dalava wrote:
Jason80134 wrote:
Bruizer wrote:
Jason80134 wrote:
Since you're asking, I don't think it's your job to confront her unless you are working in an official capacity for the race. Turn her in to race officials and leave it at that. She's not committing a crime so it's really none of your business beyond informing race officials. You shouldn't be telling other people what to do unless it's an emergency or dangerous situation.
It's got nothing to do with her being wrong; it's the question of the extent of your involvement in the matter.
I disagree. We need to police each other; otherwise, the cheaters will do what they want whenever they think they can get away with it. Hopefully, the cheater the OP was referring to will think twice about blatantly drafting in her next event.
I believe the right way to do it is to inform the race director. You have no business giving other people directives if you are not operating in an official capacity. And when you do confront, it will likely have the opposite effect that you desire. You are kidding yourself if you think otherwise. At most, you could make a quick and short comment such as, you are cheating and I will be informing the officials. Yelling at someone and getting in their face rarely if ever gets positive results. Any adult should know this.
The OP yelled at her and told her to knock it off, and from what I can infer, moved on to his own race. So it's not like he stayed with her and continue to yell or harass her. I believe the situation got out of hands because the woman actually seeked him out later to confront him about it which is not doubly wrong of her.
On the role of fellow competitors wrt rules, I believe it's even more important for small races. There aren't enough officials for these smaller races to enforce the rules and athletes should take upon themselves to remind others to follow the rules. Fairness is essential to competitions.
That's where I disagree. He was telling her what to do. That's not his role. You shouldn't be telling other adults what to do if you're not operating in an official capacity. He should have just turned her in and maybe let her know that he was turning her in. Small race or not, just let the race director know exactly what was happening. Observe and inform, sure, but your job is most certainly not to give directives.
I'm only talking about the OP's actions. And guess what, they only served to piss the woman off. If that's the goal, fine, but it's likely not going to have the intended effect of motivating her to stop cheating. I think most adults would know this basic aspect of human psychology.