Question:what woman should receive credit for the official national marathon
record?.....a pro woman who finished in 1:15 with no cross-drafting assistance,
OR an advanced woman who finished faster in 1:10 WITH the assistance of
drafting with the advanced men?......
This should be recognized as the official woman's national record, right?...
Answer:
Here is a scenario to consider as to why gender and category cross-drafting
should NOT be allowed:
In the first NorthShore marathon in Duluth, MN back in 1996, the times posted
by the men's and women's winners were going to be recognized as official
national marathon records, as this would be the first inline event "officially
certified" for record validation.....
So, the woman's pro pack set out right after the pro men, were never able to
catch up, therefore never cross-drafting any of the pro men, and the winner
crossed the line in a time of (don't recall exactly, but lets just say)
1:15....
This should be recognized as the official woman's national record, right?...
BUT, a female advanced skater, "mass-starting" with the advanced men & women,
was able to stick on with the lead advanced men's group for the entire race,
never taking a pull (just sitting in and getting a free ride)...this woman
crossed the line in a time of (again estimating for the sake of making my
point) 1:10.....
what woman should receive credit for the official national marathon
record?.....a pro woman who finished in 1:15 with no cross-drafting assistance,
OR an advanced woman who finished faster in 1:10 WITH the assistance of
drafting with the advanced men?......
Can you see the dilema?....
This is why it makes absolutely no sense to allow for any gender cross-drafting
of any kind, regardless of the category.....women should only be allowed to
draft woman of same category, and men the same.....
Equality should extend to all in the fairness of competition!
I see your point but what do records or times mean at all in a pack style
competition? You can win a 10K in 18 minutes or 16 minutes depending on the
course, competition, tactics, and many other factors. Records are a side effect
when all the right factors come together on a any given day.
If a women is strong enough to employ the tactic of sprinting onto the main pack
and sticking with them for the race, then I say that okay. If a women has a male
teammate and drafts behind him there is nothing preventing an equally strong women
competitor from drafting behind both of them.
if everybody is having the same opinion. The world would be pretty
boring.
I don't mind you disagree, aslong as you do it with a reason.
And again your taking my words out of context.
I was relating to the letter before, where was said (As far as I understood) that
women crosdrafting was unfair. Because it was above their ability's.
Is that's so?. There are many man that do the same. They can hang in a draft, but
cannot take the lead position.
I'm not talking about the strategic thing. Although I don't like it to see, its a
part of racing.
It's part of teamwork.
I'm talking about the people that stay in a draft, because they can't do headwork.
And there a lot in big races. Also on the level of the Titzes in this world.
It's allowed, but it's unfair. According to the letter of Bill Fuhrman.
You seem to love the packraces. I like that. I like packraces too.
But I also like to be open about the pro's and contra's. And there are always pro's
and contra's.
When you talk about them, you can decide wether that the racingformat should be
changed. Or minds of some people.
You changed mine, with your enthousiastic story's, in a certain way. (I admid).
I guess you're the one who started this arguments by saying that the man who wins
got the best clapskates. Stirring it up a little, for fun. But out there came a lot
of other arguments.
This should have been your goal.
But you do not sound very content.
In my opinion it's strange to deny that teamwork sometimes kills a race, or that
the misuse of drafting doesn't excist.
That doesn't mean that I got big respect for all people that can finish their race.
Top or not.
Misusing or not. As long as they don't hurt eachother.
