I was blasted today via e-mail that I am a fool for not applying for USAT sanctioning at Rockman…and asked “what are you hiding that you dont want USAT at your race”?
Well, when I was sanctioned (two years ago) USAT was not at the race…and for the life of me, other than insurance I just cant seem to figure out what I, or my participants get from USAT. My private insurance company was FAR more concerned about potential dangers, event area inspections, and sent out folks to be sure that we did the best we could to keep everyone safe (from silly things like hoses that were trip hazards in the Expo area and extention cord quality for the DJ’s stuff). USAT never came out, never inspected and just “took my word for it” that we were going to do things in a safe way.
I have done sanctioned races that were TERRAIBLE, unsafe, poorly marked, off distance, rampant with cheating, and on and on…What did the USAT offer me, or the many other folks at some certain races in Southern Wisconsin where most of the participants went off the course due to poor markings, had equipment stolen from transition, and even had live train crossings on the course.
I don’t know, but I am no longer a USAT member because of stuff like this. I’d guess when I pay my daily license fees that money goes back to them eventually and in years when I do a lot of USAT races it ends up costing me more than a membership would. But at least they can’t count me as one of their 250,000 or whatever their membership is now.
Voting with my dollars…as much as possible I guess.
swbkrun44, while your point means well, I will make it know that when you buy a one day, every dollar goes to USAT National, and when you buy a years membership, the region gets something like 15% of it (for junior camps, clinics, etc).
Not trying to validate USAT, just wanted to point that out.
I would love to get an answer from USAT. I spoke at length with them some years ago and really the only “value add” was that their insurance policy was “tried and tested” to keep me as the RD safe from being sued by a participant. They do not inspect the course, or any other thing “pre-sanctioning”. If there are USAT martials on the course it is not until race day that they would even be able to bring up any potential issues with the course and or things that would be a danger to participants, spectators and support staff at a race. They did not require any proof that we would have EMS on site, and have a plan of action if there was any issues on the course (such as a 911 plan that I am required to have for our insurance company). We have participants in State of Illinois Parks, Loves Park Il, Winnebago County Il, Boone County, Caledonia, Capron, Poplar Grove and also need to deal with Illinois DOT for highway crossings…USAT did not once ever have any contact with any of the agencies that would be required to provide emergency assistance in the case of an accident on the course. The insurance company that we pay for does contact the locals to be sure that we are all on the same page.
For the state we even had to get GPS locations of the aid statoins on the run course so that if a person was down we would be able to get an ambulance to support them as fast as possible. We had to buy two way radios for communications, we had to have a punch list of cell numbers and emergency contacts for each police force, security company, EMS, Fire, Water Rescue and the hospitals. USAT did not ask for any of this, let alone confirm we had a plan in place. (honest to god a woman at USAT said that they dont even read the “safety plan” that an RD needs to fill out).
When we were sanctiond USAT never came out to measure a darn thing - again just taking my word for it that we were on distance. Granted, I went over the course again and again and again with GPS, Bicycle roll out, bikes with multiple odometers on them and with buddies to get an average for the run. If you run on the roads in the park on the exterior of the road it is actually about half a mile further than if you run on the inside of the road…these are all things that as an RD I feel it is my job to know, and deal with…USAT on the other hand best I can tell wants your $10 and then they hope that the RD does his job.
AND THEN…even if an RD has a terrible rap for their events USAT getting complaints time and again…USAT sanctions the events year after year.
I assume you blasted back with these very questions. Would be interested to hear the response.
Yes, I did. I think that USAT has people suckerd into thinking that if an event has that magical USAT logo on it that it would be held to some sort of standard…that just is not the case.
Now, even if I did get an actual answer as to what value add would be in getting sanctioned…they problably would not sanction me as I know they read this forum.
swbkrun44, while your point means well, I will make it know that when you buy a one day, every dollar goes to USAT National, and when you buy a years membership, the region gets something like 15% of it (for junior camps, clinics, etc).
Not trying to validate USAT, just wanted to point that out.
Yeah, so sort of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I try not to do USAT races and when I do pay the daily fee. As I said, at least they can’t count me as part of their membership.
The Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base used to put on three (now two) multisport races every year that were not sanctioned. They were well run and full every year. And a great value.
The only benefit you gain with USAT is if someone is really concerned about their end of the year rankings. I do enough races every year that a USAT license is a monetary benefit, but I don’t see where they do anything else for you.
Not knowing any better, I used to only do a race if it was USAT sanctioned.
What’s clear to me now is that sanctioning really has very little importance to the quality of the event. Sanctioning provides a sense of legitimacy, and a promise of being insured, to some degree, against accidents that happen during the event, but it doesn’t guarantee a good race. In my limited experience, I have found no correlation with “sanctioning” and “quality”. The RD and team behind the race are far more important that the USAT seal of approval.
I would say, however, that if a race was not sanctioned, I would personally check into what protections the race management is providing. At least with the USAT, it’s a matter of the devil you know…
Over the last couple of years, you’ve explained in great detail the lengths you’ve gone to make your event accurate, fun, and safe. It’s clear to me now that I’d come do your race and feel confident in having a quality, enjoyable, safe experience. I’m not a USAT member anymore, and would only join if I was going to race enough to make it cost effective. I think they are doing some things right, but from what you’ve explained here, race sanctioning is not one of those things.
Thanks for your efforts. Keep up the good work! With time, I think that more triathletes will come to understand why you have chosen to take another path.
The thing is…as a participant you are not protected from anything, other than maybe injury if you can prove that the RD or race company had some negligence in causing you to be injured…and then the policy only protects the RD from you. Nothing more, nothing less. They dont cover your medical bills, transport if needed, or any other thing. The insurance is not for you, it is for me…
<< The Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base used to put on three (now two) multisport races every year that were not sanctioned. They were well run and full every year. And a great value.
and were also major draft fests with no officials on course. While a race being sanctioned does not ensure that a race isn’t a draftfest, the CP races could use some on course bike officials, whether from USAT or not.
The thing is…as a participant you are not protected from anything, other than maybe injury if you can prove that the RD or race company had some negligence in causing you to be injured…and then the policy only protects the RD from you. Nothing more, nothing less. They dont cover your medical bills, transport if needed, or any other thing. The insurance is not for you, it is for me…
Are you serious? I had no idea and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I always assumed the insurance was for the participants.
