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Some of you may watch a
program on TV called ECO challenge...I'm not sure of the details, but the race
itself is something like 350 miles over every kind of terrain imaginable.
They climb glaciers, mountain bike over unbelievable terrain, travel in
dangerous white water, rappel down massive cliffs etc etc. The winners
finish in about four days...Usually doing the whole thing on almost no
sleep. The rest of the participants spend DAYS out there trying to reach
the finish line....They race in teams of four...This is in no way a spectator
sport and yet the coverage of it via filming crews is so well done that it
totally captivates you for four consecutive episodes. I doubt that
this kind of race will ever be an Olympic sport...doubt that the participants
want such a thing. They. race because of the challenge and sense of
accomplishment..The front runners are absolute maniacs..but they are a small
handful compared to the rest of the teams who are just wanting to
complete.
If people want more
endurance "exposure" then let's get some really professionally done
documentary on the Tevis or the Outlaw Trail or Swanton or any one of the
true "Endurance rides.". And let's not call the FEI, flat track, Teeny
Heeney 80 mile races endurance rides...Let them have it if they want...but in no
way relate it to endurance riding. They need to separate it completely from the
sport of endurance..give it a new name..Something like "Whimpy Ego
Challenge"
It would be like laying
out a 150 mile flat road course..getting a bunch of recreational runners
together...and calling it an ECO challenge.Don't you think that those people who
over the years have been apart of the real eco challenge would be insulted, to
say the least????????????? WHY do we want endurance in the
Olympics?????????? No one has adequately explained the rational behind
that.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 8:24 PM
Subject: [RC] My Perspective on FEI
There was a time when FEI was at the vanguard of High
Adventure for me because i love High Adventure. Lately, actually
Stockholm was the start, it has been a sport geared towards 'Getting into the
Olympics'. At that point it started going towards bringing Endurance to
the masses. Then it left horse friendly trails and tests to become
Flat Race Tiny Hiney Spectator Sport. This sport will never be Spectator
Friendly. 25% Completitions don't do much for me on flat track. It
means 1 thing. The participants took a reckless path. That path is
whats taken me from the FEI path to other high adventure paths. I still
think the concept is good but there are some points that needs fixing
because its getting REAL close to being broken. The highlight of my
Endurance FEI was a 28th place finish and the National Anthem was
played in Germany when we won Team Gold. That meant a lot to a
Viet Nam Veteran...more than anything you will ever know. That even
overshadows my top ten individual finish at the PAC in Ontario. Where
went the Team? all we hear about are the Queens and Kings.
tom sites
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