Bus to races, pre reg, etc.
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Joyce | Feb 12 2012, 9:55pm | As far as I know the bus organized to Annagh Hill race was a first for IMRA, in that runners booked and were pre-registered. It's worthwhile discussing what went right, what didn't, for future reference. Purpose: We filled the carpark at Annagh Hill, with 135 runners last year, most of whom drove themselves the 160k roundtrip from Dublin. Given the increased numbers at Howth and Ticknock, I wanted to avoid a situation where excess parked cars blocked the local roads. A side purpose was I wanted to allow a few runners have a couple of pints in the rural pub which gave us its carpark and facilities for the day. Method: I banned single occupancy cars, which seemed to increase carpooling, but probably put off quite a few runners. Organized a bus, €375 for 50-seater, all done online (JJ Kavanagh were cheapest). Offered the seats using the IMRA carpool facility. Using this list, myself and Mick Hanney pre-registered runners, and Donal Troyddn collected fees (and €9 bus) from everyone on the journey down. Result: On the day, the car park was 60% full. The bus arrived (a little late due to a wrong turn), and we distributed numbers when they disembarked. A similar number of runners to last year entered the race, which should be considered in light of increased results for previos 2012 races. Pros: The car park marshals reported a lot less stress than last year. Registration was also easier, the queue never being more than 5 or 6 long, quite manageable. When the bus arrived, I had numbers ready for all those who had run a previous 2012 race, and a number and reg form to sign, for all previous pre-2012 runners. Those runners totally new to IMRA paid on the bus, and joined the registration queue as normal. Cons: A little extra computer work in the days before the race. A little extra work to organize the bus. (Both I would think are mitigated by the time saving on the day). There was no cash commitment to booking, so people could book a seat, and then contact me without penalty to change their mind. Nothing wrong with this per se, but its adds to the workload. I had a few changes (and no shows) on the day itself, which meant runners pre-entered had to be manually DNF'd, for deletion later. Failure to keep track of these numbers could mean the laptop operator is waiting for non-existent runners to finish. On the day I thought we handled this adequately. Feedback: despite a few website mutterings at the proposal, the general idea of organizing a bus was well received by all I talked to. On the day, the bus operated well, and runners at prizegiving sought me out to make a point of how well they thought it had gone. There was good chat after prizegiving, as runners could have a drink or two without worrying about driving. Everyone seemed to appreciate the ease of registration- turn up prepaid and pre-entered, collect your number, and warm-up. A separate van was used for secure gear storage, although perhaps this could have been the bus itself. The pub was very happy with the custom on an otherwise slow Sunday afternoon. My own opinion is that booking a bus is a good way to lessen IMRA's footprint on a rural area, and is worth the small extra effort involved in organizing. If there was a way of pre-paying for races, and bus, this could be done on the basis of you book, you pay, which would perhaps alleviate last-minute changes, at least as far as the RD needs to operate them to finance the bus. (Haven't done the accounting yet, but the bus will be about +/-€20, so can be considered self-financing). I asked a few people who opined about the bus at Annagh today to contribute their thoughts to the forum, so it would be very useful if anyone could give their opinions, positive, negative, or otherwise. |
| Alan Ayling | Feb 12 2012, 11:19pm | Hi Paul, I thought the bus idea was a fine bit of innovation - well thought out and planned, well executed on the day (other than perhaps the driver's uncertainty as to where he was going, which was a small lapse in the professionalism of the whole thing). I'd suggest it worked well for the Annagh race because of the location and the distance from Dublin. Not so sure it would work as well at, for example, Trooperstown, being closer to Dublin people might prefer to bring their own cars - less diesel cost, driving time etc. Might be perfect for the likes of Carlingford, Mount Leinster and possibly some others. Parking at Sandyford was not quite what I'd expected, apparently you're supposed to pay €45 as a non-Luas customer, even on a Sunday. Maybe a return fare to Stillorgan, a 600 metre round trip, could get you the Luas user parking fee of €4. I took the chance and parked in the industrial estate - €120 clamp release fee versus the low risk of actually getting clamped on a Sunday... got away with it. Just not convinced that the Luas P&R is the ideal spot for the bus to leave, but don't have any better suggestions just now. Will have a think about it. Great wee pub, soup and sandwich tasty and excellent value at €5, lovely to be able to relax and enjoy with a couple of pints after the race. A really nice touch having the numbers of bus occupants put aside and in order, no need to queue, sweet. The source of those mutterings on the forum needs a swift kick up the hole. All in all, well done, an excellent idea. |
| Jeff Swords | Feb 13 2012, 10:14am | I was a little unsure about the parking at the Luas stop too Alan, I looked for a pay and display station but to be honest I don't think the car park is ever checked on a Sunday anyway. And if it was, how would they know you didn't get the Luas ? Apart from that the bus was good, I think it added a bit to the social occasion in that there was a lot more chat before and after the race and a bit of banter in the pub afterwards. Pre-registration worked very well, I know it would not suit everyone all of the time, particularly on Wednesdays but it does take a lot of the work away from the laptop operators on the day. The downside for me was that as I was supposed to be shadowing Donal on the laptop I didn't get to see a whole lot, I think we only registered 4 or 5 new members when we got there. So even if the bus wasn't always a viable option, a similar pre-reg system, even if it's just adding your name to a list like we did for this bus, I think is a good idea. |
| Dermot Murphy | Feb 13 2012, 10:19am | Cost of non Luas customer is €45? Was this a typo? |
| John Ahern | Feb 13 2012, 10:48am | The notice in the car park said there was a 45 euro fine if a driver couldn't produce a LUAS ticket to an inspector. I doubt there were many inspectors around on a Sunday evening though. |
| Declan O'Dwyer | Feb 15 2012, 5:20pm | Paul, I'd suggest that "bus" and "pre-reg" are really 2 seperate topics. The purpose of the bus to Annagh Hill was to avoid excess parked cars. According to the President in a seperate post in the Annagh Hill topic, pre-reg is being looked at to avoid carrying cash. I didn't make it to Annagh Hill, but the comments suggest the bus worked very well. I agree with Alan and believe it is really only useful for races drawing 100+ runners and well outside Dublin. Another option that could be used more regularly is having registration (like at Ticknock Winter) at the prizegiving location pub/car park. This would allow a parking marshall ensure all cars going to the race start are full. A second marshall at the race start refusing access to low occupancy cars would help. With regard to pre-reg,several contributors in previous topics commented on the appeal of being able to decide on the day whether to run an IMRA race. I think it would be a huge loss if this was changed. One simple suggestion is to introduce a prepaid multi-race ticket option, which could hugely minimise cash taken on the day e.g 20 races for €100, 10 races for €60, 5 races for €35 and €10 for on the day registration. Surely this would incentivise regular runners to pre-pay while retaining the option to pay on the day for example new runners. Most cash taken would also avoid coinage. More importantly, this allows all runners to decide to run on the race day. Other than setting up an online payment system and minor printing costs for the ticket, no other changes to the race day organisation would be involved as a ticket would be handed over instead of cash. |
