Forums >General Running>YOU SOLD MY BIB?
miscreant
Hey - Im a newer runner (about 1 yr) and I don't know if this ever happened to you, but it seems highly... odd, to me. I signed up for a HM months ago. Great deal. Local race. They have FB and twitter and their own website. They posted months ago they were increasing the size of the field due to increasing demand every year, but they kept updating the open registrations. (400 to start)...100 left...50 left...7 left.. sold out. Today, they announce since they actually have no extra bibs, they are going to compile the bibs and 10 min before the 9am start, they will start re-selling (double selling) the bibs to people who want to register race day. There are a lot of issues with this particular race why I feel this is a bad idea. (1) they are having "walkers" start the course early at 8:15am. The destination has 2 roads to it, one will be closed with a gate (once you've drive all the way up the road). and the open road is the one with slower racers on it going against traffic (2) there is no day-before packet pickup. (3) this event has never been this big. Everything about this race organization has been 100% great and admirable until this. But in your opinion, should paid, registered runners have their bibs re-sold without their consent?
Hey - Im a newer runner (about 1 yr) and I don't know if this ever happened to you, but it seems highly... odd, to me.
I signed up for a HM months ago. Great deal. Local race. They have FB and twitter and their own website. They posted months ago they were increasing the size of the field due to increasing demand every year, but they kept updating the open registrations. (400 to start)...100 left...50 left...7 left.. sold out.
Today, they announce since they actually have no extra bibs, they are going to compile the bibs and 10 min before the 9am start, they will start re-selling (double selling) the bibs to people who want to register race day.
There are a lot of issues with this particular race why I feel this is a bad idea. (1) they are having "walkers" start the course early at 8:15am. The destination has 2 roads to it, one will be closed with a gate (once you've drive all the way up the road). and the open road is the one with slower racers on it going against traffic (2) there is no day-before packet pickup. (3) this event has never been this big.
Everything about this race organization has been 100% great and admirable until this.
But in your opinion, should paid, registered runners have their bibs re-sold without their consent?
You sure do complain a lot.
I'm happy, hope you're happy too...
First let me provide you with some background. While you are indeed correct that we gave runners ample warning that the race was going to sell out, in fact we sent out communications when there were 100, 50, 30 and 7 remaining slots, as soon as the race sold out we were inundated with requests for "special exceptions' or to "allow just one more runner." When we informed people that there were no slots we were faced with threats to simply bandit the race or in their words "I'll just show up and run without a bib." In addition we faced pressure form members of the Hartford Track Club Board to make special exceptions for certain individuals who were long time members.
Once again proving that being an RD is a thankless task.
(It's disappointing that when people don't get what they want due to their own actions (i.e. failing to register), they try to get over on others (special exemptions) or try to just take that which they have no right to. )
Feeling the growl again
Once again proving that being an RD is a thankless task. (It's disappointing that when people don't get what they want due to their own actions (i.e. failing to register), they try to get over on others (special exemptions) or try to just take that which they have no right to. )
+1. IMHO she should have stuck to the original communicated rules and deadline and informed those threatening to bandit that they would be prohibited from future events (banditing a local charity race, wow). You are never going to please everyone and continuing to change things to try and accomplish that usually leave you worse off than where you were before.
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Why can't they just sell new bibs up to an amount that equals the number of bibs that were not picked up?
This.
From the POV of doing timing and results, I'm having trouble comprehending why they would want to reuse bib numbers instead of using new bib numbers?
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
This. From the POV of doing timing and results, I'm having trouble comprehending why they would want to reuse bib numbers instead of using new bib numbers?
That seems like the easiest solution that would make the most sense. Maybe there is a price threshold at 400 runners with the timing chip company and it would raise the costs a lot to add those extra couple runners on over the limit. If that's not the case, then I just don't get why they didn't add new bib #'s.
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+2
Regarding the comment about just selling extra bibs up to the number of now shows - I think they said they physically do not have any more bibs. Having said that, I probably have some old ones lying around they can use
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+1. Although I never did road races complainers/people who threaten legal action is why I got out of organizing events.
CT JEFF
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In regards to new bib #s, one of the comments they had already made on their page was that they were straight up completely out of bibs, as in the actual physical bib. They had a few random ones lying around but already used those.
I'll be running this race too, and so far communication has been excellent. I feel badly for the Rd, she has done a great job so far (this is by far the cheapest race with the most amount of swag I have ever seen, and still manages to donate a lot to charity).
I'm puzzled about being unable to get bibs.
I know of at least three places I could get bibs from not to mention a few other RD's that I'm quite sure would have something.
Just did an online search too...can have them overnighted. With or without tearoffs.
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Since no one's bib actually did get sold, isn't this really much ado about something that didn't happen?
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When asked why he didn't do a certain thing in his race, a well-know race director said the equivalent of "Because I don't want to." And that it what it boils down to: Each race director has a zillion details to wrestle with, and makes decisions for each one based on their experience, input from their race committee, and on what they think is best for that particular race. Most race directors do an extraordinary job overall, even though some people may not like how a particular issue is handled. And, no matter what decision an RD makes about a certain issue, there will ALWAYS be someone who thinks it should have been handled a different way.
When you register for a race, you are buying into the way that race is organized. As a race announcer I know has often said: You are not obligated to sign up for any race. If you don't like how it is organized, don't go.
When there is a new policy such as the one described here, isn't it fair to wait to see how it works before criticizing it?
I help organize a half, and we also send our walkers off a half hour early. The slower walkers are spread out well enough by the time the runners catch up to them that they do not present a problem. Our faster walkers are11+ miles into the race by the time the first runners catch them, so most runners won't ever see them until the award ceremony.
At our race, we handle the issue of transfers and no-shows differently than Kelly. Who is right? I dunno. And what works for us may not work for her, and visa-versa.
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Apparently this is the kind of thinking that USATF had about ties at the Trials, before last summer.