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Hi Paul, I’m sorry that I missed
seeing you on Saturday. I was obviously too stuffed after my effort of trying
to catch up with our A team on the last lap.
I do not agree with you that teams should
not put people on consecutive laps. Both our club and Taranaki did this as we
were trying to get balanced teams to race against each other within the club.
Unfortunately this year our selection process was astray and we were 20 minutes
apart. In championship events (relays) the rules are specific and clearly
support what you say about no consecutive laps, and I agree with that, but the
Marton to Wanganui relay rules (at least on the entry form) are very few
(minimal in fact) and do not cover this. We have considered putting
in our best team to try and give Manawatu and Taranaki a race as we did in 2004
and 2005, but as our numbers grow we have decided to give everyone a chance to
be together, and as you say be part of the event rather than one team being
hours behind.
A rule in the Marton to Wanganui relay
entry form says that on the instruction of officials teams may be asked to
start a lap before the previous lap has been competed. Times will be adjusted
accordingly.
I have to ask where the officials to do
that were. After the start we did not see another official until the finish. The
time difference between the first and last team was almost three hours. The
last walking team finished about 4.45 pm when the prize giving was scheduled to
start at 4.15 pm. I wonder if it is not time for the faster walkers to be
allowed to start at 8.00 am and avoid the long wait at the finish, if the
Wanganui Harrier Club does not have the officials required to be out on the
course to ask teams to start their next laps early to keep up with the rest of
the field.
The Gun walkers from Manawatu stayed
around for over three hours after finishing for the prize giving, so you could
hardly say they do not want to support the slower walkers. Sadly this
year some of our group had appointments in
We will be back next year, and we may put
all of our good walkers in one team, but that is up to our group to consider.
Unless there is a specific rule from the organisers I can’t see why we
will not continue to put walkers on consecutive laps if it helps us to balance
our teams up. If we had a team as good as Manawatu we’d enter it, and
race them, after all we would like to win!
Regards
David Lonsdale
From:
Kiwiwalkers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Kiwiwalkers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Shelley, Andrew
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007
11:21 AM
To: Kiwiwalkers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Kiwiwalkers] Walking
Relays.
I can't see that walking consecutive
stages is necessarily a bad thing. I know that my pace for 5k is faster
than my pace for 10k, which is likewise faster than my pace for 16k or
21k. If I was going to do (say) two 7k stages back-to-back, my time
would definitely be slower than if I had had a chance to rest for an hour or
two between the two stages.
But, alas, I wasn't at the relay at all
this year. Normally I do all the stages consecutively, without a rest,
and my pace for that is definitely slower than my 5k pace! I hope
everyone had an enjoyable time.
Andrew Shelley
From:
Kiwiwalkers@
Sent: Monday, 10 September 2007
10:51 a.m.
To: Kiwiwalkers
Subject: [Kiwiwalkers] Walking
Relays.
This message is not aimed at any particular group and the contents can
be freely debated on this group and among yourselves.
After last Saturday's Marton to Wanganui Relay, a top quality event
conducted by the Wanganui Harrier Club, I have heard a few comments being made
about both the good points and the not-so-good points of relays.
The good points include the undeniable benefits bought about by
combining team/club members into a group to contest a fairly conducted event
where they give their best, regardless of ability, to achieve a joint aim.
Relays are a brilliant club-building experience.
The not-so-good points of relays are headed by groups regularly
assembling a "gun" team out to win at any cost and having little
regard for others of lesser ability. To truly enter into the friendly spirit of
a relay teams achieve much more if the team includes some members of different
ability. Otherwise the "gun" team will eventually destroy the event.
A relay is a team event in which a different member of the team takes
over the task at the end of each stage (leg) of the event. This means that
members of a team DO NOT walk consecutive stages. Some teams will say that they
are put at a disadvantage if a member of their team has to complete a second
later stage. What they are really saying is that they are gaining an advantage
by having members of their team walking consecutive stages. This is a
disadvantage and unfair to the other teams, without whom there will be no
event.
If the event entry form says that a team member can walk one or two
stages this means that they can only walk a maximum of two stages, unless of
course there is a genuine reason for walking more. Experience has shown that
the person/s selected to walk multiple stages are the "gun" walkers.
Is this really fair to the other teams ?
Taranaki Racewalkers are to be congratulated on the way in which they spread
their "gun" walkers among various team, giving every member of their
club a chance of being in a winning team.
Let's all do the same in future and NO walking consecutive
stages. Paul.
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