I’m coming out of triathlon retirement to pin a number on in France this July.
It’s not my first race or Tri in France. I’ve raced hill, road & trail running races as well as Ad’H short & IM Nice. It is however the first race which has asked me to provide a Certificat Médical, in the past my BTF card has been sufficient.
I’m sure some of you have had to tick this box, how did you approach your Doctor & were you charged?
Little relevance perhaps, but I have friends doing Bari marathon in Italy where they are asking for a similar certificate, however if you can produce the UK athletics registration card it’s waived. Might be worth clarifying with race organisers as lots don’t require for international athletes if you have some form of insurance through governing body.
Yeah, good idea. I’ll fire off a copy of my BTF & Brit Ath cards first of all.
The Nice 70.3 WC waived it for BTA members but probably not this one.
I’m in the same boat for UTMB, haven’t been to doctors yet though.
9 years ago he just signed it, I left it with the secretary for a few days.
I was lucky because he was an ultra runner. Got a different doc now I think so might have to pay for this one but I’ll mention the last one was done free.
Jeff
Studied at 3 different GP surgeries, all had policies to definitely charge for any kind of work like this, usually around £30-70 depending on what they’re signing. Last practice I worked at was a more deprived area, and was nice seeing one GP would often wiave/charge £5 for some patients they knew were in trouble.
If people could afford to pay £30 admin fees, they wouldn’t be asking him to sign their benefits application.
As Jeff says, it’s not necessary for IM branded racing in France. And I’m certain @fatbuddha has said under federation agreements, your BTF license should be sufficient for generally sanctioned events. It certainly was when I did the Castle Tri race at Chantilly. Although that was a few years ago now
if an event is permitted by a country’s national federation, you don’t need a med cert if you are a BTF member- your member card is proof that you are medically qualified to race. it’s an international agreement.
In the first instance use your BTF membership.
If that doesn’t work, then find a doctor mate because all the certificate needs is a signature and stamp. Then make copies!!! Then add the date. There are definite fudges to this process in france.
If those fail, go to your GP. They will charge. And make copies again. Then you’ve got it for the future.
It is purely an insurance thing and even the French fudge it.
Check with the event organisers. As people have said, for IM branded races your BTF membership is sufficient. For Cycling events you need a medical certificate. For Windsurfing events you also need a medical certificate… I know this because one year I forgot to bring mine, even though I had submitted online. I was refused entry, and had to draw up my own one using a template that a friend had… they looked at me with great suspicion, went and checked with the head race official, and I was allowed to race - I did have a real certificate, just not with me.
This rule is French (and Italian) law, I have no idea whether Brexit will impact the validity of the BTF licence as a subsitute for medical certificate, there is a good chance that it will no longer be valid - I know that US athletes must have a certificate to do an IM in France
It just seems utterly pointless though, I appreciate they don’t want people copping it during a race but it didn’t help that person at Nice last year. How many other seemingly fit people died during races.
Jeff
Classic box ticking. We asked everyone to check with their doctor, they did, not our fault someone died.
In typical Swiss fashion, before my Dr would give me a certificate I had to have a full medical, ECG, health interview (where Dr assessed whether I was training sufficiently for events). In the UK previously, just paid Dr £30 and got a certificate
My doc always said I was essentially doing a fitness test every time I trained or raced.
Has to be full BTF membership, not the cheapo option
Good point. I’ve not had to renew since the new tiered structure. Which one do I need now? I should ensure my DD renewal is for the sufficient tier seeing as I am racing in Spain in July.
I think it’s called “Core” now.
You can get a free foot pod (virtually useless) and in Zwift you can wear BTF kit (useless, virtually) 
Has anyone heard of T24 races in France?
4 hour swim, 12hr bike, 8hr run. Looks like they tend to be around 1km-18km-5km laps to get points.
There’s about 5 of them through the year, look to be nice locations and a backyard ultra vibe. Surprisingly good turnouts, about 40 individuals and >100 relay teams, in teams of 2,4 or 6. Compared to ultraman UK with 5 entries last year.
Half an eye on looking at a different ‘completion’ challenge next year while I’m not race fit, and time limited.
Not heard of them but just had a look at the website
Sounds like interesting events and a way of getting friends involved for the relays.
If you follow the registration link it shows the events are permitted by FFTRI so if you’re a BTF member with a race licence then you’re covered by it’s member insurance
