Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Club

Anyone here a member? Just interested...
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Comments

  • No I've always thought it a little odd to be a member of a club based on what you eat.






    <renews Monster Munch Fanclub membership>
  • Why? On that basis I guess we should all be members of one big club that doesn't have any geographical distinction either... We all run after all.
  • I'm a member of the local cycling club. Isn't that the point ? Social activities and rides with people in your area ? I have no idea what my clubmates eat (mainly) and its of little interest to me. Its enough that we like cycling.

    If I was to join a running club - again - it would be one that's local so I can attend their sessions.
  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    There's a vegan running club, I believe.  Don't know any members, but one of their ladies won the Halstead Marathon a few years ago.

    My club is based on geographic location, as we like to run together and we all live in the same area.  I think we're all meat-eaters, but that's not a condition of membership.

  • Blimey, I ask a civil question and everyone gets uppity again. Bye.
  • Your definition of uppity may be different from mine ?
  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    It does seem a little odd, PC. 

    As you say, we are all runners, so what difference does whether you eat meat or not make?  Would the club refuse membership to someone if they were not vegetarian?

  • I can see how it might be helpful to be a member of a veggie club.  One of the things I don't give enough thought to generally (and particularly in conjunction with running) is nutrition, and that's going to change significantly if you're not eating meat or dairy.  Is scoffing all these walnuts really the way to get my protein?  I'm not sure.

    Could probably google that, though!

    I find it more helpful to be able to meet others locally and run with them.  Keeps my motivation going.  A national club might not do that.  A virtual one on here might be nice though image

  • Wilkie wrote (see)

    It does seem a little odd, PC. 

    As you say, we are all runners, so what difference does whether you eat meat or not make?  Would the club refuse membership to someone if they were not vegetarian?

    We'd look at you sternly and mutter into our houmous.
  • Ooh just looked it up. You have to quit if you cant abstain from :
    Fish, Flesh and Fowl, and Foods containing Slaughter house Products.

    Doesn't mention wafer thin ham though....
  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    There must be a joke about Victoria Beckham in there somewhere.....

  • Had a mooch on the website...

    Founded in 1888... that's a pretty impressive history.

    "Their objective was to provide a means of contact between Vegetarian cycling enthusiasts and to seek to prove, by the yardstick of athletic competition that Vegetarians could easily hold their own against their meat eating counterparts."

    That seems an entirely honourable intent, given what people must have thought at the time about vegetariansim.

    Scott Jurek pretty much nails any lingering misconceptions about what vegans are capable of now. 

  • MrsK8MrsK8 ✭✭✭

    Are you a member Peter? Or even considering joining?

  • In terms of the myths that continue to be churned out regarding veganism, I'd say there was still a need for vegan groups to challenge some of the presumptions linked to that movement.  There's a vegan runners group and a weightlifters group, too, from what I've heard - challenging those perceptions of skinny wan-ness.  I guess when you're passed by someone in one of those vegan vests in a race it puts any "lentil-muching weaklings" crap in its place.  Although the lentil-munching part might be right.

    It seems to have only been over the last 10 years or so that us veggies have been accepted as being capable of doing all the things meat-eaters can do as well.  Before that, I think we too were thought of as wasting away, chomping on our broccoli.  Cheers, Morrissey.  I think Scott Jurek might have caused quite a few people to re-evaluate their perceptions of veganism but is unlikely to have made a dominant attitude like that change single-handedly, and there's still a long way to go.

    Although, having said all of that, if you're veggie and don't pay attention to your diet, I guess there are nutrients you could be missing out on.  That's why a group based around that might be helpful now.  I guess its a question of priority - is your devotion to "the cause" more important than the practical support of a local running club?  I have to say that in my case it wasn't. 

  • I know Robert Millar the Scottish cyclist was a vegetarian when he won the King of the Mountains jersey and finished third in the Tour De France back in 1984 I think ? I think he was the first veggie athlete that I was aware of.

    I've no idea who is or isn't now. I think both ways can be as successful.
  • MrsK8MrsK8 ✭✭✭

    I'm a veggie & have been since I was little. I don't really pay attention to my diet, just skip the meat & eat what I fancy. I've never felt that I wasn't on an level playing field with meat-eaters.

  • Mike Tyson has been a vegan for the past couple of years. His conversion came a bit too late for Evander Holyfield's ear though.

  • I realised when I started taking vitamin B and it made a BIG difference (mood, mostly, rather than fitness) that there clearly wasn't enough in my diet.  I think being veggie plays a significant part in that, but equally there are probably a lot of meat eaters with nutrient deficiencies too.

    Mike Tyson probably still has that ear sloshing around his system. 

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    Wouldn't being a successful member of a non-vegetarian running or cycling club prove that "Vegetarians could easily hold their own against their meat eating counterparts."?

    In fact wouldn't that spread the word to more meat-eaters?

  • I was going to join a few years ago but I was put off by the club colours. Shallow, I know.

    Wilkie, was it Fiona Oakes who won that marathon (ok, I know it was now as I've just looked on her website)? She's vegan, runs an animal sanctuary, is a retained firefighter and wins marathons. She's pretty cool.

    http://www.towerhillstables.com/marathon.html
  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    I don't know her name - I was marshalling near the finish, and saw her vest as she went past me.

    It was pouring with rain at the time!

  • She's well known in the vegan/vegetarian world for her work with animals. She's tireless!

  • Wilkie wrote (see)

    Wouldn't being a successful member of a non-vegetarian running or cycling club prove that "Vegetarians could easily hold their own against their meat eating counterparts."?

    In fact wouldn't that spread the word to more meat-eaters?

    It might do,  if you're prepared to be one individual campaigning to (and probably pissing off) the other members of your running club.  On the other hand, if you're more comfortable doing your proselytising in a group format (or if you just want some moral support) then this would be an equally valid way of getting a point across.

    Hmm...that's a bit flippant.  I think I'm trying to say that its about visibility.  Running a race in one of those vests makes a statement.  Going round and talking about your dietary choices to everyone you race with might also make that statement, but it could also make you pretty tiresome.

    I'd say clubs like this still have a valid role. 

  • I agree with Ianjames. If I was a member of a 'normal' running club, unless it came up in conversation, I wouldn't mention I was vegetarian but I'd happily join a vegetarian running club and wear the vest at races(although they might not appreciate it, given my race times...).
  • Surely running in a 'Vegetarian Vest' is a wee bit silly. Each to their own but I think making a point about not eating meat that grandly smacks of being a ham sandwich short of a picnic...
  • ShivaShiva ✭✭✭
    I used to be a member, mainly to get race discounts and because there wasn't a club geographically near to me...I now have a club near me and go to that instead.  They are a friendly bunch who try to meet at races as their members are all over the country, but the vest is a really horrible yellow colour!
  • Another confession to being put of by the kit colours - the vegan runners one is better and now there is vegan cyclist kit in thesame colour scheme. I am not a memeber of either veggie or vegan rclibs but only because I have neve really got around to it - I am a member of one of my local cycling clubs.  My diet rarely come sup in conversation.  I don't see why people object to others wearing veggie or vegan kit its an individuals choice
  • Entirely irrelevant - a bit like running as a christian.

    I just don't understand the need to preach, politicise and declare.

    Is it part of the veg vegan superiority, holier than thou, complex that seems so prevalent?

     

     

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