Race organisers...and race runners

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Nov 2021
7:37pm, 23 Nov 2021
2,916 posts
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flyingfinn
If it's Winster we're talking about then the stuff about tracking people on the course and Mountain Rescue is largely irrelevant. It's as near as damm it a road race rather than a fell race and is neither long enough nor in terrain relevant to that level of safety control. As has been done in the past I would suggest you have a sweeper with a basic first aid kit/mobile phone to collect any stragglers and deal with any minor scrapes. It is a race where it is very hard to go wrong and historically you are never more than a few hundred metres from the next marshalled crossing/turn Ensuring the road crossings of the B5056 are adequately marshalled is important though as the traffic can fair shift along that road and you approach both crossings going downhill. Also having enough marshalls in the village at the start to manage the traffic and runners as the race starts and effectively blocks the main street for 5 mins or so will make your life easier. Landowner permission ought to be straight forward. There are only the fields south of Birchover where you are off-road or RUPP and given how long it has been going for (I've run it since 1999 and it was well established then) that shouldn't be an issue. For results I'd stick to the traditional putting stickers on a board system. Without checking I'd guesstimate that the field has traditionally been in the 100-120 area and the spread of runners should mean one timer and one scribe would be sufficient. If you create a short funnel in front of the Moot Hall you should be able to keep people in order for long enough to not have a problem.

Going to pre-entry will be quite a departure for it, traditionally (i.e. pre-Covid) it has always been a rock-up on the night, pay a few quid, collect a number job. A lot of folk know when it is purely because it's on the Thursday night of Winster Wakes week and not because it's listed anywhere. So changing the entry system will need to be publicised well and widely to ensure regulars don't just rock up expecting to enter on the night.
Nov 2021
10:10pm, 23 Nov 2021
133 posts
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paulcook
I had a fell race a few weeks ago, and it was a rare pre-entry. It's about the only one of the North Yorks Moors races which is pre-entry, and was only this year because of a limit on race numbers entirely down to limited parking in the village.

However, it still sold out well before the day, so a departure to pre-entry doesn't mean people won't enter. As flyingfinn said though, I was well advertised that it had gone pre-entry.
Nov 2021
10:11pm, 23 Nov 2021
134 posts
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paulcook
*it was well advertised
Nov 2021
11:53am, 25 Nov 2021
9,093 posts
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BaronessBL
Some years ago Fetch was looking for someone to write an article for the site about 'things you should know when organising your first race' or something similar. I ended up writing it but have no idea if it still exists! However I got a lot of helpful information from other Fetchies at the time and one I remember in particular was Old Croc - although I think it was a local 10k rather than a fell race as I recall.
Nov 2021
8:31am, 26 Nov 2021
113 posts
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olde english
cheers. The pre-entry thing is simply just in case extra regs pop up because of the dreaded covid, costs nothing to set up and i ll have it in the background ready to use if needed. Ideally i'll do hybrid ie you can pre-enter and entry on the night. Yeah results will be the well practiced pen and paper. Do need to hear back from the FRA 1st that they're going to re-list as like you say flyingfinn its more lanes than fell and if some reason they examine 2 closely and say its not fell..that worries me .
Nov 2021
9:05am, 26 Nov 2021
144 posts
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paulcook
There's one race in our fell series which is entirely road. Although it counts for points in the series, it's (rightly) not classed by FRA. (Although the junior race is)
Mar 2022
11:08am, 2 Mar 2022
116 posts
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olde english
well after homework... i ve gone with race nation to do my pre-entry. Takes 25p per entry from the £5 and theres lots of flex on presentation etc. we're now live as the Winster Hill Race. youlgraveharriers.com
Next bit of organising is based on 'virtual' scoring orienteering race. Free entry and app, 1 week to get your run(s) race done . 'live' leaderboards and results etc. Just need to test out the tech to lay out the maps. Its all rather clever, good fun and open source software...and very low effort to set up once the research is done.

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About This Thread

Maintained by olde english
do we have many race organisers rattling about here? I could do with some advice...i've just picked up organising a local fell race for next summer. I've been around long enough to be confident on how to put a good old fashioned race on from the view point of the runner and i ve slung toegther lots of unofficial get my mates round for a running bun fight so got timing nailed. However..... the official box ticking. Starting from scratch. For starters

1. it's looking like im goi...

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