“Swapping
Numbers” in Road Races
Following detailed examination of the
results of the 2007 Four Villages
Half-marathon at Helsby, which
produced a significant number of unrecorded “swapped” numbers, the Cheshire County AA Permit Secretary
circulated a questionnaire to organisers of events in
One respondent asked what the
Rules say on this matter.
The rules for Road Running (201 to 229) contain rules
specifically for Runners (211 to 218).
Rule 216 Entries contains three specific clauses
relevant to the debate:
i)
Every entry for a race shall be made to the Race Secretary on the official entry form, or the universal entry
form, (if acceptable to the promoter), as approved by the appropriate association.
ii)
Entries shall be made in the competitor’s true name as legally
registered and must be completed with the correct age/date of birth and other
details.
iii)
Numbers are issued to the individual athlete completing the
application form and are non-transferable except with the specific authority of
the Race Secretary.
General Rule 14 (which applies to all disciplines) amplifies these rules requiring
in 14(6) the intending competitor to sign the entry form and in 14(10) the
entry has to be accompanied by the full amount of the stipulated entry fee.
In addition to the Rules for Competition, there are
additional issues:
a.
There is a significant Health
and Safety issue of the need to know that the competitor wearing a
particular number is who the entry details say that person is. We are
investigating whether a runner wearing someone else’s number is still covered
by the insurance cover available under the permit. The organisers of the Chester Half-Marathon were reminded by the police of the importance
of that information at their annual pre-race conference for this year’s event.
b.
In addition the need to have accurate results avoids the
difficulties for organisers have at times with getting prizes to the correct runners
– men running in female numbers; age group prizes going to the wrong persons. In
From this it appears that “Number Swapping”
can take place, but only when approved by the Race Secretary and all entries
must be made on the official entry form and signed (this presumably includes
those who wish to re-use a number). It
is therefore illegal to run in someone else’s number. An additional observation
here concerns “on-line” entries – how can they be signed to comply with the
Rules for Competition?
Several have asked why Helsby, Wilmslow and Chester Half Marathons set entry limits
when they know that they will get considerably fewer runners than their limits.
Each race is aware of the
capacity of their course and other aspects of the facilities they use (for
example, Helsby chose to reduce their entry limit in 2007 by 500 in view of
parking limitations). All three events
know from past years that the usual turn out is approximately 75% of their
entry limit, and it is this number of expected runners which is part of the Risk Assessment. Detailed analysis of entries/finishers in the Wilmslow and Chester Half Marathons showed that although the
proportion of unattached is high (c.75 to 80%), proportionately more of the “no-shows”
are the unattached runners.
For smaller events which take
entries on the day, the entry limit should be the number that can be
accommodated by the facilities and the course (no-show is generally well below
10% of total entries).
(Some will no doubt ask, “What
if more turn up?” We had experience of
that at the Chester “Round the Walls” race one year when we reached the entry
limit part way through the morning on the day of the event – a number (about
50) who could not enter still ran (without numbers) which caused a crush where
the race enters the “Walls” section.
Since then the organisers have not taken entries on the day, even if the
entry limit has not been reached. The
organisers of the Christleton 5K in May 2007 are taking the same approach).
Respondents generally accepted
that the practice of unrecorded number swapping happens, but was confined to
the large events which close their entries well before race day, (both Wilmslow and
Two respondents expressed
concerns that if re-registration became widely advertised they would have to
review whether they were willing to offer that service, (150 ‘yes’ possibly,
500 ‘no’ – Wilmslow’s no show is
about 1200). Another concern expressed
on the same issue was if the number of re-registrations increased
significantly, then entry limits would need to be reduced so that the numbers
actually running were in line with the Risk
Assessment. This would likely lead
to an increase in entry fees in order to preserve income levels.
Summary
Unrecorded number swapping is
illegal under the Rules for Road Running.
Swapping can take place if
approved by the Race Secretary, athletes
must complete an entry form, but it is not clear if they should pay the full
entry fee.
Proposals
We are proposing the following:
Acknowledgements
Gill Collen (Warrington RR);
Peter Doyle (Congleton H); Bob Lynch (Macclesfield H); Justin Realff
(Tattenhall Runners); Andy Smith (Helsby RC); Malcolm Fowler (Wilmslow RC),
Dave Waywell (
Adrian Thiemicke (
John Driscoll
3 April 2007/modified after