How to Paintmark a course ???

There are no guidelines that I know of but let me tell you what happened in our city. A race painted marks on the road. Later city workers dug up the street at one place thinking the marks for them. So the city ordered races to put marks on utility poles. At the next race a very vocal member of the community lost his way during a race because the marks were not on the road. He complained to City Council and the city, if I recall properly, ordered that races mark their races on the street!

One time I was marking a race and a newspaper reporter went along with me for a story he was doing. He asked if I got permission from the town for painting the marks on the road. I told him, "I believe if, you might not like the answer, don't ask the question." Unfortunately, that remark ended up in the newspaper! I also told him once that a policeman stopped his car and asked what I was doing. When I told him, he said, "Good luck with the race."

There! I'm sure that's not at all useful.

Alan

It really depends on the area. If I am putting marks in a busy and well appointed neighbourhood then I don't use paint. As an alternative to paint I use a small plastic survey disk nailed to the pavement which is more descrete and can last for many years, but can also be taken off by the first snowplow if you are not careful with placement. I still use paint in most areas and when I feel it is appropriate. Often a small paint dot is more discrete that having 12km in big fuzzy letters written in the middle of the road.

One time I marked the splits for a half marathon along a road that was a deadend leading to a local domestic water reservoir. It was was completely treed and very rural so I didn't think for a moment that paint would be a problem. The local highway maintenance department later told the race director that he had to remove all the paint marks.

Happy running

Houston City Council recently passed an ordinance requiring all street markings to be made with water based paint which washes away at the first rain. But so far not many have complied. Most notably the major utilities.

I had a problem with a 5k on a bike path last year. The race director had actually asked the city whether it was OK to put paint on the bike path. She received an emphatic “no.” She was told that marks adjacent to the path were OK, but since this was gravel and grass I didn’t think it would hold paint all that well.

I wound up using wooden dowels, one inch diameter. Each was painted yellow on the end, and drilled to accommodate a PK nail. The ground was very hard, with lots of stones in it. I had to use an iron bar to beat each hole deep enough to allow the dowel to be flush with the ground. I wanted them flush so the lawn mowers would not chop them off. It took lots longer than just painting would have done.

As I worked I took photos of the splits to help them find the markers. I was not there on race day, but I did not hear of a problem.

Paint on the path would have been a lot better. On bike paths I generally use a four inch diameter dot, with no adjacent number. This has not yet caused me trouble. On streets I usually use a painted number.

The finish line was described “Finish – 5 km – On the Jim Simmons Trail, 90 feet west of the sign marking the lower end of the trail. Marked with a wooden stake containing a PK nail, installed flush to the ground on the north side of the path.”

The photos are shown below.