- Just how well do race organizations attend to the course details specified in course certification maps?
- Do all race directors actually read and disseminate the official maps?
- To what extent are courses actually monitored in critical places (knowledgeably I mean)?
- What recourse and/or preventative measures might be effective in dealing with cases where the answers to those questions might be "not so well" or "not really"?
Quite a few times and again recently I've found that people setting up and managing course setup and operations have not been given a copy of the official certification map-- greatly reducing their chances of getting it right.
I'm thinking that the lack of proper course monitoring may be tied primarily to races that are nationally rather than locally based-- perhaps they feel they don't have enough contacts in the local area(?). On the other hand they seem to find enough volunteers to man their water stops.
The most egregious lack of staffing I have seen is this: an out-and-back section set up only by placing cones along a centerline and a curved cone line sitting almost right ON TOP of the "+" sign marking the TA point. Setup wrong, but not even a person to direct the runners?! This was truly a "choose your own turnaround" setup, with most turns likely to cut at least 10-15 yards off the course! I was there in time to correct the coning and tie surveyor's tape across the last 5 or 6 cones.
OK the cert map didn't actually say you have to place a course marshal at that point; I guess I thought that could be taken for granted. Stupid me! Now I'm wondering if it would be going too far to put a statement to the effect that the course certification is NOT VALID UNLESS certain spots were monitored to ensure compliance?
Thoughts, observations, solutions?