ARE LOCAL RACES SOON TO BECOME
EXTINCT???
By Coleen Martin
As co-coordinator of the finish line teams, I am worried
about the future of our many local races.
Our volunteers have worked very diligently to make many finish lines and
results for local races run very smoothly.
Many of us run races and expect the usual computerized results and a
smooth coordinated finish line so the results are accurate. We have had several team captains who have
worked with the utmost commitment at their job for years making sure the races
they are coordinating have plenty of help so the process works well. Some of these team captains have moved on to
other phases in their lives and cannot continue to lead a team. So far, no one has volunteered to take their
places.
The IVS board has made a major commitment to provide
equipment for these finish line teams.
We have purchased new computers, time machines, clocks, and various
other needed materials. The revenue from
doing these finish lines provides a major portion of the income to finance our
club activities.
We have a small number of people who have taken the time to
learn how to score the races using the computer software. Each takes the responsibility of doing the
results for a few races a year. We would
like to train new people to learn this process.
Those of us that are familiar with this software are willing to train
new recruits. It takes a number of races
to feel comfortable doing the results on your own, but we can help you get
hands-on experience. Those of us who
know this process will not be doing these results forever. We need to start training new people now.
We need some new volunteers to learn the computer software
and take responsibility for a finish line team.
The more people we have, the fewer races each team will need to do. If we can’t get enough help, I’m afraid some
of the local races will not have the smooth, efficient finish lines and results
we have all come to expect.
I ran many races never really considering what it takes to
put on a race. For the last 20 years, I
have been on the board and tried to help give back to the Striders. I hope some of you who run races will also
consider giving some of your time to help the club keep serving the race
efforts in