Babyjoggers should be outlawed in ALL races

Baby Strollers have absolutely NO place at any roadrace for safety reasons above all.

If you lack the time or resources to leave the baby with a sitter, you could roll out of bed and get a nice two-hour long run in, instead of wasting gas and time driving to and from the race, plus dropping $30 for an entry.

That argument does not wash and it's the best one presented.

Baby Strollers have absolutely no place in a race! I was in one this summer in which your typical “Stroller mom” knocked down another participant. The runner was celebrating his 88 birthday by running, and at a 7:30 pace! Well, the Stroller Mom came up behind him, knocked him down hitting the ground hard enough to break his leg. The majority of runners who where in the area at the time all stopped to help this inspiring runner. Over 20 people stopped and helped him up and to the ambulance. As a result, you can imagine our times. The race director let us rerun the course with the chips to get a time in. What got us all was that the Stroller mom knew what she did, did not stop or even look back! Add to this that most of the runners showed an interest in helping…except the 15 other stroller moms who did not give a care at all. Nice roll modeling for the kid. While I hate to generalize, I have to admit I have never seen a responsible stroller mom yet. Most view their kid as a battling ram or an excuse not to use basic decorum. I am sorry but stroller moms are either the shallowest people who looking for attention or the perfect poster child for pro choice!

Ban these things at all races, and directors, hold to those rules!

Down with “Stroller Moms”!

Ravencourt wrote:

Add to this that most of the runners showed an interest in helping…except the 15 other stroller moms who did not give a care at all.

So most people who run in races without strollers are good people, while all people who run in races with strollers are bad people. Got it.

Well, I'm coming anyway. I have logged many miles with my child and never hurt her or anyone else nor have ever been offended or hurt by any parent with a baby jogger. If the race says no strollers, then I won't be there. We have 5 race directors on my club and one doesn't allow strollers at their race. The rest all encourage them. I like spending time with my child and doing the sport that I love. However, I am loving this sport much less since I started reading this message board. I never realized runners were such assholes.

THE REAL PROBLEM IS YOU PEOPLE CAN'T STAND TO BE BEATEN BY A PERSON PUSHING THEIR CHILD.

why don't we just put the baby joggers with the wheelchair race? And if there's no wheelchair race, make a baby jogger division. Problem solved.

Wow. Pebbles response was really interesting and ignorant. This is dumb. It shouldn't even be an argument. The people in the race who want to use strollers are a minority. The race is intended for RUNNING and not for pushing little people. They have races for people with jogging strollers. They are called wheelbarrow races. And these are good because all people agree to the same terms. When you do something out of the ordinary in a race, such as pushing your kid really fast, you become a liability to your child and all the runners around you, regardless of whether or not you have ever been in an accident with it before. Are you really going to be so lonely for 3 hours without your child? They probably won't remember much of the experience anyway. Why make things more difficult just to prove a point? You can find a sitter, relative etc. for 3 hours in the morning. It's not impossible. Run with the stroller during your training, when you wont be a liability to an exponentially larger amount of people. Runners who dont use strollers in races are not assholes. They just understand that they could be a GREATER liability to the people around them.

They have a point. Well Read....look at your handle and go try and do just that more often! The only thing I've ever found those joggers useful is for 'easy day' training runs or for those times when my tot's were cranky and could'nt get to sleep. Like magic, drop 'em in the Chariot and they would be sleeping by mile 2. Like anything with wheels, they certainly can be dangerous and don't really belong on a crowded race course. Did'nt some guy set a WR for pushing a baby jogger in the Toronto Marathon last month (the same course where 73 year old Ed Whitlock ran a 2:53)? Now that sounds nasty for the poor kid in the jogger, 26 miles at 2:40 pace!

Pebbles wrote:

Did I mention that I was a bandit.

We have 5 race directors on my club and one doesn't allow strollers at their race.

Did you also ask those race directors if they are OK with bandits in their races?

and a bicycle division, and a rollerblade division, and a skateboard division, and a juggling division, and a three-legged runner division.

sure, problem solved.

What will ideally happen is a high0profile accident resulting in the violent death of either the unsuspecting infant in the jogger or the woman pushing it. Maybe both. That'll make RD's become more diligent about enforcing their own rules and keeping these idiotic twats out of road races.

Considering I am the coach of the club, being a bandit wouldn't be an issue. Thanks for putting those two items together, though. People that suggest getting a sitter just do not have kids.

Again, it is not the stroller that is the issue, it is the individual. Just because I like to push my child in a stroller does not make me a danger to runners or to my daughter. In fact, she often says 'faster, Daddy'. It is incredibly easy to stay away from other runners and to be safe in a stroller. 99.9% of the time, the strollers are in the back and never seen by real competitiors. The fact that all of the people on this thread are so upset is bunk. Y'all should be way out in front of the strollers and if you're not, come to my practice and you soon will be.

I think that people who are opposed to having baby joggers in races doing nothing more than complaining. I am a male, who trains regularly with my son in the baby jogger. I have been in races where people were pushing their son or daughter in their baby jogger and doing just fine, nobody was complaining. These were races with 600 plus people in them and the guys that were pushing the baby joggers did pretty well for themselves. The people screaming the loudest about this (and this has already been stated)are people who dont have children and/or are too concerned with what everybody else is doing to focus on what they should be focused on--their own running. There is probably some truth to the statement that they cannot get over the idea of getting passed/beaten by someone pushing a baby jogger. Having pushed my son around quite a bit, I can safely say that it is not easy to keep a steady pace, but my primary concern is his safety first, then mine. If people have a specific problem with a person pushing the baby jogger, they need to be an adult about it and talk to the person who made them upset, not start a thread on some message board so they can feel good about themself.

According to the NHTSA website about 250 children die each year in baby jogger accidents...no wait...that's bicycle accidents.

You can argue against baby joggers in races because they are a nuisance, or they get in your way, or even that they are a danger to others (although I think that one's pretty weak), but it's ridiculous to argue that the children are being endangered. You do things with your child or allow your children to do things that are far more dangerous than being pushed around in a baby jogger. Letting them ride their bikes or driving them around in your car are just a couple of examples.

I've seen many baby joggers in races and the only thing I've ever seen get hurt are a few egos.

I ran a 10K race in 1992 in about 33:45 and was neck and neck with a (normally) 29-minute guy pushing a baby stroller. I hate to admit but he had me working hard till the last 300! It was kind of funny, but it was cool. However, not enough parents are cautious enough with their baby strollers to warrant allowing them in competitions. You cautious, polite users of baby-strollers in races can thank the errant ones for getting you banned from races because even you should be able to recognize it: THEY are a menace out there.

Pebbles wrote:

Considering I am the coach of the club, being a bandit wouldn't be an issue.

Then why did you bring it up in the first place?

Pebbles wrote:

Thanks for putting those two items together, though.

You're the one that put those two items together.

Pebbles wrote:

I recently pushed my 2 year old in a race and ran 18:02 for a 5K with about 400 people in it from the back of the pack. It was exhilerating passing 385 people, let me tell you. Did I mention that I was a bandit.

you might be a great stroller pusher but bottom line is that those things are wide. in a crowd, it's difficult to manuver around then. same thing as leashes and rollerbladers. in a crowd of people, like on a freeway, you have to be able to predict the movements of people ahead of you. it has nothing to do with getting beaten by stroller-pushers.

but i'm an RD and our insurance doesn't allow strollers but it's difficult to enforce. in fact, i couldn't even really enforce saying "no" to men and an all women's race! i just have no idea what would happen in the event that there was a runner vs stroller accident - i'm sure it's just waiting to happen.

i have no problem with kids - i'll probably have them myself someday. but i'm a bit tired of the self-righteous attitude of parents who think they are so above the rest of us who don't have kids and they are exempt from common sense. YOU CHOSE TO HAVE KIDS! now you're boo-hooing that you can't push your kid in a stroller at a race??? life's about choices - you made yours, deal with it.

dukerdog wrote:

I've seen many baby joggers in races and the only thing I've ever seen get hurt are a few egos.

my experience as well. never seen anyone get "clipped" by one. i am sure it has happened. i have seen lots of people tripped up by other runners, maybe runners should be banned for safety reasons. i am sure there are far more injuries from being trpped by other runners than strollers.

as far as hurt egos, i am ashamed to admit this, but i once got beat by a guy pushing a stroller. about 2 years ago i was running a low key 8 mile race on a trail - crushed limestone. about 70 runners. for the 1st mile i ran with a guy pushing a stroller, i even joked with him about whether the kid was a bandit since it did not appear he signed up. about 5 miles into the race he began to pull away and i did not see him again till the finish. the course was out and back and he got so far ahead i lost sight of him.

i did not care that he ran with the stroller 1/2 as much as i cared that he beat me. in any event, he did not bother anyone and there were no problems.

Pebbles wrote:

People that suggest getting a sitter just do not have kids.

Hey, you made the decision to go and have kids. Did you think there would be NO sacrifices made in your life so that you could have a kid around? Keep your stroller at home, and out of our road races.