Irish Mountain
Running Association

Be nice

AuthorDateMessage
Liam VinesJan 22 2019, 3:08pmHi all
So over the weekend there was a post put up on Facebook about marking tape being left out on a corse. There are two issues after this post that I think should be looked at.

1) Should we (IMRA) have a seeeper role at races? All races are now loop routes so it makes it easier for a section to be missed.

2) I know the IMRA Facebook page is not an official IMRA thing but when any of us post or comment on anything on it we are still kind of doing it in the name of IMRA.. some of the comments left on this post were a bit unsavory. No matter what you thought of the post or think of posts in the future can we all just be nice about it?? Thanks..
John DurradJan 22 2019, 3:48pmHear hear.
Gordon PlaceJan 22 2019, 3:54pmHi Liam,
Agreed, I wonder if it could be made any clearer on the Facebook page that it is unofficial? Say in the 'group' title so people aren't expecting immediate responses etc.
I know it's in the 'about' bit of the FB group page but you have to click on that to be referred to here. Maybe there is a 'sticky' or 'pinned' post type thing on FB so the first post you see always refers you here for official info etc.
Sweeper/demarker should be an easy enough role to fill as the volunteer gets a bit of a run!
Brendan LawlorJan 22 2019, 4:19pm1) Demarking is already a very established role in all marked races and its most unusual that a section or race gets missed.. but it has happened

2) I think Mick Hanney and/ or Rene Borg are admins on the Unofficial IMRA FB Page.. it would be no harm to make it a bit clearer up there that its an informal hill runners group, loosly linked to IMRA but not an official IMRA Page and that anything 'official' needs to be posted on the main Imra site or forum

That said, the SE IMRA people use Facebook a great deal and you do tend to get a more immediate response from the IMRA online community from FB rather than the IMRA forum (as we saw at the weekend.. well done again to Brian Furey for sorting out that oversight so rapidly, and thanks also to Liam Vines who was ready for action just as Brian was out and about..)

3) Being nice is whats its all about !
Jeff SwordsJan 22 2019, 5:14pmI think some forgot they weren't posting on an anonymous internet forum but rather somewhere where they were more than likely going to have to come face to fact with people they were being insulting to sooner or later.

It may lead to some embarrassing situations at registration some day.
Mick HanneyJan 22 2019, 6:36pmThe Unofficial bit is in the 'About' information on the FB page. I have now capitalised it - not that I'm shouting - :-)
Stuart ScottJan 23 2019, 3:21pmWell done Liam and Brian on your proactivity! I hadn't realised what all the fuss was about until I logged onto bookface after the weekend; otherwise I could easily have taken a trip up there myself. I fully agree about the online comments. While the initial post probably came across harsher than was intended, there was still no need for people to respond in such a way. Those comments are best kept for a Wicklow Round thread :-)

Regarding sweepers, to my knowledge, this was the first time this has happened in my 12 years in IMRA. I wasn't there on the day but it sounded like a simple mix-up. I wouldn't go changing practices because of it. A simple chat with the demarkers over a map might suffice!
Alan AylingJan 23 2019, 5:44pmA _map_? You expect people to understand a _map_?