Timing & Results Committee: 2008 AGM Report

by Kevin Miller

I have been the Chair of the Timing & Results Committee for the past 10 years. Committee members (people involved in registration/timing/results) in 2008 were Maureen Van Schepdael, Susan Appleyard, Ellis Crowston, Jacinthe Blais, and Anita Miller.

Miscellaneous comments

• To streamline the process of software distribution and education (and to avoid the need for time-consuming face-to-face interaction), I built a Registration, Timing, and Results section on our website's Sanctioning Application page (http://www.triathlon.mb.ca/sanction_application.htm). This investment of effort was recouped by the end of the race season.
  
  
• We had virtually no problems with the operation of our hardware or software this year.
  
  
• The Birds Hill Duathlon Series had a new organizer, and therefore a new registration/timing/results person: Maureen Van Schepdael. I expended a number of hours communicating with Maureen (e-mail and phone) prior to the first race.  Timing was a bit hectic prior to the first race and during the first race (registration and timing), but the results aspect went smoothly, and everything went exceptionally well for all other races in the series. Maureen did a magnificent job learning our procedures, learning how to use our hardware and software, and executing what she learned. It was very enjoyable to work with someone who has such a high level of initiative and ability.  
  
  
• Registration/timing/results went almost flawlessly at the Triple Threat, St Malo, and Kenora Borealis Grand Prix Series races, even with the challenge of heavy rain in Kenora.
  
  
• Things were going very well at Pinawa Free Spirit until we tried to process the finish line timing data for the age group race. (The Junior Elite race was completed.) The bands had been placed on the boards upside down, so they didn't properly stick.  It took over two hours to straighten out the "spaghetti" of bands, so results were not available for on-site post-race awards. I posted them on our website at the usual time (a few hours after the race), and I was pleased that our difficult process of matching the "spaghetti bands" to watch times had only resulted in two incorrect times; they were quickly fixed after one of those two participants e-mailed me with his correct time. In retrospect, my mistake was that I didn't explicitly demonstrate how a velcro band should be placed on a velcro board.
  
  
• The Morden Triathlon used chip timing by Results Canada. My involvement began when I received the results the day after the race. The format of Results Canada's results are quite different than the format of our Race Wizard results, which raises questions of information (no swim+bike time, no DNFs) and consistency with all our other races' results (a different format). However, the Morden Triathlon is not a Grand Prix Series race, which is why they have the option of not using standard Triathlon Manitoba hardware/software/procedures.
  
  
• Last February, the Riding Mountain Triathlon asked for an exemption from having to use Triathlon Manitoba hardware/software/procedures at their Grand Prix Series event because they wanted to hire a chip timing company. We granted their request because we recognized the large amount of work the new-for-2007 Riding Mountain Triathlon race organizers had expended in improving the event, and because I recognized that this would be a pilot project of using chip timing at a Grand Prix event.
  
  The Riding Mountain Triathlon hired my family to assist with registration (at the Friday evening final registration, and on race morning). 
  
  I wasn't involved with timing during the race. It went well, but I think there were a few bumps along the way. The Riding Mountain Tri race director would have a good perspective.
  
  I received the event's results from Results Canada 30 hours after race completion. (In previous years, using our hardware/software/procedures, I had results posted onsite prior to the awards ceremony, and posted on our website within 3 hours of race completion.) There were a few minor problems, but Mark Boyd corrected them very quickly. Like Morden, the inconsistency with the results from our other races is a bit of an issue. In particular, the lack of a competitor's club/membership status in the results means that it takes Anita longer to calculate race series points and membership demographics.
  
  My observation is that chip timing by Results Canada went fairly well at Riding Mountain, and it should go even better next year because of lessons learned and the Riding Mountain Triathlon organizers' commitment to excellence.
  
  However, I doubt that many (if any) other of our Grand Prix events will also ask for an exemption from having to use Triathlon Manitoba hardware/software/procedures. Yes, athletes really like chip timing and fewer timing volunteers are needed during the race, but
  • results produced by Results Canada haven't been posted (onsite and on our website) any faster than results produced by our procedures (although they certainly have the potential to be much faster),
  • a race organizer must be prepared to expend a lot of effort prior to the race -- contracting, communicating, handling registrations (our Tri MB procedures have an automated interface between EventsOnline.ca online registration and Race Wizard), and
  • chip timing costs >$2000 versus the $200 to $300 that it costs to hire someone who uses Tri MB procedures. 
    
    
• Registration/timing/results at almost all Kids of Steel races and the Manitoba Games in Carman went well.
  
  
• At both days' races at St Malo, we had a situation where a competitor completed too few laps of either the bike or run course. In one case the "too fast" time was noticed during the Awards Ceremony, but the competitor could not be convinced of the "too few laps". In the other case, another competitor noticed the "too fast" time after the results had been posted on our website. In both cases, the correction wasn't handled as well as it could have been. I think a number of us learned a few things from these experiences.
  
  
• Registration/timing/results for Duathlon Ste Anne was very challenging. This is because our Executive Director left us in late August, Anita & I were on vacation in early September, and we couldn't find a director (or official) to go to Ste Anne for the race. As a result, Jacinthe Blais of Ste Anne was under a lot of stress. This was the 4th year Jacinthe had used Race Wizard at this race, but the first year she had to do it without on-site support. I didn't receive the results until 9 days after the race, and there were problems with the times in the Duathlon event.
  

• I discussed "challenges for 2008" in my 2007 report.  Essentially, except for Morden and Riding Mountain using Results Canada chip timing, we maintained the status quo in 2008, and things went well.  However, the ongoing challenges remain, and it'll be interesting to see if there are any comments and discussion at our Race Directors Meeting.

Please also refer to my Timing & Results Committee annual reports from the previous nine years: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.

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This page was last updated on October 4, 2008