Are gates locked, do you have two pre-riders; who has keys?
Is all marking down from last year? Make sure all old mileage markers are removed.
Appoint certain people to be ambulance lead. Have a plan to have all areas accessible.
Mark any intersecting trails with something other than regular ribbon. If it gets busted, it looks like it is the trail.
Have a checkpoint school with all check personnel. Discuss “burn” rule.
Have a list of assignments for workers week by week prior to race weekend.
Ribbon fades, don’t hang too early. Cows eat arrows. Two rainstorms will take out 50% of your arrows.
Have someone ride your section that is not familiar with it to check to see if it is properly marked.
When laying out a trail, go ride it when it’s raining; think about alternate routes and possible bottlenecks.
Have the club’s best rider ride the test sections to help determine the appropriate averages. Then have an average club member ride it to determine free times.
Remember that too many arrows and danger markers can be a problem. Keep marking consistent.
Every person should know what to do in case there is a problem. If clock is wrong, if riders have a bottleneck, etc. What to do if someone gets injured, or even if a storm comes.
Be sure who is locking all gates after the race.
Remember when accessing crops and fields think about what the situation will be on race date, not as it is three months prior to the event.
Do you have oil trucks on lease property? Have they been informed?
Have you notified local motels and restaurants?
Are the phone numbers for the motels, etc. still correct? What about e-mail addresses?
Race Chairman should have at least two knowledgeable people check the race plan at least one month prior to event.
Remember on dual sanction runs to check about class overlap, rules conflict, etc. Announce which rules you plan on using.
Make sure that your flier is compliant with other applicable circuits. For example, BJEC has a rule that says no entry fee over $ 26.00 unless additional fee is a land use fee.
Ride the trail AFTER the race to check your marking. You can see where marking was inadequate.
Listen to comments from riders to see what needs improvement for next year.
When asking one person to change signs during a race, have someone verify that it has been done before first rider is due.
Last year's Chairman should assist this year's Chairman; this prevents the new Chairman from doing unnecessary tasks, re-inventing the wheel, or making the same mistakes over and over.
You should always plan your short course to finish at least an hour before the long course. This helps spread out the scoring, so that all riders don’t hit the scorers at the same time.
If you reuse the same trail during the same day, be sure and announce that at the riders meeting, and put signs on the course that let the rider know that he is on the correct trail the second time through.
