WTF. I know you have to exercise so you dont die. I'm not big on it but i try and do a bit. But WTF is it with all these people that pay big bucks to go run or swim with others. Stand in a queue, get a shirt and thats 150. You can run the same distance for free, and if it is so much fun then why do oyu need to pay to do it with others. I'm calling bullshxt.
Is it just because their lives are so empty because they've never experienced watersports? They cant think of anything better to do?. Endless hours training for a triathalon is not fun or people would do it and not compete.
People do do it for fun
Is called training
I know people who get off on it
But
I guess it's hard to see them or understand their motivation from the maccas drive thru
Isn't it the same as when you aim to carve-gybe, work up to it, go overseas to great locations to practice it, and then succeed?
Instead, you could just buy a jetski,... but would you?
Well an activity like windsurfing rewards with aderenaline and progression\ aspiration . Its not the same as staying fit and i understand the need to run swim whatever your poison. But to regularly pay to go in fun runs just seems wierd to me
I agree, weird.
Does remind me of the colour run mob who were a " " charity, and kept the cash.
I'm a cyclist... I enjoy it a lot. I am not sure which I prefer these days out of windsurfing and cycling. On the right day with the right group of fellow cyclists, I probably enjoy cycling more. It has the Adrenalin rush, the endorphin, and it is not simply doing something to get fit, though I understand why others might think it is that way. For me, I enjoy it a lot and the fitness is a side benefit.
I regularly pay to enter a organised ride. For me it is mostly racing, and it is cheap ($15 entry), and I often take prize money home that exceeds my expense. It is a huge rush and the satisfaction in achieving a good result is very rewarding (similar to a PR on my GPS). Sometimes I do a sportif type ride that can cost up to $200 to enter. Normally it is not officially a race, but a large portion of riders treat it like a race, and I get the same rush as from racing. But the real benefit it is the organisation... particularly riding a route that often has lanes closed on roads that are normally not safe to ride. So for me it is worth the entry to be able to ride new places in a safe and controlled manner. You could do it yourself or with a small group of others unassisted, but it is nice having safety and backup along with some competitiveness of a many others doing the same thing.
I don't run or swim in organised events, but I imagine the motivation is similar??
I understand your point of view, I really do. I used to run back in high school and was reasonably good at it. Never trained but somehow was the best in my large metro school, very close to the best in the district of large schools, but mid range compared to state runners. I gave up running because I didn't want a pencil neck and wanted to chase girls.
As I got older I realised how much these runs matter to people. People talk about them and compare times, especially in swanky suburbs. I always listened but let it go. Then one day, about fifteen year on I entered a race with no training and guess what, I hammered it.
Sorry to harp on etc, but the fact of the matter is, these big races are used by people as a measuring stick. I never even mention that races unless someone asks, I keep it quiet. But the fact of the matter is, if someone thinks they're fit and they ask for a time, I'll reply. And that's that. In the broader community and friends of friends there really are not anyone I know who remotely runs a time even close to what I do. I'm no athlete, I consider myself a poor runner by running standards, but it is a measuring stick. And the bigger the race, the more important it is you have a time. People can look up your time and you look up theirs.
At the end of the day, I always say there's nothing fun about a fun run! I've fainted and pushed as hard as I can. You can have a go at me all you want but I'm just trying to answer the question.
No all good. Trying to understand why i dont get it.
And i kinda get it if your really good and want to win or come 5th or whatever. Or if you are a fatty and decide you want to run a half marathon as a goal. But there are all these running festivals and event swims and corporate/ mini tri's that people i know do, and the distances or all different and they say its just about the vibe etc.
If its so much fun why not do it more often? Why pay to make yourself train to do something you couldnt be arsed doing if u didnt pay? Theres a strange logic to it all...
Select to expand quotePaddlePig said..
I understand your point of view, I really do. I used to run back in high school and was reasonably good at it. Never trained but somehow was the best in my large metro school, very close to the best in the district of large schools, but mid range compared to state runners. I gave up running because I didn't want a pencil neck and wanted to chase girls.
As I got older I realised how much these runs matter to people. People talk about them and compare times, especially in swanky suburbs. I always listened but let it go. Then one day, about fifteen year on I entered a race with no training and guess what, I hammered it.
Sorry to harp on etc, but the fact of the matter is, these big races are used by people as a measuring stick. I never even mention that races unless someone asks, I keep it quiet. But the fact of the matter is, if someone thinks they're fit and they ask for a time, I'll reply. And that's that. In the broader community and friends of friends there really are not anyone I know who remotely runs a time even close to what I do. I'm no athlete, I consider myself a poor runner by running standards, but it is a measuring stick. And the bigger the race, the more important it is you have a time. People can look up your time and you look up theirs.
At the end of the day, I always say there's nothing fun about a fun run! I've fainted and pushed as hard as I can. You can have a go at me all you want but I'm just trying to answer the question.
What distance and what time hotshot?
My wife and her best friend are into this kind of thing. They get up at 430 nearly every morning (and through winter!) to train..mainly riding, some triathlons. Good thing is the kids s(8 and 10) sometimes do the training sessions, and compete in a triathlon club plus a lot of the organised fun runs etc...
So that promotes to them a healthy lifestyle.
and my wife..I don't give a rats but it keeps the weight off her... 
People are generally social animals, they like to congregate in numbers in places and feel like they are part of something.
Me, I'm just grumpy bastard who would be quite content to never meet or know another human being until the day I die. I hate crowds of any persuasion. I couldn't think of anything worse than doing one of those organised bloody runs, let alone pay for it! You come down to my local and I don't know you, I won't even look at you, let alone talk to you. I set up, I kite and go home!
I've avoided kitestock all these years..but I'm sure crew have a blast...maybe one day.
...but I'm not everyone. Plus people, we do pay for kiting, ultimately. And it cost a lot more than a fun run or two or even joining a running, triathlon, cycling club.
what's depreciating...maybe your shoes and your knee and hip joints lol.
I understand that some people are anti-competitive or showing off your times, but I am highly motivated by that. I love the challenge of trying to beat a mate's time. I don't go shouting about it... I do it for me and don't try to put it all over forums or tell my mates (unless I beat them!!)
For bikes and running there is an app called Strava that I have used a lot. Many cyclists use it. It uses a GPS to track your riding,.... but more than that, users can set a segment which is a GPS path on a road or bike path or whatever. Then anyone who uses strava and rides that segment will have their time added to a leaderboard. The fastest time is called the KOM (king of Mountain, but does not need to be a mountain). I motivate myself by going for KOMs. Very satisfying for me if I achieve a KOM on a segment frequented by lots of good riders. Of course this is free to use which is different to paying for a big event, but just explaining the mind frame I have which makes me want to ride with many other people and often pay for the privilege. The fitness is a side benefit. The competitiveness and social interaction is the main thing for me. It is not that different to GPSTC windsurfing really, but GPSTC could lean a thing or two in terms of execution of the application from Strava if someone had the time/motivation to do it.
You are a sad b@stard Eppo...just as well I don't mind hanging out with you. 
I have to admit that I used to be in love with going to gyms and paying for the privilege of sharing a sweaty room, listening to other peoples music or people groaning under a weight, waiting for equipment that someone previously had perspired on, and making small talk.
One day I had an epiphany and never went back. Now the concept of doing all of this in a gym makes me want to vomit.
I personally don't get the concept of aerobic classes and cross-fit crap, where you pay for someone to yell at you (especially at 6am in the morning). I get that some people need that level of motivation to make them move and enjoy the social aspect of the "club". For me the pretentiousness nature of that type of exercise does my head in, where people have to wear the correct type of shoe, brand of clothing or right "muscle" t-shirt.
At the end of the day, we all belong to some form (or many forms) of subcultures. Ours just happens to be water-based.
But hey....the world would be pretty boring if we all did the same thing.
Maybe we need to form our own club Eppo...the "sad, grumpy old bastards club".
Some people pay multiple times the retail price of alcohol so they can get drunk in a pub with other people, rather than doing it at home alone far more cheaply.
If someone is going to pay more than necessary for a given activity, maybe running and swimming in large groups is preferable to getting drunk in large groups.
One not insignificant reason is being able to look at lots of fit, toned, lycra-clad bodies of the opposite sex.
I can see both sides of the arguement.
Clarence
Use it as a motivational tool for something to work towards.
Not much better way to commit to a fitness campaign than a financial outlay.
And a lot of these fun runs and all that these days are for charities.
So i don't see anything wrong with it at all.
Gee that paying for beer at the pub analogy was a good one! Never thought of it like that, but that's a really good way to describe it. You pay to run with the other people and the atmosphere. Superb analogy for it.
Select to expand quotePaddlePig said..
Gee that paying for beer at the pub analogy was a good one! Never thought of it like that, but that's a really good way to describe it. You pay to run with the other people and the atmosphere. Superb analogy for it.
i dunno. i paid for beer at a pub to be in the company of drunk members of the opposite sex. If there were bulk drunk chicks at mine I'd never leave the house. If any fatties out there can't motivate themselves to exercise without putting over a hunge down then I'm willing to take the cash and make sure you do the exercise.
that french pissup marathon sounds great. read this
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2014/sep/17/marathon-du-medoc-race-wine-oysters
A few 'chicks' at races if that is motivaton for ya
They usually wear tiny hot pants and a sports bra
I run but i don't pay
apparently some pay big bucks to go for a sail or sup with other guys, WTF, I'm calling bullshxt.
