At The Trax we ran a mountain bike race for under 16's using the Go Ride methodology working alongside and guided by Bill Wright from British cycling.This post gives a run down of the key things to put in place with some handy tips along the way.

Why organise a race for your club?

Our youth club has a mix of ages and abilities. We believe in a mix of cycling disciplines and are aware of the many different reasons people get involved in clubs from social, health, skills and for some, not all, racing. We wanted to introduce racing to all the club in the same non pressured way we introduce all the other elements. Go ride races are perfect for this. They are focussed on races for those who have not raced and introduce an element of healthy competition but focus much more on just everybody taking part and having fun.

What race format to use?

We ran three races:

1. A time trial for each age grouping
   1. (8-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15)
2. After this we were then able to  ordered the winners in order of ability and created four to five evenly matched relay groups.
3. Finally we ran a mass start race

For the relay we gave prizes in each age category and had a top prize first and then second and third places and one each for boys and for girls. We also had prizes for everyone in the winning relay race and for the mass start there were first, second and third prizes for boys and for girls again.

Lots of prizes. Around 30 if I remember right and all donated kindly from two wheels good our great local bike store

What volunteer roles are needed?

• A project manager to track and manage everything.
• A lead on the day floating between all roles
• A runner to run between all posts co-ordinated by the lead
• About 3 judges / timekeepers to catch times manage start and finish line
• Lead umpire and master of ceremonies who is managing starting line
• About 5 to 6 marshals who are along the route making sure all goes fair and safe and communicating with pedestrians To avoid conflict
• 2 volunteers to manage sign in and out
• Volunteer for managing refreshments and food
• Volunteer for  first aid

Some of these volunteers can double up roles if you struggle for numbers

What do you need to do in advance?

• Recruit volunteers (see above)
• Get someone from British cycling to manage insurance and approval with council for using the park and to be the umpire / master of ceremonies and supply parental consent form. They can also supply race equipment like judging tent and race tape and markers as well as number placards for bikes etc. Your regional rep will help.
  
• Agree a route and location and get a map defined and approved with council. You will need to pre risk assess with the council and have emergency procedures in place. Get parks keeper involved early on with forming map. NB think safety and other parks users as well as age of racers and energy technical competence.
• Organise a Dr Bike mechanic. These will need to check bikes and give a safety sticker after kids have registered and before kids can race.
• think numbers. Waht woudl you do if 200 folk turned up. We planned for 50 racers and 100 all together with families and got 30 racers and about 60 with families so we were in our saftey zone. We had an emergency plan if more mind. Make one.
  

What do  I need to bring to a race?

OK there is no specific order and this is partly written as a list for a check point of all the things to bring

• food and drink
• tables and chairs for registration, judges tent, prizes and food area and first aid
• prizes
• sign-age for race, registration and first aid and toilets
• parental consent and race registration forms
• race maps
• first aid kit
• megaphone
• whistles
• clipboards
• laptop to track and help identify race winners and relay groups
• urn and cups and cutlery
• participation certificates for all
• flyers for club activities beyond race
• club membership and parental consent forms for activities post race
• flag
  

How to promote your race?

Best way is to your club members. Also this is a great way to publicise your youth club so get posters up in park and local places like libraries and sports centred. Also going into schools is great. Main thing to remember is this is a community event and so a fun family day out. Hence make it family focussed and targeted for mums, dads and siblings and friends etc. Finally do have flyers for your clubs general activities as this is a great day for promoting the club.

What is the order of events on the day?

Here is an example itinerary for guidance only:

1. 8.30 - volunteers briefing and allocation of a) set up roles and b) race roles
2. 9.00 - 10.30 - race set up
3. 10.30 - cup of tea and volunteer refreshments, risk assessment and pre kickoff debrief
4. 11.00 registration and bike check open
5. 12.00 midday refreshments and lunch being sold (Nb plan for parents and families numbers too)
6. 12,30 time trial start
7. 1.30 relay kicks off
8. 3.00 mass start race
   1. Allow fifteen minutes between races for reorganising
9. 3.30 to 4.30 prize giving and awards.
   1. give everybody a participation certificate that is customised for them and thank all volunteers
10. 4.30 to 5.30 set down and clean up. If you want council and community to run another race them allowing for natural wear and tear leave it pretty much as you found it

What are the costs involved?

These are just a rough guide. You need race insurance which British cycling should contribute if lucky. You need to pay council for a park event, approximately £150. You need to cover outlay of food @ £100. And volunteer expenses including Lunch so around @ £50 to £100. Sign-age laminated, participation  and posters £50 to £100. Sponsorship of local bike store etc could help with prizes and towards costs and selling food you should break even or have a small profit towards wider costs.

What to do post the race?

Get as minimum the race times up on website of winners. Celebrate as a team for pulling it off. Plan another.

Attachments:

Race Poster and Flyer	[ ]	1826 Kb
Race Prize Matrix	[ ]	8 Kb
Rider declaration and parental consent form	[ ]	864 Kb
Race map	[ ]	86 Kb
Project plan for race day	[ ]	14 Kb