To me, it makes the most sense to just use what you know you are going to want.

It would be harder - I think - to get used to just being able to whip your foot off the pedal whenever you wanted and then to switch to clipless than to just start out on clipless right from the beginning.

I had clipless pedals put on my bike before it left the shop - I have never ridden it any other way. I have fallen twice - once while standing at a light with one foot unclipped, the wind hit a 40 mph gust and blew me over, and once while moving VERY slowly in a parking lot where I should never have been clipped in to begin with.

There are 3 kinds of cyclists - those who have fallen, those who will fall, and those who will fall again. That holds true wether you are talking clipless or not!

I'd laugh those guys out off the course and go clipless!