IMO, I would frame it in the positive... I do not see it as unsportsmanlike. But, I consider it exemplary sportsmanship to display age. I routinely podium and win my AG is sprints and Olympic distance. Visible age is very important to me in those races. Occasionally, it is the difference between very hard effort and risk-puking-and-passing-out effort. Displaying age is an act of courtesy and respect to your fellow athletes.

So you see you are coming up behind AG competitor and want to sand bag to the finish line behind him for a final kick? That also sounds unsportsmanlike

What? That's just racing.

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Does that work for you? How do you know you are coming up behind the last AG competitor you need to pass? You probably forgot the pink.

Is it different if you aren't FOP? For me, being MOP, while I do display at smaller, non-WTC races since they usually have a mass or wave start (and I can podium in my AG at smaller races, at least), I have stopped displaying at 70.3 & IMs, because of the combination of rolling starts and that as an MOPer, my goal is to go as fast as possible, giving every last drop of energy period, whether or not the next guy ahead in my AG is within 100 meters or 3 miles away. If I ever do Kona (and if it is still a mass start by then...) I will certainly put my age on there but outside of that the rolling starts just make it pointless for me and something else to struggle to scrub off after the race. Maybe I will think of it differently if I ever get to be competitive at the longer distances but I usually don't have clear enough ground around me at them to care to even look at calves.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Dear Mr Poon - I happen to agree with you and take measures to be certain that calfs are marked. when you're struggling, it helps to know who's passing you, and where you need to make up ground.
The fact that your name is Poon and a classic Fletch character dictated that i answer. Frita's boss?

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http://www.PatGriskusTri.com USAT Certified Race Director
2024 Races: USAT State of CT Age Group Championship/State of CT HS Champs/ CT Club Championship - Sat June 15th (Oly/Du/Sprint) Hopkins Vineyard Tri at Lake Waramaug Saturday July 13th http://www.HopkinsVineyardTri.com

Nah

No-one has a responsibility to help you beat them.
If it's in the race rules, fine.
If it's not, then this attitude creates a conflict.
"Unsportsmanlike" is a silly way to describe this, IMO.
Don't cheat and I'll be happy!

I’ve never seen an age marked on someone’s calf.

In the greater scheme of things it really doesn't bother me. Certainly compared to the various other unsportsmanlike things people get up to. I race my own race, I might use people ahead as markers to motivate myself but I don't really care what AG they're in (though admittedly I'm not a KQ contender).

Maybe I'm naïve but I would also assume that people who aren't getting their calf marked are doing so because they don't want to have to scrub it off, rather than out of some desire to cheat their competitors out of the opportunity to identify them.

Agreed.
If it was motivated by a desire to gain an advantage, they'd be better off writing an age group but using one they're not in! Disinformation would be more powerful than no information. That would be unsporting.

When somebody passes me and I can't catch them, their age doesn't matter; I'm already going as fast as I can. And in Ironman, going faster than you should will only damage your finish time unless it's the last mile, which you should be giving it your everything anyway.

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
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Truly a First world problem...

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#swimmingmatters
Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
The Doctor (#12)

I have been to several races recently where they body markers didn't mark your age. Kona was one of them....

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blog

Isn't Kona the only event where they (used to) put your AG on calves? Most Ironman races put your AG on the Bib - although you won't see it on the run. Or are you suggesting that when I turn-up for a local Sprint Tri, I should write MV40 on my calf?

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29 years and counting

A lot of the people I race appear to be in the 'M' age group. What does that even mean?

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Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

If you're chasing a KQ and want it bad enough, you shouldn't need outside motivation by ages on calves. I just try and pick off as many people as I can and focus on my race, rather than worry about placing and other peoples races.

I have gone back and forth on this. In some races I noticed people didn't bother putting ages on their calves, or covered them with compression making them useless. In my last couple of IMs I was reasonably at the front of the AG race and very few people were body marked at all. I wanted to get annoyed at that but then realized it hardly matters since the rolling start kills any notion of racing head to head, and basically everyone near the front of the race was just as likely to be my competition as not, so whether one guy passing me was my AG or not really didn't matter that much.

Then there was the time just after that I noticed the age on my calf came off after being marked. I guess a combination of sun screen and a wetsuit caused it to come off. So I was "that guy" and I didn't even mean to be. That's when I realized there really is no point to body marking whatsoever. So at my last IM I walked right past the body markers and went into transition. And I didn't care.

I always hate scrubbing numbers off of me afterwards. And I almost always forget the age on the calf and inevitably show up to the pool the next week still displaying my age.

I refuse to use the stupid tattoos and can never figure out why anyone would actually pay extra for them.

I totally agree with you. Folks at the pointy end of their age group know that if they go to body marking they’re gonna get age tatted. Now that you can order pretty little race number stickers you can conveniently skip body marking. I think it’s a little sneaky to not put your age on your calf or cover it with those squeezy tall socks Scottish men wear with their kilts.

I don’t suppose your post is referring to IMAZ? Saw a lot of this on Sunday’s race.

Cheers,

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thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
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My 20% off code for 2018 FS Series races: tricred18
"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner

I'm "meh" on the numbers. I don't think it's unsportsmanlike to not have it, but I do think it's good display of sportsmanship to have it. I say it's more of a false-etiquette to have it, rather than a requirement. Heck, I'd be totally fine with my suit having a big target on my back and my age on there. Come and get it. At the same time, I just race my race. That number, if anything, is de-focusing my competition.

I have at least a dozen reasons that are better motivators than the "competition" and a number on the back of someone's leg that gets me to do my best in a race. In 25 years of racing and plenty of podiums, worrying about the next guy takes valuable focus away from your own effort and ability in the moment and will put you at risk for turning things from good to bad, or bad to worse, and almost never from good or bad to better.

Think about training. Most of our training happens solo. If I can motivate myself to do exemplary efforts day in and out during practice solo, that will be my result in a race plus a little extra from the taper and adrenaline from finally having an "audience" for all that hard work. If I did my homework right. We shouldn't need to be consciously focusing on the competition in order to get the job done in a race. Yeah, it's there, but always on the back-burner, unless there's real money on the line.

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Matt Leu, M.S. Kinesiology
San Pedro Fit Works, Los Angeles, CA
Endurance Athlete and Coach
Consistency/time=results

I think body marking is dumb in general. The caps should have your number on them, but I've only seen a handful of races that do and regardless if you have a full wetsuit on you can't see the markings. Your bike has your number, shoot they make you put a number on your helmet. And on the run you have to wear the bib. There's no reason to sharpie your body. Bring back mass and/or true wave starts and just race your competition. Don't care if you're younger, older, or female - if I can beat you I'm going to, if I can't then good on you.

ETA: I bring up race numbers because that's the only thing the RD and officials need. Anything else is superfluous.

I like them, it gives me something to look at when everyone's passing me on the run!

I found it mildly humorous that the google add in your thread was about life insurance😀

Maurice

First, let me say that I request marking for myself. When I can be faster than a lot of whippersnappers with a "58" on my calf, it's a point of pride. It's bragging -- ego enhancement. (And, if I have a bad day, it's a dandy silent excuse.)

But second, I don't think lack of marking is unsportsmanlike. Why not? Well . . . it's not that big a deal. I have NEVER looked at the calf of a competitor to check their age during a race. Never. I have sometimes thought I would . . . but I didn't. If you're going the fastest you can, it's just not relevant. There are other things on which you should be focused -- positioning, pacing, nutrition, etc.

But, again, third . . . there IS an important role for age marking. It's in the after-party / awards ceremony. One race, I was at the awards ceremony standing next to a single friend who was marked "28." After we received our respective awards and returned to our area, a couple young women 20' behind us started chatting up my friend. Before we knew it, he was being actively pursued by both of them. Another friend of theirs said to me, "You know, this is the real value of age marking. If you're checking out the single dudes, it's easy to know how old they are."

I've certainly indulged in 'gamesmanship'. One event I remember passing a guy near the finish in my AG and hiding one of the lap bands under another, so it looked like I had one more lap to do. I know, I'm a bad person.

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29 years and counting