This happened at a race in IL this year. But people didnt cut the course, they where misled by race officials and ran a shorter course than everyone else. The RD didnt do anything to rectify it, it affected some placings, some competitors felt bad and didnt accept their awards. Its too bad for competitors that where misled and for competitors who missed out on podium/placing because the RD’s mistake. Hopefully the RD will have better course markings for next year.
Ask for a refund of your entry fee.
If race directors screw up THEY should pay the price, not racers.
This is called taking personal responsibility for your own mistakes.
But, don’t expect USAT to do anything to require race directors to take personal responsibility for their screwups.
And, of course, the bell cannot be unrung.
-Robert
…isn’t that kind of harsh for something that’s supposed to be 1) fun and 2) done by volunteers …?
seems like this happens more often than we’d like - but it also seems that people take it personally instead of realizing it as an honest mistake and wasn’t done intentionally…
this happened a few weeks ago in Madison and instead of the crowd getting all pissed off and looknig to lynch someone - they kind of put it in perspective…it’s about having a good time and doing your best…
if you’re a pro - maybe a different view - but for the AGer’s…just race. or, put on a flawless race of your own and prove it can be done…
Race directors are making a handsome living from our fun.
Just because it is fun doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be held accountable. Ferris wheels are fun, but if one breaks with your kid on it are you going to say “Oh, it was just for fun”?
And your attitude contributes to the continuing sloppiness of race directors.
By the way, I don’t take my racing very seriously because I’m slow as a glacier, but I do take my MONEY seriously.
-Robert
Race directors are making a handsome living from our fun.
Surely you jest? Not all RDs are making the kind of money that affords them the life of luxury…no matter what you or I think. There is a lot of money that goes into putting one of these events on and RDs with a crew that they have to pay to help them pull it off do not see a lot of money. Now that is not to say that there aren’t some making a decent profit from the sport…but to paint the picture with so broad a brush is hardly fair. As someone else put it…hold your own event and show that it can be done right. Holding them accountable is also something I have a problem with. Okay…if the RD is the one leading people off course then yeah I see that…and if a corner isn’t properly patrolled I can sort of see that (unles it is clearly marked…then…what else do you want them to do for you…hold your hand too) but part of the blame is on the athlete themselves. In a couple of instances above it sounds to me like some of the athletes may have known they were going off course and failed to do anything about it. Winning over honesty. In this case the RD should be in no way held accountable. And why should they be…how can he control the conscience of every athlete on the course? Same can be said of drafting. At this point if you don’t know you’re drafting someone else on course will surely know it and remind you. Yes it takes some effort to not draft on narrow roads or full events…but really you’re only cheating yourself of knowing you did your best on the day. Most people just don’t care anymore. If the RD lead the leaders off course then chew them out for sure…otherwise use your head. In a sport so full of people with great educations and high levels of intelligence (and demographically speaking I think most of you are) why is it so hard to know the course before hand or follow course markings? We all need to stop pointing our fingers at anyone and everyone else when something goes wrong and find out if we are partly to blame (no offense directed at the original poster). And if we are…then we need to suck it up. It really is just a sport…no one is going to live or die on the results of your local sprint.
As I understand the facts of this case the volunteers misled the runners. (If the runners cheated by purposely cutting off the course they should lose their license for a year in my view.) Volunteers act at the direction of the race director. For most purposes they are the agent of the race director, so the race director should suck it up and refund the entry fee of an athlete who was cheated out of a properly run race. This is not something that will bankrupt any race director who is remotely competent, PROBABLY. 
First of all, very few people complain and the race directors count on our lethargy and unwillingness to be “ugly”. So the actual number of refunds in most cases will be small. But, the race director can also offer a free entry to a subsequent race at little cost to him. Some race directors do that already and it is a salutory practice.
But, you miss my point, which is that race directors must be held to a higher standard than we have been holding them. They are no longer just a rag tag bunch of triathlon friendly guys we know and love (though some still qualify). I spent money on a lot of those races in the '80’s and had no complaints because it was very different then. Today, we have large corporations running triathlons and some are pretending they know what they are doing. The City of Orlando just put on a triathlon and though I’d be slow to say they are clueless because they did better than they did a few years ago when they tried to provide the bikes to the kids I wouldn’t say they put on a race I’d attend.
Simply put we need meaningful standards for race directors, refunds, and what gets done when they screw up. That’s a job USAT really isn’t doing very well.
If race directors can’t absorb the costs of their mistakes then they should not be putting on races. It’s a cost of doing business.
I’m really amused at the approach guys take towards race directors and USAT, but if their new car had a serious defect they’d be screaming bloody murder. What’s the difference?
-Robert
…the fact that you’re comparing your kid getting hurt on a ferris wheel vs. being led off-course in a triathlon as an age grouper is kind of my point that you don’t have the right perspective…
also - i know a couple of RD’s myself and none of them are getting rich doing it…and neither are the thankless volunteers who are guiding you and me around the course…
“those who cut the course were unwilling to turn themselves in and valued winning over integrity”
Pretty harsh words from Charlie! Is there any evidence other than Barry Knight’s boast that McMahon & Bergquist cut the course? Assuming they did, if they were directed off of the course by officials/volunteers it would seem a bit harsh to disqualify them.
Your post appears to concede that point, but instead raises the issue of how their “enhanced” times effect everyone behind them since USAT rankings are calculated, in part, based upon how one’s time compares to the winning time. The logically correct thing to do would be to (as one suggested) base all other times (for USAT ranking purposes) on the third-place finisher (the fastest legitimate time for the entire course).
Having said that, I agree with you that there are probably better things to devote energy to than worrying about your USAT ranking. Personally, I like the ranking program and think it’s a great benefit I get with my membership. It’s always fun to see where I “ranked” within my age group, even though it is certainly not a perfect system. I hope it works out for you as it should. If not, let it go.
Well put Robert and point were well taken. My poin is…so now the RDs change their level of standards to meet the athletes ‘new’ level of standards in doing so lower their level of profit (albeit ever so slightly as your example illustrates). So now the bar has been raised…and in a few years when people suddenly have an even higher level for the RD to reach it drops the amount of money with which they run the event further. At what point in time do you want a person to stop making money altogether just so they can meet your (or anyone elses) level of acceptable standards? Because there will always be someone who has higher standards than you…and so on and so on. And for what it’s worth both of the series directors I race under are still a rag tag bunch of triathlon friendly guys we know and love. And the crap they have to put up with from a bunch of self important stuck up me attitude raise your level of standards athletes is nowhere near worth the amount of money they charge for races. And while on that topic…aren’t these the same people that bitch and moan every time the RD has to raise the entry fee for a race to compensate for things like…oh I dunno…cost of living (IM entry fees being an exception…I think). Like I said…at what point in time is the RD supposed to do all this and put up with so much for free so we can all have FUN.
If USAT set the standards, the standards wouldn’t change appreciably from year to year. I don’t think the race directors or the racers should be setting the standards. They would have plenty of input if there were any willingness on the part of USAT to address this problem. But, right now this is a pipe dream because the board of directors is full of race directors. I’m hoping that I might sell this idea to one or two people along the way. So far I don’t seem to have many takers.
-Robert
Amen, brother!!!
You are preaching to a choir of one I fear. But that’s good.
-Robert
I dare say I don’t imagine giving this athlete his money back or entry into another race would be sufficient compensation for his troubles in this case. While I agree he should not have to endure ranking punishment for an error he had no control over…as a RD what would you do to make ammends in this case? Bear in mind there are X number of other athletes who are also waiting on your descision…right now please and thank you…and what of the two athlete in question who ran the wrong course…punish them as well…or offer them another race/return their entry fee? Some descisions are not so easy when you’re the one standing in the referee shirt and you have a bunch of angry athletes standing in your face. Remember as an official you are a representative of the federation these people pay into…but you have to be fair and follow the rules. Kind of like being a judge with a jury of hundreds. And it worsens if you have to make a call after the fact and you weren’t even the official at the race.
Ken:
Well, what I’m saying is we should limit the actual and compensatory damages to the athletes, but the race director should be required to return the entry fee. That is an incentive for the race director to be more cautious with his planning. But, no, this approach does not fully compensate the athlete, and that is why I’m amused at the resistance to this idea. It actually limits the athlete’s compensation to the race fee while encouraging race directors to be more careful about distances, volunteers, swim courses (IM UTAH?), etc.
This particular athlete, by the way, is justifiably upset. He trained hard and spent a lot of money on bike, travel, clothes, food, and time off from work to have a national caliber race turn up a dud. Major bummer…
As things currently stand, the race directors have FEW incentives to plan cautiously. If a race director doesn’t discover that the Brooklyn Bridge is being moved to his bike course-despite the fact it was plastered all over the front page of his local paper-and decides to to turn an Olympic distance race into a 5K run, who’s going to stop him? The USAT won’t. And you signed your life away when you entered so tough luck!
-Robert