The father can be seen on Finisher Pix high fiving the 9-year-old child coming out of the swim, and then Dad makes the bike cut off by 45 minutes only to end up in handcuffs. This is a real shame if you ask me. The kid had a VIP pass and access to plentiful snacks and only seemed to want to see his father cross that Ironman finish line. But instead race organizers had his run gear pulled and intercepted him with law enforcement at the end of the bike.
Thoughts?
Are you really defending the dad here? Seems like thatās the stance youāre taking.
Wow! Thatās an astonishingly fucking stupid side to pick.
I donāt know if you have kids but a 9 year old boy is far too young to be left on his own devices for an entire day.
Yeah, I wouldnāt even leave him alone if I were doing a sprintā¦ canāt imagine going on a 6 hour bike ride and leaving him by himself. Yikes!!
Dang, you went 0-100Km/hr in like 2 sentences.
Certainly not the best idea from that dad, but also not something he should be arrested for.
And my wife and I are NOT helicopter parents, we give our son a lot of freedom. Heās 12 now and if it was a shorter race, MAYBE. I mean could this Dad not find any friends also at the event who could keep an eye on the son? Hell, find a random nice family also spectating and buy them lunch so his son can stay with them.
I have a very responsible 11 year old whoād probably be fine. Could I leave him for the day? Probablyā¦ Would I want to? no.
Heād be bored out of his mind all day. Besides, heād probably be better off at the hotel anyway.
My son would play Pokemon Go all day, he would never even watch me race.
What the hell were the cops thinking arresting him before the run?!? Now he doesnāt have an Ironman t-shirt to walk around with and tell all his friends about the race ad nauseam. And all of this for neglecting his legal responsibility as a parent. Comāon guys, focus on the important stuff.
Itās not a six hour bike ride. This was an Ironman race. A race in which the dad barely made the bike cutoff. So this was likely a 15-16 hour long race. Not to mention having to be ready to go before the race starts. So a nine year old kid was going to be left unattended from letās say 6 AM to 11 PM. Anyone who thinks this is remotely okay is a fucking idiot.
But by leaving the boy in the VIP area Ironman can become liable for his well being if anything happens. Notifying the Police was 100% the correct call.
The best part of this huge lapse in judgement is:
He was crazy enough to pay for an Ironman VIP ticket.
And itās likely Ironman rewarded him by calling the cops.
Plot twist: he wants child protective services to take his kid so he can get back to training unencumbered.
The other thing to think about is that shit happens to athletes during the race. What happens if dad crashes bad during the bike or has some kind of medical emergency on the run. Maybe heās not alert and canāt tell anyone āHey, Iām a real shitty parent and my 9 year old is by himself in the VIP area.ā Dad gets carted off to the ER in the ambulance and this kid is sitting there wondering where dad is while dad is passed out in a hospital room overnight.
I once spent the night in the ER after a race. It would have been a huge problem if my 9 year old was by himself back at the race site while I was at the hospital.
NINE years old!?!?
Heck by 9 we were driving tractors on the road, smoking Lucky Strikes and drinking Black Label
Darn meddling Karenās!!!
At home on the farm, or at random farms hours away from home?
100% IM Corp fault!
If they allowed 9 year olds to race he would have been entered and just fine
lol
What is this āfarmā you speak of?
Bro, chill the fuck out already. Iām actually agreeing with you.
I said 6 hour bike ride because I am guessing the dude was thinking he would see his son in T1 and then T2, plus whatever loops this race has.
Irresponsible move either way, the boy is too young. My ex-wife would kill me.
Imagine being that shit at Ironman and forcing your child to watch. Just sets a bad example for the kid growing up.