This is the sort of "serious" running debate that you would find on RW Forums or Cool Running. What's next? "Races That Suck Because They Serve Icky Sports Drinks" and "Should the Supreme Court Give Equal Rights / Prize Money to Gallowalkers?".
Lighten up people. It's just running.
Portland Runner wrote:
This is the sort of "serious" running debate that you would find on RW Forums or Cool Running. What's next? "Races That Suck Because They Serve Icky Sports Drinks" and "Should the Supreme Court Give Equal Rights / Prize Money to Gallowalkers?".
That's what I'm trying to say.
I've bandited before. I know it's wrong, but, I've done it. The guy got his butt in trouble. Lighten up people. It's just running. People just have different points of view. In the grand scheme of things what I did isn't completely logical...so what. I bet the majority of people on here have done it at least once or, if not, something comparable in another facet of life.
ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?!? I AM NOT TAKING THI SERIOUSLY. I AGREE WITH YOU ON YOUR LAST POST, SERIOUSLY. BUT I DO THINK IT'S RIDICULOUS FOR PEOPLE TO BE SOOOO ANTI-BANDITS. I AM TYPING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I THINK IT MILDLY POKES FUN AT THEIR SELF-IMPORTANCE, AND I ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE IN ALL CAPS TO SEE HOW IT FEELS TO DO SO (AS I FIND IT INCREDIBLY ANNOYING TO READ).
[quote]Portland Runner wrote:
Should the Supreme Court Give Equal Rights / Prize Money to Gallowalkers?.
[quote]
We might laugh at this now, but it's coming...just watch. Galloway is a snake!
NO PERSONAL ATTACKS (sorry) in my posts. Just making light of the typical Let's Run debate. It starts off nice enough and then degenerates into sophomoric hyperbole and name calling.
"Dudes - bandit got arrested in Utah."
"Cool. I hate to see those guys not support the race."
"I don't know if he is a criminal, he was just pacing his wife. No harm."
"F$#@$% bastards who $%%#$# their fees are f*$#@ killing the sport."
"I've paced my girlfriend in a 5K without paying"
"Then you should DIE MOTHER F#$%^& PIG!!!!"
"Effin' Ashcroft and his police state!"
"Shut up you unpatriotic moron"
Yadda, yadda, yadda...
Will just how dumb are you?
You keep harping on about how banditing is harmless, a victimless crime if you will. Put yourself in the shoes of a race director for 1 minute. A guy who busts his hump for months to get sponsors, to get permits, to get volunteers, to get equipment, to get runners to enter. He busts his hump and more often than not his race barely breaks even or lasts more than a few years.
Races fail because of people like you. If all runners were selfish bastards and refused to pay then very quickly there'd be no races.
There are repercussions if you don't pay.
"NO PERSONAL ATTACKS (sorry) in my posts..."
Why are you sorry there are no personal attacks in your post?
what a lot of people seem to be missing about this particular instance is that the bandit was (probably) arrested because he lipped off to the cop and refused to leave the course. If he leaves the course w/o a fuss he (most likely) isn't arrested. I think most posters to this thread are in agreement that banditry is rude at the minimum and stealing at the extreme - as such, when asked by the race director or a designated agent of the race director to leave the course they should do so. To refuse to leave the course, especially when asked to do so by a cop, raises the stakes to a level they wouldn't have been at if the refusal had not occurred.
Bottom line: if you feel banditry is OK and you want to run in a race then you're gonna do it regardless of what anyone on this board might say to the contrary. However, understand that there are consequences to your actions and, if you're singled out and asked to leave the course, once you refuse to leave you've crossed a line and are likely to be punished accordingly and you only have yourself to blame for the consequences.
I'd pay extra to see a bandit get stunned.
Stun Baton ...
Simply touch an assailant with the baton and pull the trigger: three to five seconds will leave the assailant dazed and temporarily paralyzed.
Yeahhh Baby!!!
I saw a guy get maced and taken down by a cop at the San Francisco classic bike race a couple of weeks ago.
Black dude walks out into the street in North Beach in front of a pack of bikes resulting in some minor swerving. He continues his hands in pockets cool swagger agross the street where he's greeted by one of SF's finest. Cop yells at him to get his a$$ on the sidewalk. Dude turns a 180 and starts to swagger back across the road again when another pack of bikes are coming.
Cop jumps the barrier and takes him down from behind. Dude kicks and screams and gets maced, then cuffed and stuffed for his troubles.
These are the same cops who let buses drive through the San Francisco marathon! I guess Willie Brown is more of a cycling fan than a running fan.
This one's simple...ya ever try to stun gun a bus. Nothin' happens, man, nada, zilcho,...yer left standing there with a dead battery and a really mad bus.
Think these things out before you hit the "Post Message" button.
... and the first post was asking what?
Hey I was helping a race director with the set up of a race down in temecula Valley of Last year. It was called run through the grapevines. There were plenty of bandits, the directing commitee didnt really care and they even said themselves that it doesnt hurt anybody if they dont cross the finish line because they are still getting thier fair share of the money. Man, everyone here would be suprised at how much profit these people are making...hell I got paid bank too. not all of it goes to charity but a large portion of it does. My point is, to those anti-bandit posters out here, lighten up. Do you guys direct races? Do bandits intentionally and physically harm you? No? Ok..well than pipe down. So long as they dont cross the finish line and hurt anybody. Im sorry but the vast majority of participants care about official results and medals and tshirts so they will pay, and there will never be a race where nobody pays, thats just how it will ALWAYS BE, no matter how much you whine on the internet. If you still have such a problem, than quit your complaining and try to do something about it. Good luck cause nothing is going to change.
As I read this post I am wondering who these people are that are getting so upset over bandits. Are you mad because you had to pay and someone else didn't. Are you mad because my dad has someone to push him to finish his 3 and 1/2 hour marathon and you don't. It seems having a son help his father finish a race is something that the spirit of this sport is all about. Its definately not about becoming aggrssive towards bandits. Personally, I have run 11miles of 26 with my father. Didn't get in anyones way, didn't take water, didn't start or finish the race. Whats the big deal. I wonder if a 2:20marathon runner could give a damn.
I know that I don't
Yeah, what the hell, who cares about rules, regulations, codes, ethics, honesty, fairness to all participants, and anything remotely resembling sportsmanlike conduct.
I have not said a thing advocating violence or aggresive behavior towards a bandit.
I am surprised, sadly on mildly, at how much approval there is for folks running outside the rules and all the rationalizations there are for so doing.
I am not upset, nor mad, about the bandits. What they are doing is outside the realm of fair play, but there is a lot of support for disregarding the rules.
I don't know the rules of the marathon where you helped your father run a whatever. The spirit of the support is no outside help, no one whispering in your ear, no coach leaning alongside you...you run alone. I'm on the other end of the rope, my son runs with me sometimes--but he runs within the rules of the event we are dong.
It used to be, "Whatever's fair." That has degenerated into "Whatever I can get away with."
I just reread the original post. Corrected answers:
Somebody probably does, but not me.
I don't know.
Generally too much about most things.
Disregard all other posts re this thread. Thank you.
Big Paul,
Do you speed when driving?
Ever not fully stop at a stop sign and not look the required left-right-left before proceeding?
Ever not yield the right of way?
Ever swear in front of a kid?
Yea, as you said (in a tone of sarcasm that is very common on this board -- to me included): "who cares about rules, regulations, codes..."
...for fun since Big Paul is a hypocrit who likes to pretend his poo smells like roses...it don't.