Organising an XC race with minimal red tape

So me and a mate are organising a one-off XC race later this summer, wiht the aim of maybe expanding it into a series if it’s successful. We have a venue sorted, and we’re going to try and keep things cheap and simple and get plenty of first time racers and young ‘uns involved.

Is there a better alternative to Go-Race? Anyone used TLI or similar? We’re not set up as a BC-affiliated club and I’d quite like to avoid filling in any more forms if possible.

Timing’s also a bit of a worry – we’re planning to have a couple of people noting down numbers at the finish line, rather than going to the expense of getting a professional timing service in. Does this work OK?

Any other general advice welcome. I know there are a lot of experienced race organisers on here and I’m looking forward to drinking deeply at the fount of wisdom (sits back and awaits parade of people saying “Just use Strava” 😉 )

If you make the course shorter you will need less red tape.

You can also try using orange tape.

I was going to go for red and white striped, we’ve got a couple of rolls of it already. Ta.

Timing’s also a bit of a worry – we’re planning to have a couple of people noting down numbers at the finish line, rather than going to the expense of getting a professional timing service in. Does this work OK?

this is tough.

be prepared to have people asking. what was my time, when you are still trying to right down numbers.

People will expect timing, not just positions, all the way to the back.

It takes 2/3 people to do this well.

And get yourself separated properly so that people cant ask if number 76 has come round for lap 2 etc etc.

I’ve found some basic free software that seems like it might help, although it’s designed for running races. http://racetimer.org/

Timing’s also a bit of a worry – we’re planning to have a couple of people noting down numbers at the finish line, rather than going to the expense of getting a professional timing service in. Does this work OK?

It does, but it helps if you’ve got someone with experience of doing it. It’s the system that racing used, well since racing started. Plenty of clubs still do for low key events.

People will expect timing, not just positions, all the way to the back.

People can want lots of things, timings down to last place is something they don’t normally get in local, low key events. 😀

Just use single speed rules. First second third…after that you’re all joint 4th no one cares if you came 75th you’re just one of flock 😀

Doubt people are that arsed with timings for a low-key event, seen as they’ll have them on strava anyhow and you can look at flybys to see how it played out.

I’m the secretary of a CX league (NECCL) and use the TLI. Less red tape than BC although I’ve never tested their insurance etc. Assuming a one off and most people are not members it is £7 for a day licence so you’d need to factor that in to costs. Paperwork is easy, support good enough.

An XC race is a lot like a CX race. Drop me an email bayley dot jon at gmail dot com if you have specific questions. I can probably dig out our race organisers pack for you.

We score manually, we have a good system that works. You get top 5 on the day and then the rest come out a bit later when you have chance to site down and go though it. Timing is harder but you get the winner then about every 10th rider or big gap.

There’s a free online excel thing for lap timing, I was looking at it the other day, can’t remember the name now but will have a dig

I’ve got an Android app you can use.

For manual / bloke with clip board timing back up, you could get a go pro type action cam taking a 1sec interval time lapse of the finish line.

As your brucey bonus you could supply finish line photo’s to competitors for no/low cost…

I organised a race a few years ago. It was relatively straight forward.

– I used TLI, they were fine if a little gruff.
– We used timing with a stopwatch and it was mostly OK, a few midfield blunders but there were 100 races and I suspect you won’t get that many. This will make it much easier. If it’s a success you can get more. I’d maybe have a camcorder on the start/finish line to record people going through so you can recheck it later.
– We used race numbers from a running supplier that were sort of coated paper. They did the job fine, mine is still on my garage wall. Very cheap too compared to proper plastic ones, but I think I had to punch the holes myself.
– Use Mountain Rescue for your first aid. We just gave all the profit to them, about £500, and they were pretty pleased.
– Put signs up about the race around the course earlier. Note that it’s much easier on FC land to keep the trails officially open but with some marshals at each entrance to suggest alternatives as opposed to closing them which requires another license.
– If you’re doing it on FC land you need separate licenses for every bloody thing – portaloos, opening gates, racing…
– Small companies are very generous. Howies, local bike shops, a few small skate/surfwear companies, Fisher Outdoor and Rockstar all gave prizes- half the field ended up with stuff.
– If your local bike shop asks Madison they will give you free rolls of Shimano barrier tape to mark the course.

– Have a prize for best stunt somewhere where a crowd will congregate. This went down a storm at ours.

Cheers all. What entry systems are you using? Do you get more entries in advance, or do people tend to check the weather and rock up on the day?

Tazzy, I remember “fourth place” from SSEC a few years back. 😀