UKH

I've an entry for CCC this summer.

First time I've had to go and get a medical certificate for any race, but appears to be the norm in France. Has to be signed off by a doctor. 

Anyone had to get this done before? Just call GP and ask for appointment? 

I had to do this for a marathon in Italy in 2019. Fortunately, a member of my running club was a GP and was happy to sign the forms. I have a vague memory that my wife, also running the marathon, tried her GP who was reluctant to sign the form.

By the by, all running events in France require a medical certificate, which has led to the cessation of parkrun events in France, which came as a big disappointment to a friend who was in Paris recently and fancied a parkrun in the Bois de Boulogne.

Yes, its a shame. My wife had done the Fontainebleau Parkrun a few times, then we went back...and they were all cancelled! 

Friends of ours came over for the lyon half marathon and one or two may have forged certificates. They got to run. 

France in general is a much more 'medicalised' society than the UK. There are tons of medical facilities, pharmacies, testing labs, physio etc all over the place. So for joining any sports club you need a medical cert etc. 

I had to get one of these for a race in France a few years ago (MB marathon). Just booked an appointment at the GP, where I am not a known face. I explained what it was for and they asked me if I felt I was fit for it and whether I did any running. I suggested a form of wording for the letter (very short), paid them £10 and that was it. Happy days. Seems fairly pointless tbh, my recollection is that the wording of the letter left plenty of wriggle room so I doubt it was of any value whatsoever! Hopefully your GP is similarly helpful. 

My doctor sign mine for a charge of about £20 IIRC.

The first time that I needed a certificate I had to go in to get checked out as it was over 3 years since my last visit but since the  it has all been sorted by droppibg the request off with a covering letter and collecting it a few days later.

Pretty sure I paid my GP practice £30 in 2018. They were a bit reluctant to do it. 

From memory, I had to pay at least £50 back in 2008 as they wouldn't do it without a medical exam. Its up to the GP practice.

Whilst I would never condone such a thing, I do believe 'a friend' once (or was it lots of times), used the creative capability of his / her computer to produce a convincing doctor's letter which (apparently) worked flawlessly every time. It was when 'they' were entering a lot of French sportives and £40 a letter for each entry was (for them) too much to bare.

Years ago when doing an event I was in the army reserve and happened to have recently had a medical. I took the paperwork from that, a form stating I was 'fit to deploy' which is largely unintelligible to anyone not familiar with military fitness gradings. The people at the race looked at it with some obvious confusion and then gave me the tick in the box. What I learnt from this is that if you show anything vaguely convincing you'll probably be ok.

I've just checked and it was definitely £20 that I paid last year, I am aware that I am fortunate that our surgery doesn't charge more as I know that some people have been charged £60.

I live in France and it was originally a shock but every race will ask for this (the French love paperwork, and hypochondria so its a heady mix). The main thing (and what freaks out UK docs if they don't take the time to realise this) is that its not about them being held liable, its specifically just about them showing that you don't show any contra-indications that would advise against competitive running.

When I lived in the UK you get the whole range of having to have ECG and in depth checks. I'm a member of a running club so get a licence every year and need a cert to back it up every 3 years - even my local GP just checks my pulse and blood pressure, asks how the training is going and stamps it.

You have to make sure there's an official GP surgery stamp, not just a signature.

You can also use the same form for multiple races, they're valid for a year.

HOWEVER: I've done most of the UTMB races and they have a very specific form for you to download and fill in specifically for that race - so use that.

Aware of this - have it printed out!  I'll pop by GP tomorrow and have a chat. 

Regarding the stamp, ever did potato prints?? Some of ny friend's doctors refused to sign such a form, so creativity needed.

It would be an unwise in medicolegal matters, or inexperienced UK doctor that would sign any form of generic “fit for” form. The reason for this is that there is no reason for them apart from shifting the liability over to the person who signs them. Unfortunately it is a feature of British law (and I’m sure others) than even if you couldn’t have reasonably been expected to pick up some rare cardiac defect (for example) in the examination you perform, that you are still easily found liable for signing a statement that you shouldn’t have. 

So either doctors will just refuse to get involved, which is simpler and safer ( it’s also completely unfunded work, so not covered by standard NHS funding and indemnity) or change the wording to a vague and wooly form such as “on the limited examination I performed today, I found no evidence of obvious reasons not to perform a normal level of exertion for the patients level of fitness. Responsibility for final decision, and liability, remain with the organising body”

These poorly designed “fit for” forms are gradually being weeded out in the UK, like the awful charity parachute forms, but for some reason they seem much more entrenched in France. I assume that it is much harder for a doctor who signs them there to end up in court.

This doesn’t help those who want to enter a French event, but provides some background to hopefully explain that GPs that don’t sign them are not just being awkward or obstructive. 

It won't affect you this season but the campaign to get these med-certs abolished is gaining legs here in France. Doctors hate it, organisers hate it and participants hate it - sometimes to the extent that people can't even be bothered entering an event.

The number of forgeries make it a farce anyway. (be careful with forgeries - if the organiser doesn't like the look of the piece of paper they WILL refuse it)

https://www.collectif-eso.fr/actu/vers-la-fin-des-certificats-medicaux-obli...

Over the years I've had hundreds of guests race in Cyclosportives and Granfondos and the amount of work involved in first of all reminding the participant that they need one, then getting med-certs scanned, emailed and forwarded on to the organisers is incredible.

I've got 17 participants for the Granfondo Ventoux in June and I'm currently spending too much time getting everyone sorted.

It's a farce.

E

Wasn't a running race, but I had one done by my GP for a bikepacking race in France/Spain last year. However, they didn't have their own form and just required a letter from the doctor to state they knew of no medical reason I shouldn't participate. They charged £50.

There is also this, which I considered using as a fall back if I couldn't get a GP appointment (which, to be honest, I felt a bit guilty about using up NHS time, even if I did pay for it directly): https://www.sportsmedicalcertificates.com/

I've not used them but have read on Facebook groups for such races that others have without a problem. It's farcical really as all you're doing is answering a bunch of questions without a doctor ever seeing you!

I used sports medical certificates for the CCC. My GP basically told me they wouldn't do it as the form asked for an examination, so they referred my to a private company in Cheltenham that changed 120 for an examination. Doing it online was effortless.

I have both done this the proper way and forged it. Have had problems with neither. The former cost £30 and was pretty straightforward. Just sent the doctor some recent Strava details and spoke to them over the phone. As for the forgery it was easy. 

This is just box-ticking shit so I doubt anyone will contact the GP or actually examine it thoroughly. That said, if I were lucky enough to have a CCC place I would just pay the GP.