We’re thrilled to announce that the Finger Lakes 50s is back, and we’re even more excited to introduce ourselves as the new race directors, Jeney and Adam!
We couldn’t do it without you (it takes a village, yes?), and if you’re in town on June 29th and haven’t already signed up to run or volunteer, we’d be thrilled to have your help.
As a token of our appreciation, all volunteers will receive a free custom FL50s 2024 shirt, either on race day at check-in or via a later order. Plus, we’ll have coffee and a light breakfast at the Potomac Campsite check-in, and a delicious BBQ meal on Saturday by Fitnell BBQ. As you know, it’s a fantastic chance to spend a weekend with friends, make new memories, and feel the pride of putting on a major race! We love this community and want to share it with you.
If you’re excited to help out, please sign up for your preferred position on Helper Helper soon and invite your friends and family to join in the fun! Or, if Helper Helper is intimidating, I can certainly reserve your volunteer opportunity for you. Please let us know what hours you’d like (half day, whole day, times, etc. - we’re flexible and grateful) and if there are others who would volunteer with you.
Thank you for making the FL50s possible—we truly appreciate everything you do!
Historically, for “wrong way” signs, and some arrows as well, roughly 1x1 wooden stakes were used, which were heavy, and required a small beefy hammer to get in the ground. Some turn signs were screwed to posts as well, requiring additional carrying of tools for their installation and removal. Have you entered the age of “pig tails” for signage, in conjunction with the surveyor flags, such as used by Ian for his races? (Overall easier and lighter, for both course set up and take down.)
Gerrit
This is a good question, Gerrit. We incorporated a version of what Ian has done in the past for Monster last year. We basically took two surveyor flags and but them through the corrugated plastic sign (arrow or wrong way) and stuck the wires of the flags in the ground. The signs are at ground level where runners are seeing the other flag markings and so they work well. And, less bulky signage to lug in with a hammer and then for the sweeper to carry out - and no tools to carry while sweeping.
Steve
We are definitely wanting to go lighter for the flagging and signs. Since we do have a few turns and two-way traffic, we’re planning on doing a version of Steve’s idea. The pig tails that Ian uses are pretty heavy too - I’d rather not use them.
If we do end up using more “heavy duty” signs, we’ll go out and pick those up after the sweep via car. No need to pick them up while sweeping.