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[RC] Declining 100s - k s swigartTruman said: Bottom line you do a 100 because you want to If crossing the finish line after 100 miles knowing that you and your horse have done your best isn't enough incentive for someone - then no amount of prizes is going to get them past the bouts of dehydration, the raw ozzing hide on their legs, the barfing five miles into the last check, etc. It's a matter of pride in personal accomishment - not prizes. And yet, this whole discussion got started because one of the things that Truman said was we have to provide enough prizes for career LD riders to keep them coming back. Understanding that what endurance is about is pride in personal accomplishment - not prizes should also be a lesson taught at the novice stages. Not offering huge external incentives for doing LD rides is a perfect way of weeding out the people who are only in it for the prize and have no concept of (or take no gratification from) "pride in personal accomplishment." I find it extremely demeaning to LD riders to suggest (as both Truman and Randy Eiland have done) that LD riders will only keep coming if they get the right prizes dangled before them because they can't be counted on to do it for nothing more than the pride in personal accomplishment, that this is a concept too difficult for them to grasp (or, even worse, there is little pride to be had from the accomplishment), but that 100 milers CAN be counted on to do it for this reason. kat Orange County, Calif. ============================================================ Personally, I shouldn't give a s--- where the other people on the course are, and if I find myself starting to concern myself over this, I remind myself that this is the first step on the road to overriding my horse and tell myself to "knock it off!" :) ~ Kat Swigart ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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