Everybody's physiology is different. I used to race time trials on my
bicycle and landed on the podium at the Arizona state championships
three years in a row in my age group in my mid-50's. I was healthy
enough that I could bike for an hour within a couple of beats per minute
of my maximum heart rate, and my resting heart rate was around 42. The
training required to get to that level was very difficult, and the races
themselves were gruesome to the point that I swore I'd never put myself
through such agony again. During that same time frame I was physically
never able to operate more than 36-40 hours in a major contest without
suffering intense headaches, and I sometimes ended up with surface clots
in my legs afterward no matter how much I tried to keep my weight off
the back of my thighs.
So please don't pontificate about motivation and desire. Just because
you and others have the physiology to endure those kinds of contesting
hours does not mean that everyone does, and your own data shows that 90%
of the contesting population does not consider the return to be worth
the trauma. You wisely (in my opinion) implemented the Classic category
this year in recognition of the situation ... so why can't you just
leave it at that?
My job situation (I now work weekends) has precluded me from contesting
for much of the past two years, but for me the Classic category was
probably the most positive thing to hit radiosport in a long time and I
truly was disappointed not being able to take advantage of it.
Dave AB7E
On 11/28/2013 8:38 PM, Randy Thompson K5ZD wrote:
One could argue that running a marathon or the Iron Man triathlon is
unhealthy. But, we see people of all ages do it on a regular basis. It is
all about motivation and desire.
I don't find doing 44+ hours to be a health issue for me. But, there are
many weekends where my personal life may not allow me to compete at that
level. Having options provides motivation for more people to participate.
Ham radio contesting is the most healthy in terms of participation as it has
ever been in history. As long as we keep making the tent bigger and more
inclusive, we will all have more stations to work and more fun.
Randy, K5ZD
-----Original Message-----
From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of
W0MU Mike Fatchett
Sent: Thursday, November 28, 2013 11:19 PM
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Classic - Doing what was intended?
Can we really expect an aging group of contesters to continue to do 48
hour contests?
Operating 46 of 48 is less than healthy. Why should we continue to push
people to do what is not healthy? Pro sports are taking measures never
seen before to protect their players.
Mike W0MU
On 11/28/2013 12:16 PM, Edward Sawyer wrote:
After seeing literally more than a dozen well known contesters in each
mode "opt down" for the 24 hours of Classic and others commenting they
may try it next year, I have to ask - is it doing what was intended?
Seems to be a nice choice for those who feel inclined at the moment
but taking 40+ hour contesters down to 24 hours is not "helping
contesting" necessarily, folks.
Maybe there are lots of people "opting up" to 24 hours who used to do
10 or
15 hours, I don't know. But it does not seem to be "achieving
expectations"
collectively, from where I sit. Maybe the positive results are just
not obvious.
73
Ed N1UR
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|