worse conditions.

However whether or not I think carrying a mobile phone is sensible, as a race organiser my start point is that the race organiser is always right. It is his race and if you don't want to play by his rules then don't play at all.

Btw there are now approaching 7000 members of the FRA. The days that Wheeze likes to wax poetical about are gone or going. Fellrunning isn't a fringe pastime for a few hard men who build dry stone walls and have sheep anymore.

Welcome to the real world of the 21st Century.

finally a bit of common sense graham , thankyou

[daz h]

We do, but that doesn't mean we can't disagree with them and have an open discussion.

this is correct david but clearly some people on here are taking the piss out of andy and thats naughty in my book.
ive never heard so much fuss about a bit of plastic that wll weigh naff all in your bag.
its just an extra precaution , the only problem i can see is that we will have girls aloud ringtones going off throughout the race

[Barry 440]

Do we want to preserve the 'old-skool' hard-man image or go for the full-lycra GPS version?

What's the outfit these days for the 'hard man' image? Hope it's not hessian sacking and hob nail boots - that could chafe really bad in lots of places, or perhaps that a good thing! Definatley a bit of a lycra man myself, damm that wanting to feel as comfortable as possible whilst running and I don't run for image sake.

If anyone's intrested the orange network works really well around the whole of the skyline route and you can buy a 'pay as you go' phone for a tenner, not a bad price for a bit of saftey kit. I'll be taking mine and should, God forbid, I go and do myself a mischief I'll use it to call MR.

The thing about 'safety equipment' lulling people into a false sense of security is if you are stupid enough to think a mobile phone etc, etc, is all you will need to get you safely around a race like the skyline, well surely thats a case of natural selection.

The longer I spend in the hills and mountains, the more I realise the importance of carrying the kit that makes your time their as safe as possible.

And don't forget if you don't use it for the safety aspect, you could always to try Ringing Roger ... get it.

Of and one more thing......

On the FRA/UKA issue there were a load of people of the sheep tendency, saying "the committee know best, they put lots of work in and we should respect their judgement".

Thanks for generalising about the intelligence of the majority of voters in the FRA/UKA vote.

[Mud]

On the FRA/UKA issue there were a load of people of the sheep tendency, saying "the committee know best, they put lots of work in and we should respect their judgement".

Thanks for generalising about the intelligence of the majority of voters in the FRA/UKA vote.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I was generalising.

I was talking about several specific post(er)s in the forum debate on the FRA/UKA issue.

The thing about 'safety equipment' lulling people into a false sense of security is if you are stupid enough to think a mobile phone etc, etc, is all you will need to get you safely around a race like the skyline, well surely thats a case of natural selection.

Risk compensation theory is more subtle than that though. There's a useful piece here, with some stuff about how anti-lock braking may make people drive more dangerously.

I'm not suggesting that it's an exact parallel. However, the point has been made of the mountain rescue usefulness of casualties having phones with them. Would some or any of these people not have become casualties if they didn't have phones with them, and therefore hadn't pushed the envelope that little bit more....?

clearly some people on here are taking the piss out of andy

I didn't see those posts, Daz, where are they? There's a lot of lively discussion, but surely that's a good thing?

[Wheeze]

Yeah.
Personally, I think its a great thing to have my phone with me. I bought a cheap (£15) Nokia 1100 that seems pretty impervious to being mashed about in a bum bag along with fruit, compass, maps, ventolin inhaler, whistle etc etc. But it's my personal choice to take it with me. I take my own safety seriously and carrying a phone does not seem to hinder my enjoyment whether I'm racing or not.

As ever, the point of the discussion is principle and precedent. And the very disparate views offered in this thread reminds us that we are all different with our own versions of 'common sense'. I view the compulsory kit rules as a bare minimum or a starting point. Others clearly view the whole thing as a blessed nuisance. That's all fine. What we must take care of is the view that those outside of our sport will take. Those with little or no understanding of the appeal. If they take mobile phone carrying at Edale as precedent, where will this end?
I've never built a dry stone wall or kept sheep. I am a townie. But I cherish the release that fell running gives me from the normal downtrodden situation where I have to do what I am told the whole time. A lot of the appeal is deciding for myself what precautions I will take and how well I will plan my attack at an difficult challenge. In that regard, I seem to be more cautious than many and more cavalier than as many others.

Viewed on its own, carrying a phone seems a great idea. But I do not like to contemplate the larger wedge coming behind the idea.

[Barry 440]

I'm with you a little bit Wheeze, if I'm honest it dosen't sit 100% comfortably but as already mentioned it is the race organiser choice and I'm willing to go with it if he's willing to stage the race.

In the worst case scenario, joking aside, what do you really think the 'larger wedge' would be?

[daz h]

I didn't see those posts, Daz, where are they? There's a lot of lively discussion, but surely that's a good thing?[/quote]


okay perhaps thats a bit harsh , sorry mud, wheeze, chris and all the rest.

hang on back in a mo my phone is buzzing


oh its just a free upgrade text ,problem solved

[Grouse]

Haven't been on the forum for a few days and was planning to put an entry in for the Skyline but I haven't got a mobile. I'm trying very hard not to be rude... but... bollocks.

[Stolly]

Running into the teeth of a bone numbing wind on the long and very gradual descent after the final climb of the Tour of Pendle last month, I knew that I badly needed to keep running to get out of the cold; I was in a sorry condition there for a while and the thought of stopping and trying to fumble about for a mobile phone wouldn't have crossed my mind; I mean what then? I get in touch with emergency services and wait? In the cold open fell with a god awful windchill?

A mobile could help if someone got completely lost in clag or fell and broke a bone but its no protection against the cold or hypothermia really and a whistle or shouting could do the job and get nearby help much more readily when in a race.

I will readily take my mobile with me to run the race but alot of good points have been made here; funnily enough the comments that have seemed the most grouchy have been from the organiser and from the establishment perhaps mainly because they don't like the idea of a forum chewing the cud over something really interesting and relevant. I'm not critizing Andyj for his (their) decision to make mobile phones compulsory (although I disagree with it) but he's wide open to criticism for having such a short fuse when others have voiced their opinions.

[Grouse]

I am criticizing him.



(But not on here - I don't like the thought that I won't be doing the skyline again). I'm sure he's a very very nice man with only the best interests of fellrunners at heart.




Bollocks.