Revision of the Relay Rules
This discussion has an associated proposal. View Proposal Details here.Comments about this discussion:
Started
I had already announced in the discussion on "Restructuring of Section 2B.6 Racing Disciplines" that, from my point of view, the rules on relays need to be fundamentally revised, as a lot of information is missing here.
For one thing, it is not clear in the current rule how, for example, the 4x400m relay is to be held at all. Furthermore, there is no information at all in the current rule about the nature of the baton and also the information about dropping a baton and picking it up again is very incomplete.
I have therefore added a few paragraphs to the rule to cover these aspects (everything crossed out is omitted compared to the old rule, everything in italics has been added):
2B.6.6 Relay (Track)
1. The standard relay distances shall be 4 x 100 m or and 4 x 400 m like in athletics. Remounting after a dismount is allowed in all relays.
1.1 The 4 x 100 m relay is a lane-bound race for all legs. The race is started with a stagger start, where riders are started in separate lanes, at separate locations.
1.2 The 4 x 400 m relay is a lane-bound race for the entire first leg. The second leg shall be run as lane-bound race as far as the nearer edge of the breakline where riders may leave their respective lanes. After the breakline, the race shall be run as non-lane-bound-race. The race is started with a stagger start, where riders are started in separate lanes, at separate locations.
2. In the 4 x 100m relay each takeover zone shall be 30m long, in the 4 x 400m relay each takeover zone shall be 20m. The takeover zones must shall be marked on the track. (The zones shall start and finish at the edges of the zone lines nearest the start line in the direction of riding.)
2.1 In the 4 x 100m relay, riders are not permitted to line up outside their takeover zones, and shall start within the zone.
2.2 In the 4 x 400m relay, there is no defined preparation area for the next riders as long as they stay within their lanes. The riders of the second leg shall line up in the lane assigned to their relay team at the start. The riders of the third and fourth legs shall, under the direction of a designated judge, place themselves in their waiting position in the same order (inside to out) as the order of their respective team members as they enter the last bend. Once the incoming riders have passed this point, the waiting riders shall maintain this order and may not change their positions. Waiting riders can take an inner position on the track as incoming team members approach, provided they do not obstruct another rider.
If a rider does not follow this rule, their team shall be disqualified.
3. A baton shall be used for all relays and shall be held by hand throughout the race. The baton shall be a smooth hollow tube with a circular cross-section, made of wood, metal or other rigid material in one piece. It shall be no longer than 0.30m and no shorter than 0.28m. The outer diameter shall be 40 mm (± 2 mm) and the weight shall not be less than 50 g. For relays in age groups with a maximum age of 10 or younger the outer diameter of the baton may be smaller but shall not be less than 31 mm. It is recommended that the batons have different colors that are clearly visible during the race.
4. If the baton is dropped, riders must pick it up it shall be picked up by the rider who dropped it. To retrieve it, they may leave their lane, as long as they do not obstruct another rider. The rider shall continue the race from the point where the baton was last in their hand. If a rider does not follow this rule, their team shall be disqualified.
5. The handover of the baton must be within the takeover zone. This means that before the baton crosses the start mark of the takeover zone only the incoming rider is in touch with the baton and at the end of the takeover zone only the outgoing rider is in touch with the baton. Riders may not throw the baton to make a pass and may not touch the ground with any part of their body while making a pass. If the baton is not handed over within the marked takeover zone, the team shall be disqualified. Leaving of the lane within the takeover zone or when remounting does not result in disqualification as long as the riders do not obstruct, impede or interfere with another riders progress.
6. Each member of a relay team may ride one leg only.
7. Mixed male/female teams may be used, and reasonable age groups may be used depending on the number of expected competitors of the event. Each relay team may have any mix of ages, the age of the oldest rider determines the age group.
Comment
I have limited experience with relay races. I assume that the stated baton dimensions and weights conform to what is commonly used. Is there no maximum weight for batons?
In the 4 x 400 m relay, I have no experience at all. I think I've never even seen it. So I can't really comment on your writeup there, other than that it seems OK to me.
Comment
Looks pretty good to me. Note that my understanding of a 4 x 100 relay is that the 30m takeover zone consists of a 10m area for the new rider to build speed, and the following 20m is where the baton must be handed over. Most quality tracks seem to be marked to match that, so that probably needs to be added.
I think there may be a gap in the instructions on transferring the baton. What if the baton is dropped during the takeover? This is where it most commonly happens. Sounds like if that happens, the "incoming" rider must pick it up, remount and reconnect with the next rider, who would also be dismounted at this point, all while trying to remain within the lane and the takeover zone. This is a lot more complicated with unicycles in-hand, so maybe we should modify that. The "relay disaster" I described in an earlier discussion was a drop during the transition, and in our case was a mess. I think it's always a mess, but add to that our drop happened at the end of, or after the takeover zone, so I assume we were disqualified; I just remember being very embarrassed, as the last rider. :-( I'm not naming the other rider, who was not the problem in this event, but they may be reading these discussions along with us...
I suggest we add text to cover situations when the baton is dropped during the takeover. If the incoming rider has made it into the 20m part of the takeover zone, the next rider can pick up the baton. If it happens before the takeover zone, or in the 10m "acceleration zone" the incoming rider must pick up the baton. This should be measured from the frontmost part of the wheel, and not from the baton, which can be "dropped" strategically if such a situation occurs. This would also cover a 4 x 400 race, which only has the 20m takeover zone.
As for 4 x 400 races, I don't remember ever seeing one. Obviously it would take more time to run, but it sounds like it would be a lot less chaotic and easier for officials to watch! Takeovers might be complicated if riders are closely spaced. It might require some practice for riders to be comfortable with it.
Comment
> Looks pretty good to me. Note that my understanding of a 4 x 100 relay is that the 30m takeover zone consists of a 10m area for the new rider to build speed, and the following 20m is where the baton must be handed over.
One might assume that indeed, given the otherwise strange discrepancy of 20 vs 30 meters. And maybe this is also how this rule originated. However, our current rulebook doesn't mention this, i.e. handing over can happen anywhere within the 30 meters (in 4 x 400).
> If the incoming rider has made it into the 20m part of the takeover zone, the next rider can pick up the baton
I don't agree here. As per the current rules, the baton has to be handed over while both riders are on their unicycles. Dropping the baton by the incoming rider and then picking up by the next rider doesn't fulfill that requirement. If there is not enough takeover zone left for both riders to remount and properly handover the baton, I guess both of them have to back up on foot before remounting. This would hold for both 4x100m and 4x400m.
> As for 4 x 400 races, I don't remember ever seeing one.
If John, who has been at every Unicon to date and a lot of other competition, doesn't remember having seen 4x400m, this means it is essentially never organised. To corroborate this notion, there is no World Record for it in the IUF WR list.
I wonder then whether we should leave 4x400m in the rules at all.
Comment
> I assume that the stated baton dimensions and weights conform to what is commonly used. Is there no maximum weight for batons?
The specifications correspond to those of the WA/IAAF - so it should be no problem to find appropriate batons. At the competitions that I remember, corresponding batons were actually always used.
> > Looks pretty good to me. Note that my understanding of a 4 x 100 relay is that the 30m takeover zone consists of a 10m area for the new rider to build speed, and the following 20m is where the baton must be handed over.
One might assume that indeed, given the otherwise strange discrepancy of 20 vs 30 meters. And maybe this is also how this rule originated. However, our current rulebook doesn't mention this, i.e. handing over can happen anywhere within the 30 meters (in 4 x 400).
Let me write a few words to explain this: Until the last rulebook update, all takeover zones were 20m long and riders were allowed to line up anywhere in front of this takeover zone, only the passing of the baton had to happen inside this 20m takeover zone. In athletics at that time it was only allowed to line up within a 10m area in front of the takeover zone - so there was a difference between the unicycling and the athletics rules. However, in 2018 the (at that time still) IAAF decided on a rule change, by which the takeover zones were extended to 30m for all relays up to and including the 4x200m relay, thus eliminating the 10m run-up zone. This did not change much in athletics, as athletes were only allowed to line up in the 10m run-up zone anyway. The only thing that has changed since then is that it is no longer possible to hand over the baton too early. However, the rule change in athletics also had the consequence that now in all new stadiums and also in many old stadiums the track markings were/are updated and thus in the long run for the 4x100m relay only the markings of the 30m takeover zones will be available. Therefore, we decided in the last Rulebook Committee to follow the athletics and to adopt the rule regarding the takeover zones also for unicycling. Since then, the takeover zones for the 4x100m relay are 30m long and the riders are only allowed to line up within this takeover zone.
In the 4x400m relay (or longer relays) there has never been a run-up zone in athletics, so the rule change and the merging of run-up and takeover zone of 2018 had no effect on the length of the takeover zone here. We have therefore remained here with the old rule for unicycling, that the riders are still allowed to line up in front of the takeover zone and only within the marked 20m transition zone the baton may be passed.
Of course, we could also completely follow the athletics rules and for the 4x400m relay omit the run-up zone and specify that the riders must line up within the takeover zone.
> What if the baton is dropped during the takeover?
The takeover is obviously completed as soon as only one rider has the baton in his hand - so if the baton falls to the ground before this is the case, the takeover must be repeated according to the rules. So I don't really see a gap here.
Of course it is super annoying if the baton falls to the ground during the takeover, especially if this happens far at the end of the takeover zone. I have definitely seen this happen more than once - but it is of course possible that both riders just go back into the takeover zone, get on and the arriving rider passes the baton to the receiving rider.
> this means it is essentially never organised.
This is definitely not the case - in Germany the 4x400m relay has been organized at various competitions in the past - a few months ago at the German Championships, for example. In my experience, the relay competitions are always well appreciated by the riders and they are very happy when there is more than just the 4x100m relay. I am therefore a bit surprised that outside of Germany apparently only the 4x100m relay is offered.
Comment
If there are no further comments on the proposal, I would create an official proposal from this as well.
Comment
Fine, I have no further comments regarding the proposal. Thanks for the clarifications and history!
As to 4 x 400m relay: if it has been organised several times, maybe there could be a world record? Currently the WR is vacant, or more precisely: not listed
Comment
> As to 4 x 400m relay: if it has been organised several times, maybe there could be a world record? Currently the WR is vacant, or more precisely: not listed
Possible - I think if the new World Record Guidelines should be published at some point, a world record will certainly be claimed over the 4x400m as well. But of course I can also go through the results lists of the past and see how the best times have been so far.
Comment
Since there were no further comments or suggestions for improvement, I assume that all committee members agree with the proposal.
I will open the voting and hope that all voting members of the committee will also participate in the voting.