1. Garth threw the javelin. 2. They used the ankle bracelets for relay runners at the Baltimore Marathon this year. Kinda cool, esp. b/c there were 250 teams. We all got accurate splits, or at least semi-accurate, though stopping to undo the chip was a pain in the butt. 3. I went back up to Baltimore to watch the U.S. Cyclocross championships this weekend, and everybody involved with CC should check this sport out. Imagine cross country on bikes, on a spectator-friendly loop course, with barriers and a full production team keeping everybody up-to-date on who's winning and what's going on. And they had a lot of fans, which is astounding for a sport that nobody not on two wheels has heard of. Cyclocross is kind of low-intensity mountain biking on specially-designed road bikes. At times racers have to get off the bike and jump over little (maybe 18-24") barriers, or run up a flight of steps. The men did 8 (I think) loops around a hilly, winding, muddy 3k course, and the women did 6 loops. People are falling off their bikes, getting lapped, covered with mud--it's absolutely wild. And enough companies are involved (Saturn, several health-insurance outfits, manufacturers) to get TV time on the Outdoor Life Network, which yielded constant music, announcers, and a decent-sized crowd. Imagine a Nascar production where everybody smokes a lot of pot sted of chewing a lot of tobacco, and you get an idea of what the scene was like. Road races/cross country/running in general could stand to steal a few ideas from this bunch. --Welch
> ------------------------------ > > Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 13:36:42 EST > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: t-and-f: ChampionChip Timing systems (was European Cross Coun try > Champs) > > In a message dated Mon, 17 Dec 2001 10:20:39 AM Eastern Standard Time, > "Mcewen, Brian T" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >> Rather than have a 5 x 2k multi-loop setup for NCAA's that (in my opinion) >> turns it into a track race on grass, I don't see why they couldn't have >> sensors set up at 4k/6k/8k or 3k/6k/9k or something, on a normal course. If >> the MHSAA can afford it, then the NCAA should be able to. Or should want >> to. >> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > Why do you feel a short loop turns a cross race into a track race on grass? > There's still hills, mud, turns, etc. The only difference is a spectator can > see virtually the entire race. It makes it more of a fan-friendly event, which > surely athletes will appreciate and approve of. > sideshow
