When Professor White created IBECC in 1996, he thought that an ethics event should consist of more than intellectual discussion. It should also aim to do something practical food in the world. Since he was a runner, he decided to hold the LMU 5K/10K Run for the Bay as a fund-raiser and to donate the proceeds to a local charity. To encourage IBECC teams to participate, he created an academic/athletic biathlon, in which teams’ performance in the presentation and in the run/jog/walk were combined. The biathlon was suspended when we began holding IBECC in conjunction with the annual conference of the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association instead of on the LMU campus, but we reinstituted it in 2016. We had to suspend it again at the start the pandemic, but we are pleased to bring back a version of it this year. The members of the top teams will receive prizes, but more importantly, the winning team will be able to designate for a $500 donation from IBECC a charity that has distinguished itself in helping people deal with any of the hardships brought on by the pandemic.
This is an academic/athletic competition based on a team’s performance in the 25-minute presentation and the number of steps a team can log in 30 minutes either running, jogging or walking. Note that we use a complicated formula that gives teams of walkers as much a chance to win as team of runners, especially if they turn in a strong performance in the presentation and if everyone on the team participates.
Virtually every smart phone has a pedometer app built in or can easily download a free one.
We’ll be providing more details as the competition gets closer.
Click here for an explanation of the scoring. Also, we have some training programs you can use to prepare, if you like.
Click here for a few words of encouragement from Annelle Kemp, a member of the team that won the first biathlon in 1996 and one of our 2022 judges.