altissimotri wrote:
The zipper rule is the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever seen in sports! I had a volunteer threaten to DQ me at Buffalo Springs one year until I stopped running and showed him that my zipper was actually at the bottom of my sternum.
Slight side discussion but the volunteer (note that, as in the person that had got up at some daft o'clock to come and be present with the other volunteers to allow you to race for no personal reward) had been asked / given a role that was to apply the rule under which you had agreed to race. So that was the full book. Rules that they may have disagreed with as much as you did, but the rules are set by the governing body and get changed by rules committees. What I'm saying is don't shoot the messenger here.
And yes, I've been in situations where as a Technical Official / Assistant Ref at a race the senior ref asked someone to do his zip up (it was at navel). He grumbled, argued then pulled up and in a blatant way then immediately pulled it down again as he ran off. At end of the race the ref pulled him over after he'd crossed the line (we know when people are racing, 'red mist' comes on) to have a chat. It was a local minor race, but we applied the rules there for the reason that we had a fair few first timers, but an equal number of people that were using it as training for nationals. So we wanted to help them out by constructively teaching them the rules and the way we applied at national level so they didn't end up being DQ'd from national podium for something they did every other week of the season with no comment from us as the same refs. Consistency is a key request for refs of all sports. Anyway, the guy was still shirty (sorry, pun intended) and started getting a bit agro. So this conversation about the rules ended up escalating to the point where he was fully DQ'd from the race.
I also ended up losing several really good refs from the sport due to parents responses to rules being correctly applied. Again, these were parents to kids competing at development squad level. And that ended up meaning that not only did I and the remaining other qualified ref in the region having to ref pretty much every weekend over the season, including up to 3 hour drives each way, but sometimes races couldn't happen as there were already 2 other events booked in for that day.
So whilst there will be differing views on some rules, fundamentally they almost all come back to safety in some way with a few to allow even competition between athletes, and are all written as 'rules' to be able to be applied consistently. If you really feel passionate about them, then get your club to nominate you for membership of your national rules committee or however your region does that. That's the only way to change them. Disregarding them or arguing with the people who are out making the event happen for you to race is not effective or constructive for the sport or yourself.