Cutting courses shows that you are a leader and hold power over those that run the entire course. Running the entire course shows that you are weak and should be dealt with accordingly.
Cutting courses shows that you are a leader and hold power over those that run the entire course. Running the entire course shows that you are weak and should be dealt with accordingly.
I was just at a race today, the guy in first was about 30 seconds ahead of me and this other guy and got directed off the course, we made sure it got corrected so that he got first, really runners appreciate the work that goes into running and don't appreciate other people trying to take a shirt cut to win or getting messed up like the guy today.
Also, if it's ok to cheat not cut CHEAT in running a race then who's to say they arnt doing it in other things? It's a simple principle of life, only people who think it's ok are cheaters themselves and are trying to exscuse it.
Gotta bee wrote:
I was just at a race today, the guy in first was about 30 seconds ahead of me and this other guy and got directed off the course, we made sure it got corrected so that he got first, really runners appreciate the work that goes into running and don't appreciate other people trying to take a shirt cut to win or getting messed up like the guy today.
Also, if it's ok to cheat not cut CHEAT in running a race then who's to say they arnt doing it in other things? It's a simple principle of life, only people who think it's ok are cheaters themselves and are trying to exscuse it.
Reminds me of my first age-group XC race ever. I was 11 years old, and was up ahead of the 2nd runner by a good 30 meters. I went by an unmarked fork in the trail and looked at a lady standing there to see if she knew which way to go and she just stood there looking at me. Having to guess on my own, I proceeded along, until, back behind me, I heard the lady screaming to the kid in 2nd, "HE'S GOING THE WRONG WAY!!!". Wow, I was pissed. I doubled back and caught the kid who was directed correctly, ended up beating him by a few seconds.
One reason and one reason only -
Because its contradictory to what SPORT is.
Some people think that the point in sport is winning, medals, PBs, awards.
NO.
Far ahead before all of the above, sport is about participating in the SAME competition on the same terms. Not in a shorter one or a different one. Only far after that base, can it be about winning.
It's only cheating if you get caught. I ran Boston, you didn't.
Then why even do it if you are going to cheat? Perhaps you have no conscience at all, how can you cheat in a race and convince yourself that you actually ran time and distance you did????
The reality is nobody really cares what any of us do in a race except ourselves. So you run a race for a particular distance and you achieve a time and you are proud of it and hope to better it as time goes on. That is what is is all about.
Not to impress others with a "fake" performance, because as I already stated nobody really cares.
Gotta bee wrote:
I was just at a race today, the guy in first was about 30 seconds ahead of me and this other guy and got directed off the course, we made sure it got corrected so that he got first, really runners appreciate the work that goes into running and don't appreciate other people trying to take a shirt cut to win or getting messed up like the guy today
Totally different issue. If you win because someone else went off course, that's NOT cheating. Technically, the guy that went off course (directed or not) is at fault. As a runner, you have to know the course ahead of time and sometimes you have to ignore what volunteers are saying if they is wrong.
Adjusting times for going long is dumb. It sucks, but the race was spoiled. Don't make it more fake by giving out artificial times. Accept your "unfair" long time, "unfair" second place, suck it up and run again. If I ran off course as leader and came in second, I would refuse any first place prize on principle. Would you accept an adjusted time as a PR? No way.
Cutting the course on the other hand. Always a bad thing and you deserve to be banned from future races. If the race says it is no big deal, and doesn't correct it, that race is not worth running for competitors.
No one is "competing" in a no-name race for 5167th place. It's like plagiarizing a PhD dissertation that no one reads anyway, at least until you run for political office.
Plagiarizing your Ph.D. dissertation would make the title just that much more meaningless, enable you to possibly get a job over someone better qualified, and thus undermine the credentialing system that protects research and teaching, among other things. Cutting the course in running has less serious consequences, but can mean stealing money and awards from others and setting up your own fraudulent credentials in running.
Big Questioner wrote:
In the grand scheme of things, who cares? I say it's like a plagiarizing part of your PhD thesis. No one cares about it unless you become famous for something more important anyway.
Lying and cheating no big deal, right? You must be a trump guy.
broken arrow wrote:
The reality is nobody really cares what any of us do in a race except ourselves.
False. Google "compete derivation". The whole point is that more than one person is racing. First is only first by virtue of being in front of second. Second is only second by virtue of being in front of third. Except that second CUT THE COURSE. So everybody who finished behind the course cutter cares a great deal.
False again, because the course cutter had her expenses paid to run the race. So certainly the sponsor cared about her finish. (Even if the sponsor was in on the scheme, they still cared, although I would then submit they cared in a wrong way.)
False one more time, because the course cutter's running team booted her for cutting the course, so obviously they care.
False one final time, because as already stated, I CARE.
Do you have any clue how much effort honest athletes, coaches, and officials put into their work? That's why it matters. We have courses certified, in other sports like soccer or basketball you'll see plays reviewed to ensure fairness per the rules of the sport. Cheaters throw that out the window. If they want to run around in aimless circles, no one is stopping them: they can go to the park and play fetch with their dog in aimless circles but cutting a course or otherwise cheating is a blatant offense to those of us who care about honest and valid sport.