Spectator Smoking During A High School XC Meet...Really????

Repressed anger from holier-than-thou control freaks is waaaaay more unpleasant than a little second hand smoke.

Freedom means people get to make choices you disagree with. Be an adult and find a coping mechanism. Other people will make choices you wouldn't, deal with it.

My dad used to smoke at meets (off by himself removed from others)...he was a nervous wreck and needed a smoke to chill...I'm glad the consensus here is "who cares...to each his own"...in the US we're so over policed with rules and regulations the way it is...

at the rnr phily race on Sunday, there was a race volunteer standing next to corral #1/elite corral smoking a cigarette.

i had to go somewhere else to stretch before the race because of him.

has someone explained what's inappropriate about it yet?

Were you guys in Daegu? Half the stands were taking smoke breaks between races. Not a single f was given.

This shows how much the world has changed since I was in High School in the mid-80s. My High School XC coach (a teacher at our school) was a chain smoker.

My daughter is a high school cross country runner, and of the meets that I've been to (and when she was running in middle school), there are signs that say again and again that smoking is not allowed (most of these are on school property, but not always). I haven't seen anyone smoking anywhere near the runners since I started watching her run.

I remember as a younger person watching Phillies first baseman Willie Montanez smoke in the dugout after every inning. He would stand just in the doorway of the hallway to the clubhouse. There must have been a rule that you couldn't smoke in the actual dugout itself. He would go through a pack during every game it seemed.

I can't believe how many people on here are defending at cross country meets. I guess I would have expected it the other way around.

I know that used to be the norm, but things have changed since the 60s and 70s.

Many cities now have smoking bans in restaurants, and bars. I can't imagine that a High School sponsored activity wouldn't trump those places.

I feel like you smoking has no place in High School athletes. It is an unhealthy habit that should be accepted at school sanctioned events.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that there are supportive parents out there willing to watch their kids compete (cause as we all know, we need all the support we can get). But is it really to much to as to hold off on lighting up until after the meet is complete?

I smoke at meets. My choice. I also fire up my chainsaw at 6am on Saturdays and Sundays. I don't have anything to cut, I just love the sound of that big 77cc engine. The Commi neighbors complain, but its called FREEDOM baby! Don't tell me what to do. Don't like it then move to Iraq.

When I was in high school my grandfather used to smoke cigars during Track meets. I still have fond memories of entering the home stretch and smelling his cigar.

Most of you must not suffer from severe asthma. Smoke, particularly cigarette/cigar smoke absolutely can induce an attack. If that's fine with you, well it just reinforces my opinion that most people are asssholes.

osu fan wrote:

at the rnr phily race on Sunday, there was a race volunteer standing next to corral #1/elite corral smoking a cigarette.

i had to go somewhere else to stretch before the race because of him.

Oh no, you had to go somewhere else?!

The horror!!!

"lighten up - a guy smoking near a XC course has no effect what so ever on the runners. This was very common in 60s and 70s - at Milrose there was always a hzae of smoke from smokers and no one complained. During my first marathon in 1979 my Dad stood at 20 mile mark, smoking a ciggy, handed me a coke and said kick it in. I dont recall his smoke affecting me in the slighest"

Actually, it does. Breathing in smoke when you are taking very deep breaths and racing is just as bad as racing in the middle of Beijing at rush hour. Welcome asthma! And cancer.

The fact is smoking is legal but as someone said earlier it is illegal at bars, restaurants, and many other places. It should be illegal at XC meets. And it pisses the hell outta me.

Brock wrote:

Most of you must not suffer from severe asthma. Smoke, particularly cigarette/cigar smoke absolutely can induce an attack. If that's fine with you, well it just reinforces my opinion that most people are asssholes.

Asthma is for weak mofos who shouldn't run.

electron1661 wrote:

Actually, it does. Breathing in smoke when you are taking very deep breaths and racing is just as bad as racing in the middle of Beijing at rush hour. Welcome asthma! And cancer.

it's tough for me to understand if this is exaggeration or not. i mean, you're certainly exaggerating that running outdoors past a smoker can give you cancer, right? so are you also exaggerating about it causing an asthma attack? because i find that one hard to believe too. running past someone, you're gonna get a really diluted breath or two of smoke. can this set someone off?

rixctf wrote:

it's tough for me to understand if this is exaggeration or not. i mean, you're certainly exaggerating that running outdoors past a smoker can give you cancer, right? so are you also exaggerating about it causing an asthma attack? because i find that one hard to believe too. running past someone, you're gonna get a really diluted breath or two of smoke. can this set someone off?

Also, you have to consider the miniscule amount of time that any runner will be near any one spectator. Let's just assume that this guy has a cloud of noxious smoke and that everyone within 15 feet of him is exposed to it, meaning that a runner who is running close enough to the smoker to actually bump elbows with him as he runs by will be in this smoke zone for 30 linear feet of the course (of course someone running on the line or on the other side of the course will be exposed for a shorter segment). At 5 minute mile pace, a runner will pass through the 30 foot zone in 1.7 seconds. Even at 6 minute pace, the runner will be in the zone for about 2 seconds.

Think about that, electron. Just sit there and count: 1,2. That's the absolute maximum amount of time that you'd be within 15 feet of the smoker while running a race if you run as close as possible to the guy. If you're running on the line, you're exposed for even less time.

I'll add that modern humans have existed for hundreds of thousands of years. As a species, we've lived through various geological eras and survived in every imaginable climate. You're now telling me that inhaling a puff of smoke during an XC race will cause a human being to fall over on the spot with respiratory problems or even develop cancer? If we were as frail as you seem to believe, the human race would have been wiped off the face of the earth a hundred thousand years ago.

Flagpole wrote:

My daughter is a high school cross country runner, and of the meets that I've been to (and when she was running in middle school), there are signs that say again and again that smoking is not allowed (most of these are on school property, but not always). I haven't seen anyone smoking anywhere near the runners since I started watching her run.

It's only enforceable if the "facility" is smoke free.

So if the race is on school grounds or in a park which has been declared smoke free then it has nothing to do with whether a race is being run there or not.

If the "facility" is not smoke free, you can put up all the signs you want and it means jack shit.