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Aug 2017
9:41am, 2 Aug 2017
7 posts
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Spideog
Have seen a couple of events now where they have setup a nice long funnel, but then for some reason the token hander-outerer then stands at the beginning of the narrow part of the funnel only a couple of meters behind the line which kind of defeats the point of the funnel being there.
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Aug 2017
10:20am, 2 Aug 2017
650 posts
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sinj999
I ran 2 in Australia and neither bothered with a funnel.
The token person chased you down as you crossed the line.
Both had just under 200 runners.
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Aug 2017
10:39am, 2 Aug 2017
18,601 posts
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LindsD
Oh yes. Me too. There were about 100 runners I think.
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Aug 2017
10:46am, 2 Aug 2017
2,603 posts
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TeeBee
Last time I RD'd I had an awesome funnel manager (first time in role) who spotted funnel duckers and issues with staying in order way before I did and jumped in and got it sorted immediately. She definitely got a gold star from me 
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Aug 2017
12:35pm, 2 Aug 2017
1,178 posts
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CumbriAndy
Spideog - when handing out tokens I make a point of moving up and down the funnel based on how many people are in it at the time. If there's only a few then being closer to the timers makes it easier to keep tabs on numbers, reducing the impact of funnel duckers etc. - if they start to back up towards the finish line then moving further away generates space. When RD'ing, I encourage the hander outers to do something similar - some are better than others and some prefer to wait at the 'far end'.
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Aug 2017
1:53pm, 2 Aug 2017
19,217 posts
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LazyDaisy
We've discussed having a 'mobile' token giver but with inexperienced volunteers we felt it could cause more problems if they didn't move quickly enough to keep the flow going smoothly over the line and up the funnel. It's a good idea if the token giver is on the ball though.
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Aug 2017
4:25pm, 2 Aug 2017
8 posts
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Spideog
CumbriAndy - would be good if that were what was happening, but whilst I was eating cake and watching the queue get dangerously close to the finish line whilst there was still an empty funnel behind them I don't think it was. While I'm usually finishing when there are relatively few people crossing the line in quick succession, the token giver-outerer being so close to the line also causes me problems when running with the buggy as without the people infront having moved along enough if people stop suddenly on the line there is the chance of them getting a buggy to the back of the ankle.
I'd tend to shout at people who overtake me in the last 20 meters, as they can't stand the shame of being beaten by a buggy, and tell them to keep running through the line. Doesn't usually make much difference though and people stop instantly and I'd have to slam the brakes on before I reach the timers, which then means that another person gets infront of me and they they stop even sooner and I have to crash into one of the funnel posts to avoid them all.
The tokens being a bit further away just makes everyones life easier. Have also had a run where the whole finish funnel was shorter than my braking distance so then you have the tokens person going chasing after people who have run straight through as they couldn't stop before the end.
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Aug 2017
4:35pm, 2 Aug 2017
5,953 posts
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Ceratonia
Longer funnel and tokens being further away smoothes out any peaks. We can get three or four people per second around the 25-28 minute mark and you need the funnel to be long enough to hold a queue of 10-15 people to avoid queuing before the finish line, even with 4 on finish token duty. It's more of a pipe than a funnel.
We tried mobile token givers a few times (where the token person is given 10 tokens and walks along the queue with the next token person following along behind and then looping back to the end) but it's better to keep things simple.
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Aug 2017
6:01pm, 2 Aug 2017
3,472 posts
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DoricQuine
By the time I cross the line there are not many around me but even I have found it a problem stopping if the token marshall is too close to the line. Most runners try to put a spurt on to finish and on several occasions I have almost fallen over the the token person leaping out at me the second I finish!
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Aug 2017
1:50pm, 4 Aug 2017
16,694 posts
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Doc Moye
Thinking of trying Ally Pally parkrun tomorrow .... anyone done that one ?
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