Annie get your Run wrote: » I think BHAA would be classified as successful races, they don't offer either of those. They are known for their post race spread though. I'm not convinced you have to offer tshirt and medal to be a success..
joey1111 wrote: » They are more geared towards club points etc though arnt they so I wouldnt put them in the same vein as club or fun runs so wouldnt expect a t-shirt or medal unless I came in the top three etc. Does the spread have anything to do with where the races are situated as well I wonder.
Djoucer wrote: » Medals should be banned on environmental* grounds. Crazy waste of resources. *being an adult appears to be not sufficient a reason to stop them. Suppose there's a big difference between races and fun runs. This year seems quiet in comparison to previous years.
joey1111 wrote: » That medal thing is never going to die out as long as fun runners exist. They love their bling, it could be the difference between some entering an race or waiting for another with a medal. I honestly think they could eliminate the t-shirt but not the medal.
Annie get your Run wrote: » Part of me thinks if all club races scrapped medals then people who want to take part in a race would still enter, but it would take everyone doing it a the same time to work.... It doesn't bother me if a race has no t-shirt although I do wear them all so at least they're actually useful!
joey1111 wrote: » would it make more sense to scrap the t-shirt since its more expensive than the medal. I think I read somewhere that it costs them 50 cents per medal when bought in bulk.
eyrie wrote: » I haven't done many races so am probably not qualified to comment, but I would massively support scrapping both t-shirts and medals, or giving people an option to pay for them if they want them. Personally I never wear the t-shirts and they just take up space in the wardrobe and make me feel guilty about the wastefulness! I'd go so far as to say the goodie bags could be scrapped in favour of some optional stuff for people to take from a table afterwards too, which some races already do. I.e. you can grab a banana/granola bar/etc if you want it, but you're not automatically given a bag full of stuff. I say this in light of the Raheny 5 mile (which was a great event, and I don't mean to criticise the organisation) which didn't give a tshirt or medal as has been mentioned, but did give a massive bag of food that I will never eat and almost two months later it's still sitting at home untouched (well except for the packet of biscuits, they were quickly taken care of ). It would save the volunteers the trouble of filling all the individual bags too, so might reduce effort a tiny bit for the organisers.
Tombo2001 wrote: » is it realistic to call these races? A lot of these are fun runs.
joey1111 wrote: » Sorry eyrie but I have to give you a thumbs down for the Raheny 5. Its a very special race, everything about it is magical.:P
joey1111 wrote: » Isnt every race a fun run unless you're at the pointy end?
Annie get your Run wrote: » Actually one of my favourite races, jingle bells, does a mug - I've yet to hear anyone give out about that and it's really nice to have a collection of them with each date on it...
Tombo2001 wrote: » No not true. A lot of races dont have a pointy end. All the races that GAA clubs run as fund raisers for example.
eyrie wrote: » Haha I knew I was treading on sacred ground with that one! Not knocking the race in the slightest, it was my first time doing it and I had a fantastic time. Will definitely be back. Just trying to save the workers who had to fill all those bags a wee bit of the trouble :P Then again I was initially thinking of it in the context of the discussion here re: saving costs of putting on races, and now that I think about it I'm guessing the food that goes into the goodie bag is probably given free as sponsorship so I guess it wouldn't save them anything. Still from an environmental point of view I wouldn't be upset if it was reduced a bit!
average_runner wrote: » Not at all. When I race, i go out with a aim for that race. A fun run is something you do and don't care about your performance.
OOnegative wrote: » Mine has seen better days, still will hold onto it.
Murph_D wrote: » no dishwashers!
joey1111 wrote: » Well thats what a fun run is to you AR, to me a fun run is any run where Im not in the top 10 or 100 depending on the race size which is every run I've ever taken part in bar school sports day.
Testosterscone wrote: » These would be many of the community games/ old school style ones however more and more races are opting for the "custom medals" following the Rock and Roll trend (Rock and Roll, AAI Race Series, Charlie Curran Memorial,Jack Whites 5k/10k etc) These medals are costing roughly 4e a pop (2e if bough in high bulk i.e orders beyond 1500 roughly) It's kinda funny I tend to go the opposite way. I was near the back of a race last year (about 160s) in one that I would firmly put down as competitive, I compare that to one I ran last month where I was 3rd which I considered a complete fun run. The later despite trying to go for the win I found hard to take as a race environment (started late, poorly marshalled and more focus on the medals and the charity than the race itself and people were there to take part)
joey1111 wrote: » I think I just have a Brendan Foster view of fun runs lol.
robinph wrote: » He thinks anyone outside the top ten really shouldn't bother running. Delighted he's gone from the BBC commentary team now. No idea how he managed to build a mass participation race empire that actually prefers people wearing fancy dress than racing at the front.
