Race Organizer's Manual - Draft

This is a draft of the race organizer's manual. Please review and make comments and suggestions.

Thanks

Mountain Bike Race Organizer’s Manual

Introduction

The purpose of this manual is to guide organizers of mountain bike races and events in putting on their events in the province of Manitoba. This document is to serve as a guide only.

Goals   

• To meet all the event requirements as set out by the MCA Race/Event Guideline (new document - to be created)
• To put on the best event possible
• To create a positive race experience for the athlete
• To be family-friendly

9 Steps to Putting on a Race


1. Who Can Put on a Race?

• Any club or member with a current MCA affiliation membership can put on a MCA sanctioned event
• The club or member must have an organizer’s license
• To conduct Manitoba Cup/Provincials events the club must have exhibited an ability to conduct an event that meets the criteria outlined in the Manitoba Cup document.

2. What is the First Step?

• Attend the MTB Committee meetings, important information about regarding the events is discussed at these meetings and your input in this process is important.
• Attend the event scheduling meetings in January of the current racing year - meetings are usually conducted with the road committee present to minimize event conflicts.
• Contact the Manitoba Cycling Association office in for information about the January date for the organizer’s meeting 

3. What’s Next?

• You will be assigned a date for your event during the scheduling meeting
• Indicate a venue where the event will be conducted (please ensure your venue is available prior to the scheduling meeting) - the venue can then be listed on the MCA insurance policy document
• Fill out the MCA Mountain Bike Information Form – please note the dates that you need to submit for particular pieces of information
• If you will be hosting an event that includes a race for non-members you must secure additional event insurance available through the MCA office. Please apply well in advance to ensure the policy is in place by the event date; there will be an additional premium for this insurance
• Once you have secured an event have race-planning meeting with your club. Establish goals and objectives for the race (see goals at the beginning of this document for MCA mountain bike event goals)
• Create a budget for your event to see what you can afford and what you may need to exclude from your event, some details you need to consider include:

1. Promotion (advertising, printing, mailing costs, phone bills)
2. Signage
3. Sound system
4. Communication system for marshals
5. Food and Water (both racers and volunteers)
6. Prizes and Swag (T-shirts, socks, etc)
7. Traffic control
8. Road closure permits, road access fees
9. Insurance certificate – the MCA office will help you with this if needed
10.  Expenses for officials
11. Facility and toilet rental
12. Fuel for generators or vehicles
13. Fees for first aid personnel
14. Commissaire fees
    

4.    Race Promotion

• Plan ways in which to promote your race by creating posters for distribution at bike shops and other sites, websites and Blogs for your friends and community. Make sure that your poster depicts a positive, exciting, and safe experience (i.e. avoid pictures of crashes) for the racers – you want to encourage new people to try mountain bike racing and not to scare them away. Proper race promotion should include:

1. Race Organizer’s contact information
2. Name of the race
3. Date and location
4. Pre-registration deadline and final registration deadline
5. Entry fees and mode of payment
6. Schedule of event (categories) and distances
7. Registration hours of operation and location
8. Types of events
9. List of sponsors and supporters
10. Race profiles and/or maps (optional but encouraged)
11. Prize breakdown
12. General information: accommodations, direction, banquets, souvenirs (optional)

• Create an announcement to be posted on the MCA website and submit it a minimum of 1 month prior to the event, earlier if you can. Your poster will often be posted on the website as well
• Contact any and all media to announce the race event; the MCA will provide assistance with this if possible
  

5. Venue Preparation

• See the MCA Mountain Bike Race Course Guidelines for information on selecting and marking a course
• For established courses it is a good idea to complete all trail clearing, cutting back of brush and undergrowth at least one week prior to the event
• 
  
• For new courses it is a good idea that new trails are completed one month in advance of the race and well ridden to help establish the trails; this is not mandatory, but does have the effect of making racing the course more enjoyable. When cutting new trails follow the guidelines of the IMBA
• For a Manitoba Cup race the course must be marked by 3:00 PM on the day prior to the event. It is acceptable to wait until the day of the race to close off trails with tape as long as trail entrances directions, and corners are marked
• For the Provincials it is recommended that the course be established and marked one month prior to the race date. The course is to be marked with marking tape on trees and branches and marking flags in open areas. A description of the course should be published on the MCA website
• A GPS map of the course is always a good idea to help riders, officials, and medical personnel become familiar with the course.
• Equipment for trail clearing is available to borrow from the MCA office, there are loan policies in effect and these should be read before attempting to borrow any equipment.
• Cones and race venue supplies are available from the MCA office and may be borrowed for your event, contact the MCA office for more information
• Funding is available for site development by applying to the MCA using the form for the Site Development Fund, view the MCA forms on the website or contact the MCA office for more information
• It is required that restroom facilities be available for participants, these can be in the form of an established washroom or port-a-potties as may be required.

6. Advance Event Preparation - People, Items, and Tasks Required for Your Race

• Complete and submit the MCA Mountain Bike Race Organizer Information Form.
• Once you have a date you need to arrange for medical coverage, the person(s) should be qualified first responders. Normally an honorarium and supplies costs are given to medical staff.
• Complete the MCA Emergency Preparedness Plan for your event
• Commissarie information:

1. commissaries will be required and are assigned by the Chief Commissarie
2. each commissaire will be paid an honorarium unless your officials are members of your club and have volunteered their time (the Chief Commissaire must be notified of this in advance of official scheduling)
3. organizers will be informed who the chief commissaries is for their event

• See the MCA Bike Event Fee Schedule to find information about regarding entry fees, commissaires fees, insurance fees, and race levies required by the MCA to run your event
• Blank entry and waiver forms are available as a download from the MCA website. You must fill in the sections highlighted on the forms. Print good quality double-sided photocopies of a sufficient numbers to place in the sponsoring bike shop and at the race venue for race-day registrations. It is also important to submit an electronic copy to the MCA office for posting on the MCA website one month prior to the event date
• Your event will be posted on the MCA website based on the information submitted with your the MCA Mountain Bike Race Organizer Information Form.
• Food and drink is a requirement for Manitoba Cup/Provincials events. You can also have extra food and drink on sale for spectators.
• Manitoba Cup races require prizing for all categories (Provincials have medals supplied by the MCA), the specific recommendations are available from the Manitoba Cup Document. It is recommended that prizing go at least 3 positions deep in categories that have a sufficient number of riders.
• The venue should have a parking area large enough to accommodate all vehicles and be far enough away from the course so as not to impede the race participants or cause an unsafe situation.
• Commissaries are responsible for providing a License in Process list from the MCA office to determine the current status of athletes who have recently purchased a license but do not have a copy of the license for the race
• The organizer is also responsible for collecting all pre-registrations; it is recommended that the pre-registration deadline be 48 hours prior to the race date and time.  The organizer must compile a participant list containing the name, race number, club, and category for the race officials, this information can be compiled in either a Word table or and Excel file and be submitted to the head commissaire officiating your event.

7. Event Day Preparation

• Complete race course setup: tape necessary sections of the course, make sure all corners are marked and directional signs are in place, mark the kid and adult courses, setup the technical and feed zones; setup the start and finish areas; the course should be race ready one hour before registration opens
• Setup the registration area (with table), medical station, and food area. A cover or shelter is recommended in case of rain
• The registration area should have:

1. sufficient copies of the entry form/waiver are available.
2. a cashbox and float for the onsite registration area; credit card forms are recommended for non-cash transactions, these can be run through the MCA office or the sponsoring bike shop
3. MCA Membership Application forms
4. a table large enough to accommodate pre-registered participants and on-site registration area
   

• Liaise your medical staff with the commaissaires and the marshals
• Distribute two-way radios or lists of cell-phone numbers to all the marshals, medic and commissaires
• Orientate the course marshals with the race course and your emergency preparedness plan; marshals are in place to keep the course clear of spectators and others, and to report and request the need of the medics in case of accidents (it is recommended that marshals are supplied with a radio, food, water, sunscreen, chair, vest, and bug repellent)

8. Race Day Schedule

• It is recommended that the organizer arrive in advance of the registration with enough times to:

1. post any direction signs to the site, setup the registration area
2. set up a canopy (available from the MCA office)
3. ensure the course has been adequately marked (directions signs, start/finish area, feed and tech zones)

• Open registration two hours prior to the start of the first race
• Registration responsibilities:

1. the organizer is responsible for the registration area along with the officials, who will compile the race roster by category
2. all race-day registrations will be added to the roster by the officials and the organizer is responsible for handling all registration fees.
3. commissaries will supply adequate copies of the License in Process forms and race registration forms

• Registration closes 1 hour prior to the start of the race.
• Equip medical personnel and officials with communication devices for the duration of the race (make sure they are instructed on their correctly use the radios). 1 hour prior to the start of the race
• Marshals should be instructed as to their positions and sent be at their positions 15 minutes prior to the start.
• Officials will conduct the start of the race and will instruct the organizer to announce when the race is to begin
• The person(s) in charge of food and beverages should begin to get food ready so that is available when the athletes finish their race
• Following the race the commisaires will compile the results and post the unofficial results for the athletes to view. The results will be made official 15 minutes later barring protests. Protests to the results will be heard and dealt with at that race or within 2-3 days following the race depending on the nature and complication of the protest. Official results will be posted on the MCA site once results are official.
• The results will be posted on site for any protests and then forwarded to the organizer
• The organizer should have the prizes ready to distribute following the official posting of the results; prizing should be conducted prior to any course teardown so as to facilitate a quick prizing ceremony and to expedite the end of the event.
• Course teardown should occur after the prizing ceremony has concluded. All signage, safety tape, trash, and markings should be removed from the racecourse.

9. Post Race Day

• Race results must be submitted to the MCA office the evening of the race-day by the commissaire
• All MCA equipment must be returned to the MCA office immediately following the race.
• All license-in-process applications and MCA applications must be submitted to the MCA office immediately following the race