Volunteer Instructions

FINISH LINE VOLUNTEER INSTRUCTIONS: FINISH TIMERS, FINISH JUDGES, FINISH RECORDERS

FINISH TIMERS, JUDGES and RECORDERS should report to the finish line 15 minutes prior to the meet start time. For Wednesday DAL meets, this should be no later than 3:15pm.

The finish line crew is responsible for the efficient pacing of the meet! An organized and effective finish line crew dictates the speed at which the running events are conducted in succession. The more quickly the finish line crew can move through the following steps, the faster the meet can be completed!

Finish timers will be provided a stop watch. The Ultrak 495 Stop Watch (pictured above) should be operated with the index finger of the dominant hand. The index finger provides the fastest reaction time.

The head finish judge should assign each finish timer a lane responsibility for the duration of the meet. In addition, the head finish judge should assign place judging responsibilities to the rest of the judges. Judges are responsible for determining the placing for the top three or more finishers in each heat. Athlete finish placing assigned by the judges based on their visual observation of the finish of a race is OFFICIAL AND INDISPUTABLE. Due to the potential for variation in reaction speed, hand times may not necessarily correspond to the placing order determined by the judges. Times are of secondary importance to place! NEVER change the judges' ruling based on lane time discrepancy!

Initiating a Race:

The head finish line judge begins the process of conducting a running event by instructing all timers to clear their stop watches and take their positions at the finish line.

When the finish line crew is ready for a race to begin, the head finish line judge then signals with a strong whistle and/or white flag to the starter. From this point on, each finish timer should watch the starter from a clear vantage point that will not be obstructed.

The head finish line judge will say, "gun is up!" when the starter begins the starting sequence by raising the starting pistol.

Starting Sequence:

1. The starter will indicated to athletes that they should stand behind their blocks or three feet back from the starting line.

2. The starter will begin the starting sequence by raising the starting pistol overhead, circling the free hand arm back, overhead and down in front, ending with the hand pointing at the ground in front of the starting line, while simultaneously giving the command, "On your marks!" Upon this command, athletes must take their proper positions either standing behind the starting line or in the down position in the block.

3. Once the runners are in position and steady on their marks, the starter raises the free hand arm overhead opposite the pistol hand while simultaneously giving the command, "Set!"

4. The starter fires the pistol after observing that all competitors are set and motionless. If this takes too long, the starter recalls the athletes up and starts over from the beginning of the sequence.

Stop Watch Operation and Mark Reporting:

The finish line timers should look directly at the starting pistol, watching for the smoke that is discharged upon firing. It is important that the finish line timer activate the stop watch "start" button using the index finger upon seeing the smoke, as this allows more accurate timing than waiting to hear the sound from the gun.

Finish timers should press the "lap split" button using the index finger upon observing the torso of the athlete cross the finish line. Once all athletes have crossed the finish line, the timers should walk onto the track and stand at the finish line in their assigned lanes.

The head finish judge should instruct all athletes to remain in their lanes approximately 10 meters from the starting line.

The finish line recorder will then move from lane to lane as the timers report their marks. NOTE: All hand times must be reported in tenths. The correct procedure for rounding track times is to ALWAYS ROUND UP to the greater tenth. For example, a time of 11.91 would be reported as 12.0. However, a time of 13.00 would be reported as 13.0.

The finish line recorder will write down the reported time on the heat sheet next to the corresponding athlete name. Once all times are recorded, the finish line recorder will confer with the finish judges and write down their place rulings next to each athlete name. REMEMBER: The finish judges' place rulings, not the times, are the official determination of placing.

Once the finish line recorder has completed recording times and places for a heat, the head finish line judge may dismiss the athletes, instruct the timers to clear their watches and signal the starter to begin the next race with a strong whistle and/or a white flag.