Hip Redux
Taking something you did not pay for? Yeah, I guess it was a bad analogy.
The fact that it was binge eating at a fruit stand sort of threw me. lol
So it was wrong for me to give my kid (18 months) an apple at the store when she threw a fit because she wanted an apple. I even left the sticker on there so I could pay for it.
Then she dropped it and it went under the display.....I didnt chase it.
”Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.”
Tomas
That's probably because the spell checker here doesn't recognize bandit as a verb. Bandited and banditted are also flagged. I would go with a single t as that follows the pattern for vomit, the only other verb I could readily think of that ends in it.
Thanks. It makes sense. I also have a problem with travelling and traveling. My spell check says travelling is right and traveling is wrong. But that's the way you would spell it, isn't it?
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
KillJoyFuckStick
Easy solution, find your friend at the race and give her a good punch to the nixon.
You people have issues
5K Specialist
I get your frustration. The race is capped at 5500 for a reason. If you add a bunch of bandits, it makes it much more difficult for those who registered on time and paid for the race to do their best.
Personal Bests:
800M - 2:38 (5/28/13) | 1 Mile -5:54 (5/28/13) | 3K - 11:55 (12/29/12) | 2M - 13:00 (12/1/12) | 5K - 20:00 (4/12/13) | 13.1M - 1:37:24 (2/3/13)
This ^.
Running is my mental-Ctrl-Alt-Del.
Healed Hammy
If you want to make a point, try this:
Offer to give your bib to your friend since she missed the registration. Of course you don't want to but put her in a difficult position. If she asks you why would you do that, tell her that you find banditry wrong and this way the race organizers do not get gypped.
She will do one of two things:
A. Refuse to take your bib whereby you can then say without pretense that it is wrong to run a race you don't pay for
B. She takes your bib at which point you realize she is not a friend but a louse.
Either way you come out on top and she has to make the ethical choice.
fourouta5- I like what you said. I told her that because she didn't get in before the cut-off that she could always spectate and cheer the runners on. I've done this plenty of times and I told her that. She said it would be like being a kid on their birthday with wrapped presents in front of them and not allowed to touch, meaning not running with everyone else.
I told her to do what she thought was right and that it will be obvious if she puts on a different bib without the title of the race written on the front of it. I never got a reply. I'm sure she got my point. Oh and at the end of the race, they hand out mugs and hot chocolate. You need a bib for this too. Wonder what she will tell people than if she decides to go.
I also have a problem with travelling and traveling. My spell check says travelling is right and traveling is wrong. But that's the way you would spell it, isn't it?
Either is acceptable. Traveling is more US English, travelling is more UK English. I imagine your spellcheck is set to Canada English, which generally corresponds more to UK English. In Quebec however, all bets are off.
Dave
Ha! Thanks, David. We have some words and expressions in French which are totally ours in Quebec and would not be understood in France. But the original spelling of French words is still dictated by France and we would not think of making our own version in Quebec. You guys are real rebels vis a vis the Brits.
Sorry Hilary... Tell your friend you are going to denounce her unless she makes a donation to the race charity which is equal to the cost of registration.
Hillary:
You now have a choice:
A. Complete the race and get a mug with hot chocolate;
B. Complete the race, get 2 mugs with hot chocolate (if you can) and give her one and say "happy holidays" and put this behind you, hehe.
Either way this is probably not the issue to end a friendship. It is a values type decision she makes and tuck that nugget away when you need to measure her in a situation again.
Skirt Runner
I feel like sometimes we as regular road racers apply values and ethics to things that other people just don't have on their ethical radars.
For example, running wearing someone else's bib. I would have never imagined how "frowned upon" this was if I was not a poster on this forum. When my boyfriend's coworker could not attend a race last minute, she didn't want her bib to go to waste and offered it to me. In her mind (she has only run a few races before) she was being super nice. The race had been sold out for months, it was an expensive ($100 for a 10K) race, she couldn't use her bib, she was offering it to me free of charge because she'd rather someone enjoy the race than her registration fee go to waste. The bib was legitimate, it was paid for. I would not be taking anyone's spot. Yet I saw it as an ethical dilemma. And also an issue of if I PRed, could I really count it as my PR because it was not officially tied to my name. When I tried to explain all this to my boyfriend (who is generally an incredibly ethical person) he thought I was absolutely off my rocker for even considering not doing it, and thought I was nuts for thinking there was anything unethical or amoral about running with her bib, especially since there was no way I'd come anywhere close to placing in her age group, and especially because we run at similar speeds anyway.
Lots of people don't see an issue with banditing a race either. They see it as, people are running on a public road, there is no reason why they shouldn't run on that public road as well. However, I can see the other side of the coin, and I would never bandit because the issue I see with it in that the race fee pays for certain conveniences: porta potties, water on the course, water and snacks after, the roads being closed to traffic and lots of volunteers and law enforcement keeping it that way.....plus money usually also goes to charity. By running the race and not paying for it, you are basically stealing these services provided as well as stealing from the charity. The fact that your friend wants to make a fake bib shows that she knows she is doing something wrong, so to me that does question ethical judgement.
When all is said and done, I agree with fourouta5 that it may be best to just let it go. She is going to do what she wants, and it is not hurting you directly. I'd let it go and not hold a grudge or make a big deal over it and spoil a friendship. But if you feel her handling of the situation is indicative of something more telling about her character, store the info away, but then move on. Enjoy your race and don't let her spoil it.
PRs: 5K- 28:16 (5/5/13) 10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13) 4M- 41:43 (9/7/13) 15K- 1:34:25 (8/17/13) 10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14) HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14) Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)
I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to
Only because I've run and also volunteered at a number of 5ks in my short running career, banditing bothers me from three perspectives.
One, usually a local 5K is associated with a charity which benefits from entry fees. Two, as a runner there will always be some runners faster than her who may have to weave valuable seconds to get around her at several points in the race. Three, she may be the additional person who you have to wait behind in the line for porta-potties, the person who takes the last good parking space, or takes the last favorite type of bagel for finishers or the last favorite musclemilk flavor.
Of course, there is always the medical emergency issue. Too often, one reads about a fit person who collapses on the course. What if the race volunteers are unable to identify her due to the the fictitious bib?
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot
Kristin- I'm letting it go. I'm not going to the race with her anyway and with a crowd of 5500 runners that doesn't include spectators or volunteers, I highly doubt I will see her. It does annoy me though because of the fact she is in the other group we are in and is technically saying that she's running a race for her buddy. I like your post because I would also not take someone else's bib to run a race either. It is like faking an identity. LOL.
Bozydeco- You make an excellent points too! I like how you mentioned medical care. I'm a nurse so totally get this and it does happen.
Does banditry rank up there with suicide bombers? Probably not. I still have a problem with it from a number of perspectives.
The justification is that, "hey, these are public streets and I'm as entitled as anyone to run on them." True, except that the race organizers may well have paid a lot of money to have those streets blocked off. At least part of the race fee is there to cover that expense. Ergo, you are deriving a benefit that others have unwillingly subsidized for you. Some bandits don't have a bit of problem with drinking the Gatorade and water that's provided on course and that is obviously just plain old stealing. Bandits that go in over race caps just make it a worse experience for everyone.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).