I probably wouldn't even notice if you did this at a race in which I was competing. I would think that you'd pay double entry fees since you are, in essence, racing 2 races. But, that's between you and the RD. After that, if the RD approves and the family approves, what difference does anyone else's opinion make? You've got the important people covered.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I did exactly this many time years ago with my family. I worked with the RD so that I swam the relay portion for them and then completed the rest of the race for myself.

Now, with that being said, if you are not racing for a podium stop, no one would care. But if it is a USAT race, you could not do this since there would be different wave starts.

10 years from now, will you remember you had a chance to race with your family and did not, or would you remember you had the chance and did? I would love to have been
able to race with my Dad! And siblings. Or my grown kids now. But none have the health to do it. :o(

I have the chance to do a 70.3 race in a few months. I have some friends who want to race with me as a relay? I have not raced a relay in years. So in the future what would
I remember most? Racing by myself, or racing with my friends? Really is a easy one to decide. Friends it is.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I have seen it done but the people doubling up had to swim twice, in different heats.

Personally I wouldn't do it. Why not just swim your relay section and then go for a short run while the biker is out. That way you can support and cheer on your family as they start/finish.

I know of races that allow this - but they do require you pay the individual AND relay entry fee. In the races where I know it's allowed, in order to do the relay and race as an individual you have to do the swim leg for the relay, and they have you start in the relay wave. You wear 2 chips - one relay and one individual so make sure you know which chip is on which ankle! You hand off your relay chip to your relay teammate and then continue on as an individual. If I were you I would see if your relay teammates are fine with you competing as an individual as well as part of a relay, and then email the RD to see if it's allowed and what the procedures are if it is allowed.

If it was a group of friends I would say do the whole race if you could. But, in this case I would say family should come first.

You said your dad and sister are looking to get involved, so I'm guessing this is their first race. Years from now you would definitely regret not being there to cheer your dad coming off the bike and celebrating together at the finish line.

There are plenty of other races to do for yourself.

As others have said - race with your family.

Mainly because that will allow you to concentrate on having fun with your family team throughout the process, cheering them on, giving equal weight to their event etc. rather than tagging off and then saying "good luck, I'll see you later on, I've got my own race to do now. Maybe I'll see you at the finish".

Even if you could pull off the double race scenario, seems to me it fails the what if everyone did it test. For example do you (we) want relay teams in general setting up deals with FOP swimmers who are in the regular race, just to build better relay teams? I'm not saying that's what you'd be doing, just that it would get chaotic if more than a few people got in the habit. I guess it's only an issue in a non-wave start, as not many individuals will be willing to have an artificially high swim split to do that. And it makes no sense for an RD to let someone switch waves and still score them in their AG based on their true time, that's not fair to the other people in their AG/real wave.

I get why you want to do both, but redeeming a walked 10K (which you can do at your next race) is just not that important compared to the fun you could have being a fully dedicated member of the family team. Oh, another thing... on a relay, the idea is you bury yourself on your leg - give it all up for the team. It should be 50-50 whether you puke just as you hand off the baton :-). Presumably (given your previous blow up due to pacing errors and desire to redeem), you're not going to go full gas on the shared swim. How is that fair to your dad and sis? Whether or not your team would be in the money, you owe them the best result you can deliver. It's a race for them too.

Thank you for the helpful responses. To clarify a couple of things - I would absolutely pay a second entry fee - I would be doing two races and therefore would owe two entry fees. Also, in the case of this race, the sprint race starts in one wave (it's not a big race), relays and individuals together, so I wouldn't be swapping waves. If that wasn't the case it wouldn't be a consideration. Finally, if I thought any of us were in with a chance of a podium, I wouldn't do it.

Skip, I take your point about the slippery slope of what if everyone did it, but there's a big jump between a family doing it for fun and people doing it to inflate their relay times. I'm not completely clear where I'd draw the line though, so I see what you're saying.

Thank you everyone - you've voiced the concerns that were nagging at me, but I couldn't put my finger on (or didn't want to put my finger on :-) ). I'll be cheering them on, not racing myself.

John

Would be interested in your thoughts after the race if you think you made the correct choice.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Don't be a douche - to your family.
Do your leg and then cheer them on where/when you can.
Race for yourself later.

Man, it is not me asking the question.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep