[ARDF] finish corridor

[Dale Hunt, WB6BYU]

Jay Hennigan wrote:
> 
>...
> 
> Speaking of rules, the IARU rules have verbiage describing the setup of
> the finish corridor in great detail, but I couldn't find anything that
> said that a competitor was required to traverse the finish corridor, just
> that one had to cross the finish line.  This came up during the 80m event
> at ABQ due to the various approaches to the finish area and the length of
> the corridor.
>

   The new Region 1 rules were supposed to be very clear that all
   competitors were required to run down the corridor and not duck
   under the sides at any point.  The recent recommendation for
   having competitors punch the finish beacon was an additional step
   to force them to do so, since from that point the corridor should
   be the easiest route to the finish.

   There were some problems with the finish corridor on the 80m
   course.  The dry gulley beside it turned into a stream due to 
   a rainstorm during the night, which confused those who saw the
   corridor on the wrong side of the stream shown on the map.
   Generally the course setter has to be very careful to avoid confusion
   at the finish corridor:  the entrance should be unmistakable
   and in the open where it can be seen easily by approaching
   runners.  A funnel shape is good, but make sure that the ends
   of the funnel aren't TOO far apart, or tired runners may have
   problems telling which side of the mark they are supposed to
   run on.  After all, this is the point where runners will be
   the most exhausted, possibly dehydrated, and suffering from
   lack of oxygen to the brain.  When you are setting a course,
   this is probably the point that has to be the most obvious
   and unambiguous.

   I learned this the hard way:  in my first international
   competition in Japan, I followed the road back rather than
   the trails, and when I came up the driveway to the site I
   ran across the red line on the ground and colapsed.  Turns
   out I had crossed the finish corridor sideways, thinking
   it was the finish line: they weren't expecting anyone to 
   appear from the reverse direction.  So I had to get up,
   run to the entrance of the corridor, then back down it
   to the finish line.  (It's not a bad idea to surround the
   whole finish area with some sort of fencing with arrows
   on it, to direct competitors who appear from the back to
   go around to the corridor rather than running through all
   the runners who have already finished.)


    - Dale WB6BYU

---
[This E-mail Scanned for viruses by Onlinemac.com]