The sport should be primarily a competition of shooting skill using cover, concealment, mental discipline, and strategy. if someone wants a footrace, have a footrace.
Some people have limitations that are out of their control, such as bad knee, bad hip, bad back, arthritis (even young people can have arthritis), and other similar ailments. Being overweight and out of shape is certainly in their control most of the time, that is true.
I think you are missing my main point....that IDPA needs to extend their maximum to allow more realistic courses of fire, and that sometimes USPSA makes the distances too n long to where the running time becomes too big a factor.
Cody
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
I'm not missing the point.
Realism as you bring up = being fat and having to run/shoot one day.
It is what it is. Same with knees, etc. That's what you brought to to the table. Deal with it.