I find it amusing that somehow there is a belief
that the BC award significantly impacts racing. As many have pointed out,
since the heartrate has to reach a certain number before you are "done" in LD,
that pretty much eliminates racing. If you want to slow up the speed, drop
the heart rate for completion to 60, or 56, or whatever. What I find most
amazing is the (magical) thinking that just because there isn't an award, nobody
will know who crossed the finish line first. Even if you don't publish
times in the EN, and list the finishers in alphabetical order, I guarantee you
that the person who crossed the line first knows they "won", as does everyone
who it was important to. If I were a betting woman, I would lay odds that
people have raced horses since the first two riders met up, thousands of years
ago.
And just as a side note to those endurance riders
who suggest the LDers ride CTR if they want awards: the sports aren't the
same.
Laurie in Clare, who has only crossed the finish
line first on two occasions, accidently, when there were only two horses in the
event.
