Races begin to crack down on imposters

I hear this quite a bit—if a race is sold out or has gone to lottery, some runners will just buy their way in by purchasing a bib number, either from a friend or even on Craig's list.

When broached on the subject, they seem to brush it off like it was nothing. As they rationalize, it's not hurting anybody. In fact, I may be helping somebody by taking a bib off their hands since they can't run.

From an ethical standpoint, this isn't fair to the thousands of runners who entered fairly and maybe didn't get chosen in the lottery. Or those who procrastinated until the race was full but decided to either enter another race that was still open or register next year when the filled race opens up again.

I even know of cases where a fast runner ran under a slow runner's bib number just so the slow runner could qualify for Boston. To me, this is fraud, pure and simple.

Then there's the viewpoint of a race director, who has to contend with what amounts to be imposters.

This is what the race director of the Chevron Houston Marathon recently sent to all potential registrants. The marathon and half-marathon have become so popular that they've gone entirely to a lottery registration system.

"Our past races have been marred by numerous participants running under the guise of someone else's race number. While this may seem harmless to the parties perpetrating the unauthorized bib transfer, it does convey serious consequences to the organizers and participant field alike.

"From race results to finishers' awards being impacted as well as medical staff being able to correctly identify participants in need of treatment, it is imperative that the registration data associated with your race number does in fact belong to you, the participant.

"If race organizers become aware that a runner has participated in one of our events with a bib that is not registered to that runner, both the runner and the person to whom the bib is registered will be prohibited from participating in subsequent Houston Marathon events for a minimum of two years."

Some marathons do offer ways to transfer bibs, for a fee. The sold-out Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon allowed bib transfers if you did it at the Expo and paid a processing fee.

The Houston Marathon does allow you to defer your entry for one year. If you were picked for the 2011 race and end up injured, you can notify them ahead of time and be guaranteed entry into 2012. But you lose your entire registration fee for 2011 and have to pay the full registration fee again in 2012.

More major races are implementing penalties similar to Houston's for unauthorized bib transfers.

So next time you think of selling your bib, ask yourself if it's worth getting caught and possibly being barred from running in a major event for two years? And if you're injured, are emergency responders going to know who you really are?

Age groups - where do you draw the line?

This weekend I attended a local fun run and was surprised to see two seniors wearing hand-made signs, if you can even call them that, protesting age groupings.

Seems they were a little miffed because the club putting on the race had 10-year age spans up to 69, then it was 70-plus.

The protesters said the club as well as the race sponsors were discriminating aginst seniors.

They said it wasn't fair to have an 83 year old running aginst a 70-year old.

When you get right down to it, most age groups aren't fair. If a race has a 0-13 age division for youths, can a 4 year old really be expected to compete against a 12 year old?

You could even go further and say there should be separate divisions for collegiate runners and recreational runners. After all, it isn't fair when a cross-country star from Stan State runs against a weekend warrior who only puts in 15 miles a week.

But race directors have to draw the line somewhere.

No one was holding a gun to the two protesters' heads forcing the to run the race. They chose to be there.

It's up to race directors to set age groups. Some choose 5-year spans, others 10-year spans.

I've even seen larger. For several years, the Trix Run 5K in Lodi had small age groups for kids and then went 19-39, 40-55, and 56 and over. They have since changed that to 10-year spans, but it's still 60 and over for the most senior runner. The run was supposed to really cater to kids.

For years, the Modesto Turkey Trot had 20-39, 40-55 and 56 and above. As the race grew, so did the grumblings. Eventually race management listened to the comments and made 10-year group.

There was even one area race last year that had kids age groups, then 20 and above. Needless to say, they only got 25 participants.

And that's the point. If you don't like the age groups, just don't sign up to run the race.

If race directors are smart, they'll get the hint.

A gem in the San Joaquin Valley

As I was running Woodward Park in north Fresno a week ago, I marveled at its expansiveness.

Was it a fluke that this area was never developed and eventually became a park? Or did county planners long ago set it aside to preserve it for local residents?

Whatever the reason, it's a great treasures that needs to be preserved for future generations.

The park, which is located off of Highway 41 and Pine Flat Dam Road, used to be way out in the country. Fresno has grown, and now residential developments neighbor the park.

But it still has that out-in-the-country feel.

There's also something for just about every athlete. If you want to take a leisurely ride on your bike or walk your dog, there are paved trails.

Want to run some firetrails? There are gravel roads. Want to do some steep single-track running. There are trails for that, too.

The park also covers a wide range of habitats, from the arid, foothills grassy pastures to marshes adjoining creeks and wooded areas.

And it's this wide variety of terrain that makes it the stage for the CIF high school cross-country championships in late fall. That, and it's located in the center of the state, making it fairly convenient for both north-state and south-state schools.

If you're ever in the Fresno area, give Woodward Park a run.

Western States - the Super Bowl of Ultras

This week, 400 and some runners will go over hill and dale from Squaw Valley to hopefully finish at Placer High School in Auburn less than 30 hours later. The Western States 100 Endurance Run starts at 5 a.m., June 26, and runs until 11 a.m., June 27.

For their efforts, participants get a lot of blisters, eat a lot of dust and maybe, just maybe, earn the coveted silver belt buckle for those finishing in less than 24 hours. Between 24 and 30 hours, they receive a bronze buckle. After that, they receive a DNF (did not finish).

But there's nothing dishonorable about a DNF on that course. Medical providers can pull you at any one of the aid stations for dehydration, retaining too much liquid, throwing up and a host of other medical ailments. You can fail to make pre-established cutoff times.

Or you can let valor take over from lack of common sense and pull yourself so you can run another day, rather than end up in the hospital or worse yet, not be able to run for weeks. Western, as it's called, is kind of like the Super Bowl of ultra-marathons. Very few people actually participate in it, but tons more watch it.

You can too, in a way. No jumbotrons, no HD TV feeds, no Goodyear blimp and no John Madden calling the shots. But there is a Web feed so you can track your runner. Just visit the Western site at www.ws100.com, and click on the LiveFeed link. And yes, there will be a handful of Central Valley runners participating.

Thinking on the run

I've always contended that some of my best thinking is done while running. I can now add that some of the best ideas come from running with other people and just tossing ideas about.

I was out on the trails today with Barbara, who suggested I start a running blog. She pointed to one that the Sacramento Bee was running. Unbeknownst to her, the Bee killed it today. The reason: not enough Web hits.

In this day and age of Web communication, publishers look only at numbers. If you don't generate the hits or visits or page views, you're dead.

Since I don't have to answer to a big publishing house, I can somewhat ignore the numeric side of things.

Barbara thought of me since I have a passion for writing and running, and I'm connected to the Modesto running community. That includes the fun runs, marathons, ultra-runs and even track.

In the coming months, I hope to write on all of those and then some. You don't have to be an Olympian to enjoy jogging or running. You just need a good pair of shoes and some dedication.

And we have some real good stories to tell about Modesto's runners. So, as they say on t.v., stay tuned.

Feel free to suggest ideas, too.