Illegal Aid in a Marathon (Read 949 times)

xhristopher


    I like how this discussion has deteriorated into sarcasm and hypotheticals. No, really, I love it. If someone was really upset on here about illegal water they are supposed to just wade through this sarcasm? Really? Hows that fair? Isnt there a rule against it? Isnt it an illegal advantage to those on this discussion looking for sarcasm?

     

    IKR? I mean, how are we ever going to solve the problems with running in the world if we keep getting sidetracked?

    LedLincoln


    not bad for mile 25

      You're all disqualified from this forum for illegal sarcasm and hypotheticals.


      Resident Historian

        Sigh.  The Forum Director chooses not to enforce the rules?  Oh wait, what rules?Wink

        Neil

        --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        “Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I'm here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. - Hunter S. Thompson


        Walk-Jogger

           

          This will scare your brother away. I was in that race. The guy was riding alongside his girlfriend, running her first marathon. When he went under the train, everyone figured he was toast. He lucked out that the tracks are slightly deeper right there.

           

          Did she push him? Evil

           

          Fortunately my marathon is on an old abandoned railbed, converted to a multi-use trail. So, there are no train tracks or trains. There is a two-mile long tunnel that we have to run through, and there's a rumor of possible zombies in the tunnel...

           

          Retired &  Loving It


          A Saucy Wench

             

            This will scare your brother away. I was in that race. The guy was riding alongside his girlfriend, running her first marathon. When he went under the train, everyone figured he was toast. He lucked out that the tracks are slightly deeper right there.

             

            Yeah but it is the portland marathon.  The fact that runners havent been taken out by Amtrak yet is a freaking miracle.  Especially the second crossing late in the race when you are brain fogged enough to be really stupid.

             

            MTA:  I was in the race that year too.  Somehow I missed both seeing about it and hearing about it.

            I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

             

            "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

            bhearn


              Funny thing is, this was a MAX train. Guy was busy talking to his girlfriend, hit a curb, and boom, lands right in front of an oncoming train. They brought in the train-towing car, expecting to find a mess underneath. Nope.


              A Saucy Wench

                Funny thing is, this was a MAX train. Guy was busy talking to his girlfriend, hit a curb, and boom, lands right in front of an oncoming train. They brought in the train-towing car, expecting to find a mess underneath. Nope.

                 

                Well, Portlands history with people getting hit by the Max is pretty bad.

                I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                 

                "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                zoom-zoom


                rectumdamnnearkilledem

                  So if I accept a beer hand-out is it cheating...or the opposite of cheating?  It was PBR in St. Louis...I got a kick out of chugging a non-A-B beer just a mile or so from the HQ.

                  Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                  remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                       ~ Sarah Kay

                  cincyjacket


                    The OP doesn't know what he's talking about. The elites have their own special concoctions mixed in personalized bottles along the course. They certainly don't take the aid that is offered to the running masses.

                     

                    They don't get disqualified, so obviously it's allowed by the race officials.

                    AmoresPerros


                    Options,Account, Forums

                      ...

                       

                      They don't get disqualified, so obviously it's allowed by the race officials.

                       

                      This seems somewhat faulty reasoning -- I see people "not get disqualified" all the time for things that are against the rules -- including at least four times this evening, in fact.

                      It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.


                      Walk-Jogger

                        The OP doesn't know what he's talking about. The elites have their own special concoctions mixed in personalized bottles along the course. They certainly don't take the aid that is offered to the running masses.

                         

                        They don't get disqualified, so obviously it's allowed by the race officials.

                         

                        I'm the OP and what I posted was an exact  quote from the rules posted on the web site for the race I'm running next month. I posted it to start a discussion on the subject, since I've never seen this particular subject discussed before in the forums. I did not actually talk about anything in my original post.

                        Retired &  Loving It

                          Yeah, but reading comprehension is, you know, hard and stuff.


                          Ready to race!

                            I've run as an elite and what they do is take your well labelled bottles with whatever in them and stage them at specific points in the race.  Usually at or near the normal water stops.  The race officials do that.  That is legal.  That is considered race provided.  If an elite were to take additional aid from a spectator or friend or who ever inbetween these aid stations, they will be breaking teh rules and can be disqualified.  That is illegal for everyone.  The elite's can grab water from a normal water staion or gel or whatever the race is providing as well as their own bottles, no problem.   I have seen people DQ'd for receiving aid from a friend in between race aid stations.  That is illegal.  Case in point Milwaukee Lake Front a couple years ago, 2009 I think.  The lead female was DQ'd for taking a water bottle outside an aid station from a friend.  They ruled that if the friend was within 100 yards or something of an aid station it would be OK.

                             

                            The other form of aid that is illegal is pacing.   I have seen people DQ'd for being paced by someone that wsn't an official pacer and wasn't a registered runner.  That is illegal.  Case in point, a friend of mine was DQ'd at a half marathon earlier this month in Chicago because an unregistered runner hopped in and paced her for a portion of the race.  She lost $1000.  I was in a marathon and it was mile 24 or so and a friend of mine had already finished the 10k race and was cooling down when he saw me and started running with me.  I was in 2nd place at the time and a police motrocycle pacer was riding along side me.  I asked my friend to run behind me as to not get DQ'd and ethically I  didn't want him to help me by pacing me along.  That was for prize money and the race official could have and should have DQ'd me if my friend had ran along side me or in front of me.  He was a registered runner, but in a different event and he was done.

                             

                            I never take aid outside of the aid stations when I run as an elite or if I'm going for a win.  It is illegal.  Period.  I've even had official bike pacers offer me water.  I refuse it.  Even though they are part of the race, other runners don't get that advantage, so I feel too guilty.  I carry my own stuff or I wait for and aid station.  I'm not sure if that is illegal or not, but personally I don't do it.

                             

                            I don't think a race will ever DQ a person for this unless they are going for a money prize, but I believe that if you are going for an age group award or any award, you should abide by these rules.  If you are just out there to finish, that's up to you, but I would think if you want to finish the marathon within the rules, you would abide by them.  If you are out there to have fun and don't care then that's different, you can stop at McDonalds if you want.

                             

                            One question that I've always wondered is recieving aid from another registered runner.  Obviously being paced by one is perfectly legal, but what if I offer a friend a gel?  Is that legal?  Is that ethical?

                            Mescal


                            YAYpril - B-Plus

                              So if I accept a beer hand-out is it cheating...or the opposite of cheating?  It was PBR in St. Louis...I got a kick out of chugging a non-A-B beer just a mile or so from the HQ.

                               

                              I ran a HM in April and crashed and burned. At mile 11.5 there was an "aid station" with guys handing out beer in plastic cups. I don't know what kind of beer it was but I took a cup because I was having a terrible race. Best beer I've ever had and it gave me a little bit of a psychological boost. Should I have been DQ'd??


                              Feeling the growl again

                                The OP doesn't know what he's talking about. The elites have their own special concoctions mixed in personalized bottles along the course. They certainly don't take the aid that is offered to the running masses.

                                 

                                They don't get disqualified, so obviously it's allowed by the race officials.

                                 

                                The personal attack is uncalled for.  We try to be more civil here.

                                 

                                Having been an elite in a number of races, I can tell you that in many of those races the elites are not really in the same race as the masses.  In fact if you are not on the elite starting list, you aren't eligible for the prize money.  So, at least for a lot of races with elite fields, your logic does not hold.

                                 

                                Often the elites also have better pre-race facilities and other unequal accommodations.  The elites at Boston don't sit out on the school lawn for 4 hours after busing from Boston Commons.

                                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                                 

                                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills