First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Discussions on race planning, preparations and how to run a "fair" and fun race.
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TheDez
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First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by TheDez »

Hi Everyone!

This is my first year coordinating our packs pinewood derby and we are also lucky enough to be hosting the district race.

Our pack derby is Saturday and I am just looking for a sanity check to see if I am missing anything. We have a roughly 65 scouts and I anticipate a turnout of around 50.

Registration: Friday Night - Track will be setup for testing and a tune station will be available for last minute adjustments before the cars are checked in. We have screwdrivers, pliers, drills, sandpaper, glue guns, graphite, extra weights (Stick-on tire balance weights in ¼ ounce segments). We have a digital scale from the scout shop. I have come up with a registration card which will be filled out when the scout signs in on Friday and mark offs for Friday sign-in, Friday car check-in (Car weighed in and checked out ok), Saturday sign-in (To make sure they are present and are in uniform), and final check-out (Return car, award given etc). The assistant cubmaster will then enter all the names into our race software Friday night based on the names and car numbers assigned.

Race day: Saturday - We have the track, software, laptop, overhead projector and PA system ready. The derby will be in the school gym and we will have food service in the cafeteria. We are planning an intermission half way thru the race to allow everyone a break and a chance to get some food (45 minutes?).

Track: Our track is 4 lanes using The Judge timing system and Derby master software. We plan on doing eight rounds so each kid’s car gets to run each lane twice. The track will be cleaned at the beginning of the race and during intermission using a micro fiber cloth (Aluminum track).

Awards: Once the races are done we will hand out certificates to all participants and awards accordingly so everyone gets recognized.

Resources: We have 2 people doing registration on Friday, I will be doing the official weigh-in with an assistant, one person on the computer Saturday as well as runners to put the cars on the track, a person to release the gate, and a couple people to return the cars after each race.

Food: We will be having food service on Saturday such as Hotdogs, Sloppy Joe’s, Walking Tacos, Chips, Soda, Water, Candy, and Soft pretzels with cheese. This is all being managed by the head chef of a local restaurant who was able to get about half the food service items donated. The proceeds from food sales will pay for the awards and cover the costs of the food.

So all this being said does it look like I am missing anything important?
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Stan Pope
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by Stan Pope »

Wood rasp (aka "hobby rasp") probably better then sandpaper ... the rasp will last all day ... sandpaper "used up" quickly.

Metal file and hand drill and 1/8 or 3/16" bit for weight reductions.

Scale for pit
Stan
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by RaceFan »

Good luck to you, it sounds like you've got it covered.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm in almost the exact situation only with 100 scouts. We're doing the same thing, setting up Friday night. That should shake out any issues that a midnight run to Wal-Mart can remedy.

I need to get that "do not cross" tape to "rope off" the car impound area & track area from the rascals.

Music playing, might be fun too. I gotta make a CD with the theme to "Top Gun", "Iron Eagle" as well as "I can't drive 55", and others.

I've already lost my sanity and have just accepted it! :lol:
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by pwdarchitect »

Friday is check-in and test and tune? That would be the only concern I would have. What if a scout team needed to make major changes in their car for being way overweight or width or whatever? Would you then allow that scout team to check-in on Saturday AM? Does everyone have the equal opportunity to do just that if you allow it for one scout? Are the cars impounded on Friday? Who is responsible for those impounded cars?

J
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by Pinewood Daddy »

You've got it easy!! Our Pack is associated with a school, we use the gym so we can't setup the night before. Normally we get the gym from 6pm to 9pm (must be cleaned up and out by 9pm!). On PWD night we sneak in about 5pm to setup. check in at 6pm, race at 6:30pm, cleaned up and out before 9pm. I wish we could have check in and a test & tune the night before! It would make things much easier. There isn't much room for any problems.
TheDez
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by TheDez »

Stan Pope wrote:Wood rasp (aka "hobby rasp") probably better then sandpaper ... the rasp will last all day ... sandpaper "used up" quickly.

Metal file and hand drill and 1/8 or 3/16" bit for weight reductions.

Scale for pit
Good ideas Stan. We do have drill bits for the electric drills and I picked up some rasps.

-Chris
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by TheDez »

RaceFan wrote:Good luck to you, it sounds like you've got it covered.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm in almost the exact situation only with 100 scouts. We're doing the same thing, setting up Friday night. That should shake out any issues that a midnight run to Wal-Mart can remedy.

I need to get that "do not cross" tape to "rope off" the car impound area & track area from the rascals.

Music playing, might be fun too. I gotta make a CD with the theme to "Top Gun", "Iron Eagle" as well as "I can't drive 55", and others.

I've already lost my sanity and have just accepted it! :lol:
I was able to plug in the track today and make sure the electronics all work. Much to my relief everything checked out.

I picked up cloths line to rope off the area and the gym has orange cones for us to tie then to.

The music isnt a bad idea as the PA system does have a CD player built in.
TheDez
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by TheDez »

pwdarchitect wrote:Friday is check-in and test and tune? That would be the only concern I would have. What if a scout team needed to make major changes in their car for being way overweight or width or whatever? Would you then allow that scout team to check-in on Saturday AM? Does everyone have the equal opportunity to do just that if you allow it for one scout? Are the cars impounded on Friday? Who is responsible for those impounded cars?

J
I never really thought of that. The rules were laid out that Friday is check-in and we will have limited equipment to make adjustments if needed. If someone had to make major changes then I would assume they paid no attention to the rules. Should they be allowed to check-in late?

The cars are impounded Friday night and I will be responsible for them one they are.

-Chris
TheDez
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by TheDez »

Pinewood Daddy wrote:You've got it easy!! Our Pack is associated with a school, we use the gym so we can't setup the night before. Normally we get the gym from 6pm to 9pm (must be cleaned up and out by 9pm!). On PWD night we sneak in about 5pm to setup. check in at 6pm, race at 6:30pm, cleaned up and out before 9pm. I wish we could have check in and a test & tune the night before! It would make things much easier. There isn't much room for any problems.
We are really lucky with our school. Our Cubmaster happens to be the school nurse so dealing with the school on such issues has always been a pleasure. The only thing they ask is we clean up after ourselves when we are done.

We also have use of the local catholic schools gym which is where the derby has traditionally help but the public school gives us more flexibility and space.

Good luck!
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Re: First year running race (FRIDAY!!) Need santiy check

Post by psycaz »

Have a defined way to handle ties.

Last year in our district race, 2 of 3 heats run were ties. The software they were running couldn't handle the ties ( don't know what it was, couldn't find out) they had to rerun those heats, they tried a total of 9 times before they gave up on the finals and resorted to using the times from the rank racing.

That created two issues, one was that a lot of boys had been waiting for almost 4 hours to see their cars run in the finals and didn't, and two, they cleaned and adjusted the track during the intermission and corrected two lanes that had been slow up until that point. That skewed the times towards those who raced after.

Be prepared and know how you are going to handle situations.

How long will boys get to make repairs to damaged cars? That should be announced up front before racing. No need to wait until boys nd parent are panicked to tell them they are out of time.
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