New Oklahoma Certifier
The November 1982 issue of NRDC News, the newsletter of the National Running Data Center, published a list of certifiers approved by the National Standards Committee (basically Ted Corbitt). This was the initial listing of people Ted had enlisted to help him with the growing number of certification applications.
One of those listed was Bob Baumel, as certifier for Oklahoma. In a note to Gene Newman Bob writes:
Gene and all,
I have served as the Oklahoma course certifier for over 23 years and have
decided to step down from that position. (Gene, this won't come as a
surprise to you, as we've already discussed this on the phone.) Fortunately,
we have a replacement: Don Garrett, one of the most active Oklahoma
measurers in recent years, has expressed willingness to do it, and I am sure
he'll make a good certifier.
While I will no longer be Oklahoma certifier, I remain an officer of RRTC at
the national level, as I am still the RRTC Secretary and Webmaster. Thus, I
will continue to maintain the Course Certification and RRTC Committee pages
on the USATF website, as well as our page at http://www.rrtc.net . And I assume I
will still have Final Signatory status for courses that I measure myself.
According to our standard procedure, Don will undergo a training period as
the new Oklahoma certifier under the guidance of the RRTC Vice-Chair West,
who is now Jim Gerweck. Gene, you suggested that I may wish to train Don
myself. However, one of my reasons for giving up the certifier position is
lack of time -- and I believe that if I had to review all of Don's work, it
would take as much of my time as if I were still the certifier. Also, Don
has already worked with me a lot, so it will probably do him good to work
with a different certifier during this period.
Therefore, one of Jim's first jobs as the new Vice-Chair West will be to
train Don. I will send Don a customized two-signature certificate form to
use during this period. When Don approves a certification application, he'll
sign in the first signature space, then forward the certificate and all
application paperwork to Jim for his review and signature in the 2nd space.
In assigning certification codes, I believe Don can use the initials DG as
his suffix, as these initials do not appear to have been used by any other
certifier, according to the "Certifier Abbreviations" message Pete posted
recently in the "USATF/RRTC Topics" section of his bulletin board at
https://measure.infopop.cc/groupee
I have already listed Don as the Oklahoma certifier on the USATF Certifiers
web page (accessible by following links from the USATF home page or from
http://www.rrtc.net ). Also note that the top of that page now displays contact
info for the Vice-Chairs, so all certifiers will know where to send their
certificates.
Right now, I'm still working on three certification applications that were
sent to me at the very end of 2005. I'll clear those up. Then, I expect Don
to handle all additional applications for Oklahoma course certifications.
To Don, I send my very best wishes for success as the Oklahoma certifier.
Best regards,
Bob Baumel
Bob has done a fine job in Oklahoma. I’m happy that he remains active in RRTC, as it’s been a privilege to work with him these score-and-four of years. Many of the things we take for granted in course measurement began in Bob’s mind.
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