Fair or Foul: Washington Post tries to shame JFK 50 Miler into being cancelled this weekend

rojo wrote:

It's almost as if they act like Covid just jumps out of the woods and gets on you.

That was my reaction when I read this as well.

A few other thoughts:

1) Bias in reporting is 90% about what you choose to report, not how you report it. WaPo decided to write a story about a relatively small event, that is totally compliant with COVID rules, is taking place in a remote outdoor location, and whose participants are a statistically at minimal risk. Nobody writes or publishes this article unless they think that the race should be canceled.

2) RDs are not public health experts. Neither are most event organizers. It's ridiculous to shame people for organizing events that are perfectly legal and consistent with all requirements put in place by actual public health officials.

3) Controlling COVID is about tradeoffs and aggregate risk, and some events are simply more important than others. I'm pretty comfortable saying that an ultramarathon is the kind of really important event that should go on if at all possible. It's something people have organized their lives around for a long time. For a lot of people, races like this actually give their lives meaning. It's also commonly a form of self medication for all kinds of mental illness. I don't deny that it's admirable when people are able to accept the loss of such an opportunity with equanimity and perspective, but "it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things" is more of a mantra for coping with loss; it's not the lived experience for anyone except maybe a Buddhist monk.

Show me evidence WaPo is trying to SHAME the JFK 50. I DONT SEE IT BECAUSE ITS NOT THERE

With regard to schools, it doesn't seem to matter how low Covid gets in many areas, particularly those run by Democrats, schools stay closed. That is the case in Seattle where I live. Therefore, I find the "cancel events to keep schools open" argument weak. If, in fact, there was clear prioritization of schools above all other things, not just low risk outdoor races, I'd be much more supportive of that argument. Here is Seattle, they've prioritized retail, restaurants, sports, bars, casinos, and many other things over schools.

In terms of this article in general, I can't help but compare it to the articles on the huge protests of the summer. If the protests were safe, this road race of a few hundred people is certainly safe. (750 runners expected since many won't show.)

If they have a quarantine system in place, runners should be required to sign something affirming they've followed that system. The race itself should be split into more smaller waves, but otherwise is probably fine. Basically, find somebody else to pick on WaPo.

Didn’t pick on anyone, hun. They merely reported the facts. Sorry if that’s hurts your feewings

I don't think there is a right answer. Are schools shutting down and going virtual while this race can still be held there? That seems like a bad look.

I kind of agree with Rojo at the same time though. If everyone coming to the race does very little outside of running it and going to their hotel rooms I don't see a big risk for the local community. Sure, there's some risk of the virus spreading between the people gathering together at the race, but there needs to be an acceptable risk with this sort of thing.

Everybody will be spread out after an hour into the race and it should be no different than me running on the Charles River with thousands of other people out this weekend right?

Maybe I'm misreading your argument, but keeping infected people separate from uninfected populations is pretty fundamental and, I would think, a blindingly obvious way to mitigate the spread of an epidemic. Perhaps you're saying that "it's already everywhere", but at a granular level there are relatively isolated bubbles and a mass participation event effectively intermingles a bunch of those bubbles.

I'm not aware of any federal level contact tracing that would produce this sort of evidence.

+10,000

“If the protests were safe, this road race of a few hundred people is certainly safe”. I 100% agree with this logic.

So many of the people I work with have made self righteous posts bashing others for going out to eat on patios or gathering in small groups for the holidays. It’s comical how many of those same people have recently posted videos from Pride Weekend, BLM protests, and Biden celebration parties.

Tbc, I am not a Trump supporter, and I am equally tired of people on both sides of the aisle. That said, it is very clear that liberals can conveniently justify gathering in large groups whenever they feel it’s “necessary”.

MidtownMatt wrote:

“If the protests were safe, this road race of a few hundred people is certainly safe”. I 100% agree with this logic.

So many of the people I work with have made self righteous posts bashing others for going out to eat on patios or gathering in small groups for the holidays. It’s comical how many of those same people have recently posted videos from Pride Weekend, BLM protests, and Biden celebration parties.

Tbc, I am not a Trump supporter, and I am equally tired of people on both sides of the aisle. That said, it is very clear that liberals can conveniently justify gathering in large groups whenever they feel it’s “necessary”.

Fake news. No one is saying this

No one is saying what?

MidtownMatt wrote:

No one is saying what?

wow you are dumb

Judging by that response,I’d wager you’re the type of person who also calls things “racist” when you don’t agree with them.

Also, I’m beginning to thing you don’t ACTUALLY want me to ‘get well soon’... :-/.

MidtownMatt wrote:

Judging by that response,I’d wager you’re the type of person who also calls things “racist” when you don’t agree with them.

Also, I’m beginning to thing you don’t ACTUALLY want me to ‘get well soon’... :-/.

Wow such an assumption maker!!!

If you have COVID I DO want you to get well soon!!! :):):)

Harambe wrote:

Bringing in a bunch of out-of-towners seems like a terrible idea. The curve of cases and hospitalizations is just insane right now.

Are the out of towners visiting nursing homes?

get well soon wrote:

MidtownMatt wrote:

“If the protests were safe, this road race of a few hundred people is certainly safe”. I 100% agree with this logic.

So many of the people I work with have made self righteous posts bashing others for going out to eat on patios or gathering in small groups for the holidays. It’s comical how many of those same people have recently posted videos from Pride Weekend, BLM protests, and Biden celebration parties.

Tbc, I am not a Trump supporter, and I am equally tired of people on both sides of the aisle. That said, it is very clear that liberals can conveniently justify gathering in large groups whenever they feel it’s “necessary”.

Fake news. No one is saying this

Read between the lines. They are.

Runner10287 wrote:

get well soon wrote:

Fake news. No one is saying this

Read between the lines. They are.

NOPE!!!

But when there’s protests it’s okay because covid can’t spread during protests. It’s all politics.

If they’re playing by the rules then let it happen. Meanwhile it’s okay for Pelosi to go mask less to hair salons when they’re ordered to be closed. Newsome to go hangout with his buddies at a restaurant after he tells them to shut down. Or for him to order wineries to be closed but his gets a special exemption. F*ck politics. If the organizers are playing by the guidelines who gives a f*ck about the Washington post.

MidtownMatt wrote:

“If the protests were safe, this road race of a few hundred people is certainly safe”. I 100% agree with this logic.

Well obviously the protests aren't safe, I think anyone would agree with this. Look, I'm torn on this because it's outside, I don't think there is a very high risk of transmission. I'm OK with the race itself. I am not sure about all of the travelling, groups in cars, people in hotels, people who presumably will eat out (maybe some get takeaway but not all I'd imagine). The race itself is OK. But protests tend to be way more crowded for longer periods of time with people physically closer - look at footage of rallies for example, people are shoulder to shoulder, shouting, which then makes being outside actually a lot more unsafe.

I don't have an answer for this.

You can't say 'racing is safe' / 'racing isn't safe' - because you could have a race that WAS done in a safe way, and you could have a race that was done in an unsafe way as well (e.g. sharing changing rooms after etc).

So if someone goes to the race, does the race and goes home I have no problem with that. The problem, and the after effects I think you may see after Thanksgiving, is the other things people do which is more of the issue.

T-shirt wrote:

But when there’s protests it’s okay because covid can’t spread during protests. It’s all politics.

If they’re playing by the rules then let it happen. Meanwhile it’s okay for Pelosi to go mask less to hair salons when they’re ordered to be closed. Newsome to go hangout with his buddies at a restaurant after he tells them to shut down. Or for him to order wineries to be closed but his gets a special exemption. F*ck politics. If the organizers are playing by the guidelines who gives a f*ck about the Washington post.

So what you’re saying is if LRC supports the races then they also support the protests