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Ban Charities from Triathlon

GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
Ban Charities from triathlon?

Charity places have turned evemts like the London Marathon into a farce where you can only run if you raise £2k plus for charity. People who just want to run have to go into a hat.

Give a couple of years and they'll take over tri?

This can't be allowed to happen in tri can it?

Discuss?

G

Comments

  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
    for every london marathon there's a club run marathon not dominated by charities.

    For every london Triathlon (should it become charity orientated) there will be dozens of others.

    IMO, the concept is more than fine. the downside is that what potentially happens is the great unwashed then presume that anybody doing anything vaguely outside of the sit-on-their-arse-and-watch-TV bracket must be doing it for charity, rather than because they actually like to do so for themselves.

    Overall I'd probably plump on the side of the "big" events going this way as it provides huge publicity for the sport and is still a positive thing if it gets those involved away from the sit-on-their-arse-and-watch-TV bracket.

    I don't think there is really much danger of the Willington On Ploffly Sprint Triathlon being taken over by the charity mobs.



    didds
  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    I think most events will be OK.

    The London Tri sounds horrible and I'm staying well away. I'm sure that will go the way of the London Marathon.

    But there are enough events to allow most races to avoid this sort of thing. Tri is also less immediately accessible. In a marathon you just need to be able to run, you don't also need a bike and to be able to swim. You'd have more difficulty doing a tri in a pink panther costume.

    Plus with HIM and IM I imagine most "let's do it for charideee for a laugh" types would be put off by the length of the race.
  • danny_sdanny_s Posts: 235
    Absolutely not! Think about how much benefit there is if a wide array of charities can all raise thousands of pounds per participant in a race that size. That there are so many people who want to do the race and are willing to go above and beyond simply filling in a form online and actually do something altruistic to benefit others is wonderful. If you don't like it, there are other excellent races. Big city races and the best publicized will tend towards over subscribing and having a more "event" feel than a real race.

    That's part of an event becoming big, and makes it much more main stream than simply the dedicated triathletes. This type of event brings loads of new people into the sport who want to be able to do the famous race. That's another good thing.

    Sorry you feel inconvenienced, but the positives of big city races with charity involvement far outweigh any individual not registering or getting lucky with ballot places.
  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
    "You'd have more difficulty doing a tri in a pink panther costume."


    Oh... is that why I am so slow?

    Didds Clouseau.
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Sorry if this is posted twice - it didn't seem to 'go' on the first 'submit'

    IMHO there is a major question of etiquette which in the main is lost to the 'fun' and 'charity' runners/competitors.

    If an event is a fun run or charity event fair enough and IMHO the one who then tries to set a PB is out of place.

    Where an event is a race and fun and charity runners are permitted to enter then I believe the organisers need to get a grip right from the start. In several 10K (running) races I have plonked myself in a group/position comensurate with my anticipated time only to spend the first K or so fighting my way through Tellytubbies, Spidermen and the inevitable gaggle of 'schoolgirls' who think it would be a lark to get to the front - WRONG - IT'S A BLOODY RACE!! The Marshals should be going through and politely asking/telling them to get to the back. By starting from the back they are still going to have a good time and still raise money for charity - well done, I applaud them, but if they get in the way of people trying to achieve a PB then their fun is at the expense of the serious runner and is selfish. But again I stress this is the fault of the organisers, the fun runners probably don't realise what problems they are causing and unfortunately may get upset when I shout at them 'coming through' and squeeze past them.

    So Wombles in a Triathlon - fine if it is a fun one (do they exist?) - but Orinoko 'know thy place'.
  • apana790apana790 Posts: 76
    the fun2tri events orginize a fun triathlon along side their usual sprints, olymipc distance and half IM races, I myself competed in 2 last year but they're just shortened version of the sprint (200m, 20km bike,2.5km run) but i didnt see any teletubbies and there were even some blokes on proper time trial machines doing them with pretty serious looks on their faces
  • ShaggyShaggy Posts: 140
    I agree with didds, if you really want to run a marathon then you don't want to go to London. Same with an OD triathlon - avoid London. In fact, at the risk of alienating thousands of people, avoid London full stop. Too many people, too noisy, too smelly. Actually that's true of any big city. Or medium city. Or small city. Or reasonable sized town. I like my cave in the middle of nowhere!!

    I would ban ridiculous outfits though. If you can run a marathon in a costume leftover from It's a Knockout then you can train properly and run it fast!

    Pleased it's not just me who gets annoyed with people starting out of position. Generally I aim for just behind the guys in vests in the middle of winter, but definitely in front of costumes.

    Decided to do Ironman UK and then thought I could raise some money for a worthy cause with this, so can't agree with a ban on charity in triathlon. Although I there will be too many people there for my liking.

    Ade
  • TesseractTesseract Posts: 280
    Loads of points being raised in this thread, but staying away from London's pros and cons (there's a whole thread elsewhere) and going back to the OP....

    I've never had a problem registering for London, you just need to get your finger out and do it early enough. I've also raised around £6K for cancer charities over the last 3 years (I don't compete in a daft costume). Many charities rely heavily on fund raisers, and if they didn't get those funds, the world would be a worse place, and we would all be sadder for it.

    There generally isn't a problem with daft outfits in triathlon, as it's kind of hard to swim in them, and by the time you get to the cycle/ run, the field should be spread out enough that it doesn't matter. You could argue that charity competitors might take the wrong position for the swim, but there's always some noob that would make the same mistake (although I'd say most people taking up tri read enough to know better).

    In the other thread on London it's pretty much been agreed that it's good for bringing people into the sport, but most experienced triathletes will dodge it - so even if that becomes a charitytastic event, so what? Stop being a bunch of Tri-nazis.
  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    Interesting point raised.

    Some people have genuine reasons for wanting to get involved and can be an inspiration to others see Team Laws for example!!! Can we turn around to someone who has lost a loved one through illness and say "Sorry mate, go shake your charity tin somewhere else". No.

    However, what I do roll my eyes at are the number of emails I get, often from people I barely know, or colleagues I've never met, asking me to sponsor them for a charity which they really have no commitment to, to run a bl00dy 5k or some such. Sorry, getting a bit grumpy there but I think it devalues a lot of good charity work. Isn't every penny raised worthwhile though Dave? Regardless of how? Hmmmm... you've got a point there Dave, and now I'm talking to myself again.

    So what's your point exactly Dave? Okay... don't ban it. I guess I'm just getting grumpy in my old age, but if you are going to get sponsored make it something you truly believe in and the big softy I am I'll more than likely sponsor you.
  • clv101clv101 Posts: 45
    Having to raise lots of sponsorship for the London Marathon? The London Tri maybe going the same way? It's a good thing, a fantastic thing! It raises the profile of the sport, media coverage, engrains it in the social psyche that it's a fundamentally good thing to get involved in these events, gets people off their backsides to train...

    To those so don't like 'fun runners' competing in 'their' events... I don't empathise with that at all. There are plenty of marathons where you don't have to raise lots of cash, lots of small races where you can do your own thing. The same would be the case for triathlon if the London Tri went the same way.

    We should be ambassadors for the sport - the goal being to increase participation.
  • Didnt see anyone in a costume at strathy?

    Im with Tess on this one. I did it for charity too but i was just dressed as a short fat guy noone had trouble over taking

    If your serious there are a ton of other qualifiers you can participate in. Plus the funners....they cant do that much damage surely? the swim would surely have most of them float toward the back?
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    clv101 is spot on.
    People seem to latch onto any reason for not getting a PB. The easy target - fun runners or charity triathletes. No, the truth is if you want PBs you pick your spot, you pick your races and you train as hard as you can.
    I think it's pretty sad for people to deny others the opportunity to take part in a triathlon because they are worried about losing a few seconds. The truth is..your speed is down to how fit and prepared you are.
    Stop making excuses and stop trying to make the sport elitist.
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    I don't think anyone is trying to be elitist. In every event I have been in there are the elites and those who doggy paddle the swim, amble round on a shopping bike and run/walk - terrific, that is what I love. It is INCLUSIVE and I am full of admiration for every single one. It is just common courtesy to do what you do WITHOUT getting in the way of anyone else.

    I take part in the Lincoln Santa run, it's a bit hard to set a PB dressed as a Santa wearing a beard so I don't do it - it is fun and I raise money for charity, anyone who tries to set a PB in that event is IMHO a bit sad - come on it is a FUN RUN

    When I take part in a 10K RACE I place myself in the correct place for my anticipated time, not at the front where I will get in the way of those who will do it in a sub 40min time.

    If you are taking part in a RACE where you can dress as Spiderman then have a bit of thought for other people, do not be selfish and start in the appropriate spot. There seems to be this concept that because I am doing it for charity I can do what the hell I like and if anyone dissents then they are miserable, moaning buggers.

    I have raised money for charity taking part in Triathlons but I race my nuts off (still crap times) and would be absolutely mortified if I caused a situation where anyone, whether elite or not, was held up because of my actions.

    Personally I do not want to see Batman in a Triathlon RACE - Batman, Spiderman, Telltubbies please stick to fun runs or major events when fun runners are permitted but please, please do not spoil th event for others - that is selfish.

    On a further note, most of the 10K races I take part in ban MP3's etc as a safety concern, wearing a Darth Vader mask impedes your awareness of your surroundings and in a RACE you become a hazard not only to yourself, but other competitors and on the bike e leg other road users, I can see Plod having a field day pulling over cape clad cyclists, and how long do you think they will tolerate/cooperate with Triathlon organisers when they have to keep doing that?
  • clv101clv101 Posts: 45
    Personally I do not want to see Batman in a Triathlon RACE - Batman, Spiderman, Telltubbies please stick to fun runs or major events when fun runners are permitted but please, please do not spoil th event for others - that is selfish.
    How about this Batman?
    http://eireman.org/node/96
  • JonhinioJonhinio Posts: 289
    I think charity places are a way into the sport, so I'm all for it. The charity I ran for at the London Marathon last year recently sent out a mailer to all it's runners to see if they wanted to do the London Tri.

    My first even run was a charity 5k. If I hadn't done that I would have never got into triahtlon
  • TRIumphantTRIumphant Posts: 850
    I think there's two issues raised here.

    Firstly, raising money for Charity. Yes, do it. I think any event that people are bale to raise money for a Charity is a good thing, and I know that I'm using one of my Tri's (a HIM) to riase some.

    Secondly, Charity only race. Not a good idea. I got into Tri becuase so far I;ve never made it throught the LM lottery. If I was prepared to raise a set amount for a charity then I would have a place, but there is a limit on how much money I can squeeze out of people, and giving the majority of that to one charity so that I could run the LM was a no goer for me. However, the London Tri is a choice without the Lottery. You can either go the Charity way, or pay your moeny and get a place. As long as races always have the option of entry fees for guaranteed entry then I'm fine with that.
  • One thing I'm not so keen on is the idea of official charities.

    IMUK offer (I think) free slots to those who agree to raise a certain amount for a set list of charities. While all doubtless very worthwhile none of them particularly struck a chord with me. In order to represent a charity of my choice I had to pay full whack for the entry.
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    Have you seen the ads as the bottom of this page - the invasion has begun.

    Not against anyone raising money for charity - if they want to.

    But going the way of the FLM where you basically can only race if you rise money in my opinion is wrong.

    G
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    I am with Zacnici on this.
    charities exist and there is a definate need for them.

    The organisers have to amend the entry requirements if the event is 'A QUALIFYING EVENT ' for say GB team entry requirements,the FLM used to be one not sure if it is now.Okay so you can get a guarranteed entry if you run faster than 2h40m female 3h15 (might have changed.).
    Discriminate neither for nor against.
  • The London marathon is a show race ..a world spectacular, the envy of other cities... it's a 26mile festival on legs and that's why it's so popular. The charities are absolutely key to this atmosphere and its success to running, health awareness, medical research, support of all kinds etc etc.. ..I don't think the amount of charity places even makes a dent on the total number of available places, but that's just how many people want to be a part of it, why? for the above reasons..because it's the London marathon!
    I've applied 3 years in a row but still haven't got in.

    I am in the London tri on a team relay charity place however as our company has an affiliation with one of the sponsors, we have to raise £1500 between 3 of us so i thought that was more manageable .. collecting I've found quite hard because everyone is over receiving random justgiving.com emails from about 20 different 5k runs that have occurred over the summer (mutter) .. but anyway i always gave up a little cash as i know how hard it is to collect.
    Being in charity place certainly doesn't make you any less competitive. I've raced 2 tri's so far this season and have my first OD in under 3 weeks.

    It reminds me of when i got into snowboarding about 15years ago .. a sport in it's infancy and the majority of threads were about how to keep the sport their own, just as they wanted it, not letting it get too commercial, not wanting big name sponsorship, not wanting it in the Olympics etc.. However once the big names did come along, the most amazing terrain parks would be sculpted year on year and the standard simply shot through the roof.. the same would happen for tri in future years.
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    sALTbar-active raises apoint re snowboarding,and that,it wanted to remain independant,almost renegade in its outlook on sport and wanted to stay out of the mainstream,but the paradox being as soon as people get interested it ceases to be out of the limelight and comes into the mainstream.

    Does anyone feel that the word Charity event is associated with the word fun and then tends to dumb down the sport???
    Even though the event is still tough it creates a stigma.
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