+The Blorenges Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I've received a letter this morning from the Sports Council for Wales... "Your household has been selected at random... a representative will call... to do the S.C.W. Adult Participation in Sport and Physical Activity Survey 2008 - 2009." Well, OK... So, can we claim Geocaching as a sport, or only a physical activity? How much does geocaching add to your overall physical fitness? Do you find that you're doing much more walking now that you've discovered geocaching, or would you be doing the walks in any case, because you're an outdoorsy person? I'll definitely be dropping geocaching into the survey interview: It'll be interesting to see whether it's there on their list of 'physical activities' already. MrsB Quote Link to comment
+Delta68 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Although we have always been fairly active, we do considerably more walking than in pre-caching days. (We do a lot more driving as well though ) Mark Quote Link to comment
+searchjaunt Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Although we have always been fairly active, we do considerably more walking than in pre-caching days. (We do a lot more driving as well though ) Mark I can only agree with that. Multis can be seen as more activity oriented caches, but easy pick ups ... Quote Link to comment
+Brenin Tegeingl Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I thought Geocaching was a RASH Recreational Activity Sporting Hobby as that covers how varius people take part Quote Link to comment
+dino-irl Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Hmmmm....definitely do more walking now but the majority of it is short walks 1-2km whereas hillwalking (less frequent since I somehow developed a family!) for me would tend to be 10-15km. I'd categorise it as a physical activity rather than a sport but that's because I'm not competitive at it Quote Link to comment
+sssss Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 sport (GAME) Show phoneticsnoun 1 [C] a game, competition or activity needing physical effort and skill that is played or done according to rules, for enjoyment and/or as a job: Football, cricket and hockey are all team sports. I enjoy winter sports like skiing and skating. See pictures , , , . 2 UK all types of physical activity which people do to keep healthy or for enjoyment: She used to do/play a lot of sport when she was younger. 3 OLD-FASHIONED fun or enjoyment guess sport covers it Quote Link to comment
+Andy33 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I would call it an addiction rather than a sport……….. Mind you I could give it up anytime if I wanted to. Now where’s my GPS Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Walking your dog around the park every evening is "physical activity." Dashing out to the park at midnight to FTF a hamstercache is "sport." I think your choice is clear. Mrs. B, did you receive the book on hamster breeding efficiencies? I posted it more than a week ago. Here, we are well into producing a bumper crop for springtime cache placements. Quote Link to comment
+Gralorn Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Sport or Hobby it's physical and therefore has to be a benefit to all ages as it's getting them out and about in the fresh air and burning off hopefully a few calories. Some walk, some ramble and some jog, so all in all it's a good all round activity. Get it on that survey ! Quote Link to comment
+team tardis Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 geocaching has got us walking more as a family so is a physical activity to us the kids are much keener to go on a "treasure hunt" than just a walk. But sport or activity the exercise is great, taylored to your fitness levels . Its improving my leg stamina walking up boggy hills like "Inclined to cache" don't know who got more exercise on that one me trying to crawl out of the bog I had sunk up to both knees in, or mr tardis laughing at me so much his sides were hurting (we always enjoy your caches mrs B ) Quote Link to comment
+currykev Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I don't consider it a sport. But then neither is darts,syncronised swimming or marbles. I haven't had any "style" for some years either! Quote Link to comment
+The_Westies Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I always consider a sport to be something that would keep you fit (and lose weight) however even though we walk for miles over the weekends I certainly don't feel any fitter and have definitely lost any weight even though we do this every weekend! If I'd spent this time doing a traditional sport (perhaps swimming, cycling, jogging etc) I really would expect to feel and see more benefit. Just a thought - is walking classed as a sport? Quote Link to comment
+chizu Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Just a thought - is walking classed as a sport? I believe it's an Olympic event!! I wouldn't class Geocaching as a sport as there are not really any set rules, and it's not supposed to be competitive. Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 A 20+ stone darts player was once asked why he considered himself a sportman "Well, I wear trainers, and I've been interviewed on Grandstand..." Quote Link to comment
+drsolly Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I think it's a game, not a sport, but that only matters if a sport can get a grant from the government, in which case it's a sport, and we should start pushing for a spot on the Olympics. And apply for the grant. It's definitely got me a *lot* more active. Although I don't wear trainers while caching. Quote Link to comment
+Madyokel Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I think it's a game, not a sport, but that only matters if a sport can get a grant from the government, in which case it's a sport, and we should start pushing for a spot on the Olympics. And apply for the grant. It's definitely got me a *lot* more active. Although I don't wear trainers while caching. I don't think of it as a sport as such.. Do we train for it? But on the other hand we get out much more than we used to doing lots of walking... Up those hill things lol http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...a2-dae678b706f1 Quote Link to comment
+MooToo Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 We've tried drsolly's Chiltern Hundreds in 24hrs ,me thinks that is masochism in a good way....... Quote Link to comment
+Amberel Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 (edited) I don't consider it a sport. But then neither is darts,syncronised swimming or marbles. I'll go along with that . Whatever the dictionary says, for me a sport should really involve physical activity, and a skill, and be competitive, and have some objective measure of performance. For me the first is true for caching, to some extent the second is true, and the third is irrelevant because it lacks a consistent and objective scoring system. It's true that some people do play competitively, but as everyone plays to different rules it does (for me) tend to defeat the object . 18 months ago I would have been flat on my back for a week after walking a couple of miles. Now I can walk a dozen or more miles over hilly, muddy or uneven ground and not really feel any reaction. For the first time in my life (I'm 60) I climb trees, hang under bridges and so on - even more than a second childhood in some ways . Agreed, I'd certainly make a point of mentioning it to your visitor! Major edit when I re-read my post, to get rid of some ambiguities! Rgds, Andy Edited February 5, 2009 by Amberel Quote Link to comment
+The Spokes Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 A sport needs to have a winner and some losers. So perhaps somebody who is dedicated to be the first to find could consider it a sport, other than that its a just a pastime, like walking the dog or shopping. Skiing is a sport, but I don't compete so its a recreational hobby for me. An Olympic walker can walk faster than most people can run. The qualifying time for a 20k (12.42 miles) walk is around 1:23 In the the Great North Run (13.1 miles) the world record holder at walking would be around the first 150 finishers, and perhaps even higher in the placings. Quote Link to comment
+reddeeps Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Country walking magazine described it as the fastest growing sport, so thats good enough for me! Quote Link to comment
CLV3 Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I consider it a sport. Why not?? People often consider hiking a sport. The fun thing is that it is only as competitive and difficult as you want it to be. Quote Link to comment
+scottpa100 Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I say physical activity. Sport imply rules. And rules that everyone follows consistently. Which we don't. As we all know, we all play it our own way. Quote Link to comment
+minstrelcat Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 The OED defines sport thus: "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others". So I'm not sure whether that makes it a sport or not! But to answer your other question, Adam & I we outdoorsy walker types before geocaching but we do our outdoorsy walking stuff far more often since we found geocaching. Lisa Quote Link to comment
+Water-Rats Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 If you have to wear trainers to be doing a sport we'd have problems defining marathon roller-skating as a sport! (its a sport!). Or skiing too, snowboarding and so on. Geocaching makes our normal walking times a bit longer and we have been walking a bit faster too. We are walkers anyway though. We wear hiking boots or wellies at the moment. We know others that geocache and are trying to catch up with their find figures, that makes it slightly competitive and therefore a sport I like the RASH idea, it seems to encompass every aspect. I'd definitely tell the info-gatherer person about geocaching though. Quote Link to comment
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