Apologies in advance if this is somewhat convoluted but I want to provide all the details of this to give the clearest picture.
At IM Canada this year I saw something that struck me as not quite right. A woman I have met broke her collarbone 4 weeks befroe the race, she decided to go to Penticton to cheer on her friends and to register for next year. During the race I saw her about 1/2 way up Richter Pass cheering folks on. Then a while later I see her on the marathon course walking with one of her friends at about mile 20 and she IS WEARING A RACE NUMBER. I am 100% sure of this. And as I saw her on Richter I know she did not do the bike and could not have swam with her arm in a sling.
So my question is; is this against the rules (pacing) or just unethical. To me it seems she should not be out there helpling someone get through it if she did not do the prior to segments of the race especially not with a race number on.
Is there a rule stating that you have to do the swim and bike in order to do the run? If not, I suppose since she paid her money she could jump on the course wherever she wants to?
It’s against the rules, and if you read the Ironman rules, they state that “poaching” the course will result in an automatic ban for life from all Ironman events. Not sure if that’s ever happened, but I guess they seem to take it pretty seriously.
I see her on the marathon course walking with one of her friends (my emphasis)
Is it against the rules? yes. Is it “just plain sick”? Absolutely not.
tri gear, if you need your own private pacer to walk in Kona, well…
I don’t necissarily have a problem wiht this. The number is hers, she paid for the food and insurance and officials. If she wants to walk a few miles of it on race day, what’s the big deal?
Was she planning on running through the shoot and getting the recognition? If so, that is wrong.
If she was just on the course with her friend (and her friend was not in contention to place or qualify for Kona) then, as a wise man once said, “big wup”
I felt badly about eating bananas from the post race tent after registering for a sprint & spectating due to a back problem. I have subsequently banned myself for life.
I guess the point is that she skipped the swim and the bike, then became a pacer, all against the rules (with the “banned for life” part meaning they are pretty serious about it).
I think I may have misread your first post. So, she was registered for IMC this year, and went and picked up her race package with number, etc. but didn’t start? If that’s the case, that’s just plain weird. Couldn’t she drop out and get at least a partial refund (or was it too close to race date)?
If she was still officially entered, but didn’t do the swim and bike, I’m not sure about the rules then. I’d think it’d be pretty painful to run with a broken collarbone though.
if this really bothers you then you should read trifroggy’s reply at IMOOO. At an aid station they actually gave out food from their campsite as the station had run out of stuff. that is soo against the rules OOOHHH MY GOD that is just sick
Again, I’m not seeing the “pacer” part. The original poster said she was walking with friends. And she has a broken collarbone, so I’m willing to bet it wasn’t speedwalking.
I think this sort of falls under the same logic as looking the other way a little bit when the BOPers are within 3 bike lengths. They’re not really getting a benefit and it’s not effecting your race. Same goes with someone getting “paced” by a walker with a broken collarbone.
I’m with you…no harm/no foul for a BOP person (which I am). But it does sound like she broke a few of the rules. Again, the relevance of those rules can be debated.
But the person obviously was concerned about possibly being considered a pacer…they put their number on. Or they did so just to be able to snack as they strolled with their friend.
I think doing a portion of the course is illegal, right? Unless you DNF. If she picked up her number (was it a legit number or something from another race by chance?) and did only a portion of the run…I’m guessing she didn’t have her chip, and officials assumed she never showed to start?
Regardless, the pacing thing pisses me off. Drafting is heavily monitored (fine) but pacing is not. I’ve seen lots of obvious pacers on the marathon (as well as people with headphones), which blatantly breaks the rules. We’ve all got headphones, and friends and family who would be happy to pace us if given the opportunity. Most of us choose not to do that because it’s against the rules. As a competitor (albeit injured for this particular race), she should recognize that.
So…to go against the group here…I think it’s against the rules and unethical.
If one is to judge which rules are “good” and “bad”, then any sport that does not enforce is a joke!!
There worst part of this is if the person had a race number on. That clearly shows to me they knew they were breaking the rules, but sounds like they got away with it.
If they took any type of food or water at an aid station, which could have meant a real racer did not get something, this is even worse.
If she was just on the course with her friend (and her friend was not in contention to place or qualify for Kona) then, as a wise man once said, “big wup”
Does this mean rules are different for those who are trying to qualify/place and those who are not?
If we have separate rules or interpretations of the rules for FOP and BOP participants we might as well have separate races.
I understand how tempting it is to put that pretty much un-refundable entry fee to some use, but there is no grey area here. She was breaking the rules. Infractions like these just increase the need for marshalling and enforcement, because who knows how far she was going to go or did go.