First finisher at Cambridge HM is not the winner

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Curly45 Mar 2018 12:40pm, 6 Mar 2018 3,371 posts	0 Curly45 I have noticed race organisers are starting to do things like different coloured numbers for each gender to help weed out some of these things. I suspect soon we will all have a registration number checked at number collection (EA number or similar)...little barcode that could be scanned and pull up a picture or similar...passport etc.
HappyG(rrr) Mar 2018 12:48pm, 6 Mar 2018 28,410 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) He asked for a place but go an out of office email reply? So? FFS, in this day and age there are about 20 different ways to contact someone. Especially a representative of a public, commercial event. Cripes, we were panicking about my Mum not responding to phone calls in the snowy conditions today and my sister in Abu Dhabi managed to get a number for a neighbour of my Mum's in rural Scotland via a combination of SMS, Skype and Facebook. He should have tried a bit harder, if he wanted an entry. And if it was a possibility of a last minute entry, he should have contacted them well in advance of the race, and told them that his decision might be last minute so that they were expecting contact from him. Not just try and blagged it as an afterthought. Lack of common sense and courtesy. Culture of entitlement. I seethe! G
DocMoye Mar 2018 1:11pm, 6 Mar 2018 20,986 posts	0 DocMoye if he wanted a place he should have applied in good time like the rest of us. Plenty of races that I have missed out on as ive missed the deadline.....its just tough, and no excuse. never really thought about this issue much before, too far down the pack to be affected...though if there were a few men running on womens numbers ahead of me that might cost me a few places and that's not fair even on me
Harvey Speed Mar 2018 2:02pm, 6 Mar 2018 10 posts	0 Harvey Speed I’m amazed at how blown out proportion this has become. Knowing Jack fairly well, I can confidently say he’s a decent person. Quite laid back, hence why he’s probably not that bothered by all of this, in fact, he’s lapping it up. A runner of his calibre who casually makes his half marathon debut on a whim, clearly doesn’t take it all too seriously. But he’s a great athlete and inspires many people around him and has done far more for the top level of the sport than most of us will. Yes, what he did was a little bit naughty and against the rules. Yes, it might have been upsetting for the wrong next of kin and potentially a medical issue if he’d had an accident (highly unlikely though). But some of the punishments being branded around are unbelievable, with some demanding he serve bans comparable to somebody who’d doped. But I suppose that’s a different discussion altogether. I think there are much bigger issues in our sport than getting too upset over a swapped number.
HappyG(rrr) Mar 2018 2:07pm, 6 Mar 2018 28,413 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) I agree there are bigger issues Harvey, but don't agree that it's trivial and that he should get off without some kind of comeuppance. The fact that he's a decent runner means he should be showing a decent standard of adherence to rules. I do think a sanction to show that it's not acceptable is appropriate. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he's been a bit daft here, I'm afraid. G
Flatlander Mar 2018 2:12pm, 6 Mar 2018 1,071 posts	0 Flatlander Harvey Speed, so you're advocating one set of standards for "great athletes" and a different one for the rest of us? He's "lapping it up" and "not taking it seriously"? Doesn't that indicate a lack of respect for his fellow runners and the sport? I don't find that inspiring. As :-)G says "Lack of common sense and courtesy. Culture of entitlement."
bonners Mar 2018 2:21pm, 6 Mar 2018 446 posts	0 bonners @Harvey, I don't think it has been blown out of proportion, I don't think people are advocating anything drastic, just stating that as in similar cases, as was quoted on the previous page, he will likely receive a 12 month ban from racing. He can be as flippant as he likes, but those are the UK athletics rules.
Harvey Speed Mar 2018 2:35pm, 6 Mar 2018 11 posts	0 Harvey Speed The comeuppance is DQ. I don’t think it needs a greater punishment than that. Running a race under the wrong name is so widespread, it’s difficult to see how it can be managed in these open road races. It happens very often in track and field leagues where runners, throwers and jumpers are changing events, no longer “doubling-up” and dropping out all through the meeting. When “caught” it’s just a simple DQ. I’m not advocating a set of rules for great athletes at all - although there are in some instances whether you like it or not as somebody alightened to earlier in the thread. He could have got an entry by just telling them how good he was - elite entry or championship entry. As a fellow runner, I don’t find it disrespectful at all that he’s lapping it up. Of course the event organiser will have a different view, but now OSB events are featured on almost every national media outlet, I’m sure they’ll be lapping it up too.
MzG Mar 2018 2:37pm, 6 Mar 2018 743 posts	0 MzG FL - it was Jackie.
Dvorak Mar 2018 2:44pm, 6 Mar 2018 15,632 posts	0 Dvorak So, basically, everything is alright unless you are caught, Harvey? I think that attitude stinks, and consequently doesn't reflect that well on you, or Jack Gray. Your point about t&f leagues, where presumably JG spends a lot more of his time than road racing - really? What's the point of having any rules at all, then? I think it is not unknown for race organisers to ban number-swappers from their events, whether for a year or two, or even in perpetuity. Pity if he was excluded from his local event for being a horse's arse.