Saturday, January 24, 2009

Florida

Well we are now in Florida for the Winning Time conference. The weather is great sunny and 75 degrees.

We had the first day of seminars today. Much of the talk dealt with the business end of things. How the company is doing both in the U.S. and worldwide. Things seem to be going well even with the current economy.

New products were introduced. There are updates to the passive system, which is what we use. These updates include plastic cases and newer technology. Really cool stuff.

Winning Time has also introduced and active system. The advantage of this type of system is that it can handle higher speeds and higher density at the finish line. This type of system would be much better suited for events such as bicycle races like crits where there is a large number of athletes crossing the finish line at the same time at high speed. This is difficult with a passive system.

Hopefully we will have the opportunity to try this system in the real world soon.

On Sunday we are supposed to learn some things about troubleshooting problems. We are also to learn some ways to get results done faster.

The trip has been educational not just a trip to the beach, but the trip to the beach has been very nice,

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Duty Calls

Winning Time Americas will be holding their annual conference this weekend. Winning Time is the manufacturer of the chip timing system used by Headfirst Performance Services.

What that means is that I will be forced to leave Kentucky and head to Fort Lauderdale in sunny Florida. It is a rough thing to be forced to do especially after spending the last few weeks waging an almost constant battle to stay warm. Including the time spent crawling around under the house to fix the water pipes that had burst. I am willing to suffer through the mid 70s weather in order to learn to provide you with better service.

I will post an update with any important info I am getting this weekend.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A Whole New Gig

I started my life as a race director on accident. The Shelby County Triathlon was going to be canceled because no one was going to put it on, so I agreed to take it on. Then I started listening to you guys. If you wanted a trail run I did it. If you wanted longer triathlons we put one on. You asked for chip timing so we provided it. Every year we have had new challenges that have required us to learn new things and adapt to new situations.

It looks like this year's challenge is going to be bike races. The local bike club asked us to put on a race as part of the McDonald's Spring Classic Series. We had a meeting and I came out with a race as part of this series as well as the Kentucky State Time Trial.

Producing these races should be an adventure. There is much to learn. There is no doubt that we can produce a quality event. The issue is dealing with an entirely new governing body. USA Track and Field has all their rules, and so does USA Triathlon. USA Cycling has not only the similar rules, but other issues Headfirst has not had to deal with in the past such as categories. When I was just an athlete I never imagined the paperwork involved with producing a race.

Mark your calendars for the Shelby County Road Race on April 4, and the Kentucky state Time Trial Championships on June 14.

Friday, January 2, 2009

New Year

If anybody noticed Ihave not been very good at keeping up with. I will try to do better in 2009. Things are already well under way for the year. We were the race directors for this years Hangover Classic 10 miler. It is always a great run and this year was no exception. We had 623 runners and the weather was great for January 1.

There really is no off season for us and we have several events planned for the next few months. The first race of the Max Performance Triathlon Series is February 1. It is a 3K run/6 mile bike/400 yard swim. Yes, it is in reverse order. Even I would not send you outside wet when it is that cold. Max Performance Physical Therapy in Shelbyville is the sponsor for this series. They are great folks and do a great job. There are also a couple of training opportunities to get some help with your training. Nancy McElwain and the people at Train Smart have a training group for the Max Performance Races. Shelby County Parks are also offering a swim training clinic the week before each one of the races in the series.

Then on February 14 will be Louisville's Lovin The Hills, a 15 mile or 50K trail run at Jefferson Memorial Forest. For anyone who has never been out to Jefferson Memorial it is a beautiful place and the trails are great. Cynthia plans all of our trail races so be sure in addition to a great run there will be all kinds of great food and fun.

As plans come together I will keep you updated on the other races for the year.