I know the WTC and likely other organizations have a policy of not allowing a full refund or a deferral into another race for athletes that can / do not race for various reasons. Partial refunds are offered at times, and while getting $100 of the sometimes $700 one spends on an entry back is better than nothing, I think that for the most part, it is not the money people are interested in, it is competing in and hopefully finishing the race. I finally qualified for Kona this year and for the weeks / months leading up to the race I tried to keep myself in a bubble. While I had no dreams of wining anything in Kona, I wanted to go there and compete at as close to 100% as I could. I have a job that allows me to be as proactive as I want or as reactive as I want. I normally choose the proactive approach but not wanting to get hurt I chose reactive for the 1.5 months I had between Whistler and Kona. It killed me, but I knew there was a reason for it. Well literally 3 days before I left to Kona, I was at training for work and because of circumstances beyond my control I suffered what a doctor LATER told me was likely a grade 2 almost 3 sprain / strain. It hurt like hell, I thought my ankle / shin was broken. Knowing Kona was 10 days away, I didn't bother going to the doctor. I didn't want to know. I didn't want to be told that I could / should not do the race. I would rest and ice it between now and the race and deal with it after. I had been trying for 8 yrs to make it to Kona and by God I was gonna do it. Well my ankle / shin swole up like one of those old ladies you see with a walker and a purple calf shoved into a shoe that looks too small. I couldn't even walk fast enough to keep up with my kids. I spent the week before the race sitting by the pool with and icebag on my shin, being jealous of all the others out training. I bought all the compression shit I could find etc.. I went to urgent care in Kona and got a shot in my ass to help with the swelling. I think the doc there told me I may do more damage if I compete, but I stuck my fingers in my ear and went la la la la until I saw her lips stop moving. I managed to limp around the course on race day and finished, but I have that feeling of being cheated. I know I could have done way better. Walked most of the Marathon and was about 1:20 slower than my KQ time. I went to the doctor the day after I got back and got a lecture about what I had done. It does not appear as if I did any permanent damage, but I have yet to run again since the race and was told not to for another 2 weeks at least.
My point is, I can understand no refund or deferral if a person is just not prepared to race. However, if a person can show with a doctors note that they can not physically race because of an injury that person should be allowed a full refund or deferral. The WTC could come up with their own form and guidelines so it is standardized. I understand that the entry money is used to get permits, security etc based on the number of competitors but I can not believe that the number of people this would apply to in a race would cause any real impact. For the championships like Kona or wherever the 70.3 WC is at that year, I would even suggest that it would make the competition better. You want the competitors to be at 100% when the race. In the case of the WC races I would also be fine with a validation process like those people who get a lottery spot. To validate the deferral the athlete would have to compete in a 70.3 or IM that next race season. Again I do not think it is the money that MOST of the people who sign up for these races are worried about. People spend months / yrs training to do these races and want to be at 100% going into the race.
I am sure there are people out there with a similar story to me that have done permanent damage to them selves because they felt like well i have trained and paid for this race and this is my only chance so I am going to do it.
I think this would be a win win for the WTC. They would get people at their best and thus have better competition. I also think that they would gain some karma points from some of the WTC haters out there that see them as the bad guy just out to make money and not care about the athletes.
Just a thought...
My point is, I can understand no refund or deferral if a person is just not prepared to race. However, if a person can show with a doctors note that they can not physically race because of an injury that person should be allowed a full refund or deferral. The WTC could come up with their own form and guidelines so it is standardized. I understand that the entry money is used to get permits, security etc based on the number of competitors but I can not believe that the number of people this would apply to in a race would cause any real impact. For the championships like Kona or wherever the 70.3 WC is at that year, I would even suggest that it would make the competition better. You want the competitors to be at 100% when the race. In the case of the WC races I would also be fine with a validation process like those people who get a lottery spot. To validate the deferral the athlete would have to compete in a 70.3 or IM that next race season. Again I do not think it is the money that MOST of the people who sign up for these races are worried about. People spend months / yrs training to do these races and want to be at 100% going into the race.
I am sure there are people out there with a similar story to me that have done permanent damage to them selves because they felt like well i have trained and paid for this race and this is my only chance so I am going to do it.
I think this would be a win win for the WTC. They would get people at their best and thus have better competition. I also think that they would gain some karma points from some of the WTC haters out there that see them as the bad guy just out to make money and not care about the athletes.
Just a thought...