Chief Tarhe Districts 2005

General race coordinator discussions.
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Sylvar
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Chief Tarhe Districts 2005

Post by Sylvar »

Hmmm....I think that I am now the Chairman for our district races this year. I was talking to our district executive the other day....I have told him in the past that I was interested in running the district derby....And he said to go ahead and start working on it. It seems the guy who was supposed to be doing it hasn't been returning his calls.

We want to run it in the local mall. Use the event for promotional purposes as well. We also want to have 4 tracks running....one for each rank. How much to tracks cost to rent in general? Any one out there in Simon Kenton council? I know there are a few. I would love to have some of the aluminium tracks, but as long as it has an electronic lane judge I am happy.

Stan, I know I am already 6 months behind by your calendar :D , but I am going to do my best to make this the best Derby this district has seen.

Shane
Last edited by Sylvar on Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
ExtremePWD
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Re: Chief Tarhe Districts 2005

Post by ExtremePWD »

I would start by soliciting the packs within the district to loan their tracks for free. The district supports the packs in many ways and I think it is fair to ask the packs to support district activities also. Running 4 ranks simultaneously requires more tracks and more volunteers, to state the obvious. In a pinch for tracks or volunteers you could resort to staggering the ranks across the resources available. Good luck with your program. Success starts with dedicated individuals like yourself.
Sylvar
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Re: Chief Tarhe Districts 2005

Post by Sylvar »

My DE said that he hasn't seen any pack but ours running with electronics. I don't want any races judged by eye. He said to budget buying them if I think we can recoup the cost with the entry fee. I think that renting tracks might be cheaper, but I don't know.

Shane
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Stan Pope
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Re: Chief Tarhe Districts 2005

Post by Stan Pope »

Mall not a bad location except that usually no way to seat the spectators and hard to communicate the event to the passersby. We did it that way for a lot of years ... it was the best traffic day of the year for the Mall, and they chipped in with $ for trophies. But ... it was not a nice environment for the parents/grandparents who would have liked to see the races. The folks standing in the front row could see. Everyone else was looking over or around them with marginal success. For the last few years we've been in a community sports complex ... three side-by-side basketball courts surroundedby a running track with roll-around bleacher seats! Room for seats and 4 tracks with Cubs opposite side of the track from the parents plus area for registration, inspection and display. I love this location! :)

Some approaches to acquiring electronics ...
1. This year, run fewer tracks and cover purchase of one or two finish lines from fees. Next year, run additional tracks and cover purchase of one or two more finish lines. You may have to stagger the race start times farther apart this year than you would like.
2. Split cost on electronics with packs who supply tracks on mulit-year promise of track donation. Could be a timing problem to carry this one off, but it lays a good groundwork for the future!

(Maybe someone can suggest others)

BTW, I prefer to have three judges, one electronic, and go with majority rule when a single heat winner is necessary and honor every judge's decision if a single heat winner is not necessary. Avoids some "bad calls". Many horror stories from relying on electronics alone. Obvious winner ruled 2nd because it didn't trigger electronics, obvious winner ruled 2nd because electronics operator was looking the other way and winner picked up his car before operator looked back, electronics die or power outage (you can't reschedule the district races without major problems),

What are the general parameters planned for racing? Time limit? Minimum heats per racer? Number of places to be determined/trophies to award? Method of competition? Entrants expected in each class? etc.

Three months is cutting it close unless you already have location committed, rules established and distributed. But, you can probably carry it off. You may have to wait to distribute the schedule until you get a resolution on the finish lines issue. Need to have the schedule in pack leaders hands by the time they run their races.
Stan
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gpraceman
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Re: Chief Tarhe Districts 2005

Post by gpraceman »

Sylvar wrote:My DE said that he hasn't seen any pack but ours running with electronics. I don't want any races judged by eye. He said to budget buying them if I think we can recoup the cost with the entry fee. I think that renting tracks might be cheaper, but I don't know.

Shane
If you have someone that can solder and someone to build a wooden enclosure for the electronics, you can cut the cost of timers significantly. There are several DITY systems and commercial kits listed at http://grandprix-race-central.com/finish_line.htm.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
Sylvar
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Re: Chief Tarhe Districts 2005

Post by Sylvar »

We have about 6 months. I think we will be OK if can line up the electronics. I like the idea of helping a Pack buy the electronics in exchange for a commitment to bring the track to that district race for X years. I don't yet have enough contacts in this district, I need to run this one past the DE.

As for race method...I haven't decided yet. In our Pack we will be running a PPN points based race. I would like to do something similar for the district race, but I am also interested in understanding the method your district uses. My main concern there is getting enough people trained to understand the method. I saw first hand last year what can happen when not everyone running the race understands the method being used
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Stan Pope
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Re: Chief Tarhe Districts 2005

Post by Stan Pope »

Sylvar wrote:I like the idea of helping a Pack buy the electronics in exchange for a commitment to bring the track to that district race for X years. I don't yet have enough contacts in this district, I need to run this one past the DE.
Me too! It solves the "fit with the track" problem and the "storage" problem. You can leverage your resource to advantage of district and packs!
Stan
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