Well in the true spirit of extremeism, run with no clothes. But, do it in Birkenstocks. Make sure you are drunk AND high. Fondle all the women officals, grope all the male officials, steal the lead cop car, shoot a few winos, pee on Bill Bowerman's feet and spike the post race refreshments. That's definitely a way to enter the purgatory of banditing runners.
This thread never ends, yet no one states the obvious. The problem with banditing is that if it becomes too prevalant, there will be no reason for anyone to put on races, which will hurt us all.
So is it the end of the world if someone does it? Of course not. But no way should anyone be endorsing it, or we're on that long slide down the razorblade...
No one endorses it just as no one "endorses" speeding. It's a phenomenon that simply occurs. Will there by thousands of people banditting races. Not likely. Most locals are afraid their RD's will blackball them. If it's a big enough race to be anonymous, there will stricter rules inforced. It's not like this is a recent, burgeoning trend threatening to take of the running world. If you think it is, we need to get that EPO sample from you very quickly.
Dude, what are you talking about? The day we have many free races in which many people show up just for the comp - with popcicle stick finishes, etc - ie. no frills, that will be a great thing for the sport indeed.
Having thousands of 25$ races across America with goody bags, nifty t-shirts, and chip timing (but who knows the real distance) sucks.
Oh yeah, I forgot - we need the nice trophies.
I find it disturbing that charities have almost completely highjacked the road race industry. It is so difficult to find a race in which my entry fee goes toward the race itself instead of a charity of some sort. I'd like to pick my own donations, without them being tied to races.
I of course have nothing against charities, but why don't they add ten dollars onto NFL tickets or little league baseball registration fees instead of targeting us. These alternatives of course sound absurd, but I don't see why they are all that different from our own situation.
It may be that road races are expensive to put on, but this doesn't explain why the prices have increased so rapidly, in exact synchronization as charities have gotten on board. Prices have gone up 100 to 150% in about 8 years. Normal inflation only accounts for a quarter of this increase at best. If the reason is all the extra doo-dads they give us like computer chips for our shoes, I say cut that stuff out. I haven't received a t-shirt I could actually wear in a long while, cut those out too. But wait, then there wouldn't be any free ads for the charities on my back.
I would never dream of banditing a race with a reasonable entry fee, say up to $25, but anything above that and I start to get a bit angry. HM/Marathons could charge more, obviously because of the additional administrative requirements. I have bandited one race, and it was for the dual reasons that the entry fee was super high and the race was ridiculously unorganized to the extent that attempting to register was an extremely frustrating process.
An interesting phenomenon that I quickly encountered on the race course was that my motivation was severely lacking as I was not officially in the race. As a result, I ran poorly -- a pernicious side effect of banditing, I suppose! I did not take any drinks or food or t-shirts, and as such my marginal cost was close to zero.
Do you think the highjacked RR industry is the result of increased marketing or simply the Joggers World crew peddling their completion-over-competition philosophy? I know the "charities" have always followed the smoke as far money has gone, but, I agree...$30.00 for a charity event frequently doesn't yield a lot towards the charity. There are a few that do pretty good, but, unless you pursue detailed financial records, no one knows for sure.
On the other side of the coin, lots of sponsors are reluctnant to offer things that draw competitive racers since it's such a tricky business as compared to simply relying on the jogger demographic.
Speeding is against the law, too! I hate people who go 66 in a 65! What is up with that? Are they all so f***ing stupid that they can't read the signs on the side of the road and read their spedometer and make the connection? What idiots?! Or, if they knowingly speed, now that REALLY pisses me off! All speeders should be reported, sought after, and cuffed with many years of pending jailtime and fines! People who speed or who have ever sped SUCK bigtime. I hate speeders, and I would never do something as incredibly stupid as that (it causes more and worse accidents, etc.) until at least 7 tonight when I go home.
Banditing is on the same level as speeding.
Fuck all yall that think he should have been pulled off the road. What the hell does it matter to you? Just run your race and not worry about somebody elses you f***s and as long as he doesnt cross the finish line it doesnt really matter.
Will, I think the main problem here is not that you're contrarian or a scofflaw, but that you're not very bright. Unfortunately there's little to be done about this. However, if I ever catch you banditing one of my events, I'll knock you on your dumb f***ing ass.
Have a happy!
YES! Banditing is like those dumbf***s that steal out of grocery store big trash containers that are out behind the store. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW, SO WHO CARES IF THE FOOD MIGHT SERVE A BETTER PURPOSE THAN BEING WASTED. PEOPLE WHO DO THAT OUGHT TO HAVE THEIR ASSES HANDED TO THEM.
Will wrote:
I bet the majority of people on here have done it at least once or, if not, something comparable in another facet of life.
Exactly. People have been lying, cheating and stealing for centuries, so why not just join in? I don't see the fuss about knowingly doing wrong - it's the easier path to follow.
See why you're a f***ing idiot yet? Most likely you don't - personal insight is not a typical hallmark of the idiot. You can make as many weaselly comments as you want about this being the Internet and my "tough" words being worthless as a result, but you've admitted your real-world conduct and it sucks. You set a shitty example and then you stand behind it, and that makes you an unqualified moron.
Have a happy!
Psychometrist wrote:
Will, ...if I ever catch you banditing one of my events, I'll knock you on your dumb f***ing ass.
I'm puzzled by this inherent contradiction in many of the posts on this thread. Many of the "anti-bandit" posters have no problem threatening unlawful assault on bandits.
If one is anti-bandit because it is illegal, one cannot argue that the solution is to respond with an illegal act (that being said if one is against banditing for other reasons, it is not necessarily inconsistent to break the law to prevent it).
While certain rules exist regarding trespassing and using force in self-defence or to the prevent the commission of a crime, as far as I can tell there is no legal justification for assaulting a bandit. There are civil remedies and one may possibly hire police officers to enforce the conditions of one's permit, but one is not legally justified in assaulting a bandit.
Therefore, those of you that threaten to assault bandits because banditing is illegal (or use the fact that banditing is/may be illegal as justification), may want to rethink some of your comments.
p.s. I realise the obvious and supposedly humorous reply is to threaten to assault me. I hope we can save time and energy and forgo the predictable.
I've bandited wrote:
Speeding is against the law, too! I hate people who go 66 in a 65! What is up with that? Are they all so f***ing stupid that they can't read the signs on the side of the road and read their spedometer and make the connection? What idiots?! Or, if they knowingly speed, now that REALLY pisses me off! All speeders should be reported, sought after, and cuffed with many years of pending jailtime and fines! People who speed or who have ever sped SUCK bigtime. I hate speeders, and I would never do something as incredibly stupid as that (it causes more and worse accidents, etc.) until at least 7 tonight when I go home.
Banditing is on the same level as speeding.
I think that although this was meant to be sarcastic, it's true on another level. Like Placido said a few posts ago, if you bandit, it's not the end of the world, but you have to be prepared to take the consequences, which usually aren't all that severe in a typical case. A guy pacing his wife isn't doing any harm & isn't really bothering anyone, just the same as if he were driving 5 miles over the speed limit. However, in some cases, like if he were to knock down & hurt a child, this would cause problems, like if a speeder was going too fast & lost control. And this is why it is illegal. So we all do small illegalities & we expect to get away with most of them & make allowances for others who do the same. But if you're a bandit & get caught & thrown out of the race, don't complain- sometimes you get pulled over & ticketed.