Edited by author 11-20-2006 11:22 AM
"I am asking that you at least acknowledge this rule has the potential to prevent some very dedicated club members from participating in a unique club event and that you at least consider a change in the future."

I'm not the Steve who wrote the above, I am the other Steve who posted a few times.

Joe, your comment about being able to run but not score misses the whole point of the motivation of the disenfranchised runners. Had Gate City not voted to curtail serious competition, some of its member would not have been driven into the arms of another lover.

At the risk of a bad pun in having used the term "lover" I will offer that the whole point of running for these runners is competition and "scoring".

To run and not be able to score is akin to kissing your sister.

It wasn't a comment, it was a question. I honestly do not know the answer. Could someone please answer it yes or no?

Steve Wolfe's comment implies otherwise and I would like to be sure.

Joe, the rule just excludes them from scoring for a team. They are still welcomed to participate as long as it is on a non-scoring team.

Edited by author 11-20-2006 03:24 PM
Joe,
I had mentioned the fact that I can still participate (but not score) in a previous post to highlight this is not a 'me' problem but a 'team' problem. The USATF rule affects team scorers, not participants.

Can I chime in here?

I agree that this is a messy situation but, importantly, it has the undesireable effect of producing an uneven playing field (running surface?) by unduly harming one MCR team more than others.

Here's a possible compromise.

The rule should only apply to teams and runners for whom the team has paid entry fees for any NE Grand Prix event. That is, if your entry fee in any NEGP was paid for by a team, you belong to that team as far as MCR is concerned. If you entered as a self-funded participant, then you may pick and choose whatever MCR club you desire to run for.

This rule might filter out the ringers and allow the plodders to do as they please. Here is an extreme example of how the rule is now applied. Joe Schlotsky, who runs 40:00 for a 5K, happens to put down BAA as his club for a single NEGP event. Now he is prevented from running in the MCR even though 19 out of 20 races he ran were with his main club, say, MVS.

Edited by author 12-04-2006 07:44 AM
Great day yesterday. Although, did the hill in the first leg get steeper or am I getting older? Must be the hills....

Just food for thought: Beer Tickets. Some of the people in the last leg went up to get a beer and were told that the beer tickets were all gone. Meaning no race beer. Was this because they were out of beer or just out of tickets? And who needs beer more than those souls in the last leg and bringing up the tail end of the race? Just an idea would be to dole out the beer tickets with the bib numbers. Maybe 2 each? Just an idea to take care of all entrants.

Again, my team had a great day. Thanks to all that do the work that put this together.

Cheers, Chris

FYI We sold 500 beer tickets at $2 a piece, so this resulted in a $1 discount on the beer. Thanks for the feedback. We will discuss this in our next meeting.

Don't get me wrong. The beer price was great... 2nd favorite price...CHEAP! Just thinking of the folks in the back of the pack. I didn't see it but was told that some of the early folks were pruchaseing a lot more than 2 or 3 each. So, if only 500 were sold, they would run out before the back of the pack arrived.

My two cents--guilty as charged..had I known there was a risk of running out of beer tix, I would not have bought as many as I did...sorry about that..I did, however, share my tix LIBERALLY among the tables around me, if that helps get me some forgiveness?

Hello and thanks to all whose efforts led to another fine day for many.

I hope this doesn't open a major can of worms, but I do have two questions on race rules.

Is passing the baton outside the exchange area (flagrantly, i.e. 200 yards prior) grounds for a
team's disqualification, and, if so, was there a disqualification of a coed team at exchange point 4 yesterday?), and

what is the rule on one member running more than one leg for a team?

Thanks kindly for any reply...

interesting. As far as I know-200 yd. discrepency is definitely a DQ.
scoring teams should have 5 runners who run full distance
anyone else on committee with this??

Edited by author 12-04-2006 10:10 PM
You must have five runners per team, this is spelled out in the rules. We do not have any rule on passing in the exchange zone.

Edited by author 12-05-2006 10:32 AM
I would like to thank everyone who helped out with yesterday’s Mill Cities Relay. When I think back to last winter, the picture for this year’s race was not so bright. I think it was around March when we received word that the Knights of Columbus would not be available for our post race celebration. Well if ever there was an example of turning lemons into lemonade this was it. The Claddagh Pub turned out to be a terrific venue. Paul Morton and his staff did an outstanding job at making us feel at home. Jackie Sullivan did her usual yeoman job of feeding 800 people. The food lines may have been long, but I hope the wait was worth it. We are already working with Paul and his staff to fix the long line problem for next year.

Most of all I want to thank the members of the Mill Cities Alliance. These folks give up a lot of their time to make sure this event is well run. Not many people realize they meet all year long to pull this event together. They all did an OUTSTANDING job!! Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

A number of years ago, a well-meaning running friend of mine said, “Hey, this race [Mill Cities] pretty much runs its self.” Well let me tell you, I’ve directed a lot of events, some much larger then Mill Cities, but none of them comes close in terms of complexity -- over 750 runners running 27-plus miles while passing through 7 communities. That alone is a tough task, but try following it up with a party for 800!

It is easy to understand why my “well meaning friend” thought the relay ran itself because our committee makes it look so easy. They work hard to make the organization of the event as transparent as possible and that’s the way it should be. I am going to let you in on a little secret, it is easy to pull off a well run classic when the entire race committee is made up of the brightest, most organized and experienced people around.

Mill Cities is a unique and important event that we all should protect and make sure it continues to be successful for many years to come. The excellence exhibited by all the volunteers yesterday will set the tone for all future events. I congratulate you all on a job well done.

I agree with Mike that 200 yards should be considered a DQ .It wouldn't seem to be a honest mistake. But if there is no rule.... maybe one should be put in for next year. If not, then why not pass off whenever you want. I must say I witnessed quite a few handoffs outside the painted lines at the end of the 2.5 leg including a couple from our own club, but these handoffs were within 20 yards and none seemed intentional, and I am NOT saying the alleged "200 yard handoff was intentional just that it sounds different then what I witnessed. Also Congratulations to the MVS for taking home the trophy, Great job!! The last 2 years we have only a one point difference, amazing! I hope you come back full force to defend it next year! We look forward to next years competition.

   Changed my mind on the DQ probably too harsh Maybe a point deduction
   for a flagrant foul should be considered for next year

JWebb's comment about a point deduction got me thinking, thanks!
The following is going to be discussed at the committee meeting but before we meet, Dave thought it would be a good idea to put it out here.
I worked the traffic crossing at UMass Lowell on leg 4.
If a runner was coming up the road and there was a question of whether we could safely get the runner across, I would yell to the runner to slow down a bit. I had several situations though where the runners had their music blaring and could not hear me (or chose to ignore me). I had to grab one runner by the arm to stop her as it didn't appear the car was going to stop. She was just 'iplodding' along.
I believe that ipods and their ilk should not be worn in any race.
Maybe deduct a point from the team if they are seen wearing one?
Comments?
Also, I found that most of the runners were very appreciative of us volunteers and hope others found that too.