What it takes to put on a Biathlon Race

 

Many of you have made it to one of the many races put on by the WBA.  Others have been to other races, up to and including the Olympics.  Whether racing, being a spectator or helping out, we hope you have had fun at any and all the biathlon events you have been to.  But did you ever wonder what it takes to put one of these events on?  If you were at a race as a spectator and got asked to help “keep score” did you realize how critically important your contribution was?

 

Over the years the WBA has worked up a manual on how to have a race.  We have created new forms or modified International Biathlon Union forms to allow us to keep track of entrants, penalty loop, range scoring and even time loss, if the range gets too clogged or a target malfunctions or a pool rifle malfunctions.  We have made up signs, as you’ve seen, not real fancy ones, but the price for them was right, almost nothing.  We have built rifle racks and made up checklists of what equipment has to be on site for what kind of race.  To give you and idea, the WBA race equipment checklist contains 60 plus items, ranging from tools, to a first aid kit to portable radios to a can of WD-40.

 

For any biathlon race the biggest items are the targets, rifles and ammunition.  Rifles become somewhat of a lesser priority in winter races, since many racers have their own.  Targets have to be lubricated and painted after every race or race weekend.  They have to be hauled into place, aligned, assembled and function tested.  Even then, as you may have seen, some fail during a race.  One biathlon target and its essential equipment weigh in at nearly 200 pounds.  Not an easy move in the snow, particularly when multiplied by eight or ten.  A target consists of; the target itself, its legs set, the metal paddles (that flip up on a hit), the reset cord and reel, shooting station carpet, target number, shooting station numbers, zeroing target racks, paper targets for the racks and all the staples, pins, measuring tape, blocks, nuts and bolts to position it and make it work.  If it is not put in place properly, the paddles may not flip up, it may not reset or it the prone/standing aperture plate may not work.  It may look uneven and may not be set at the proper distance of 50 meters.  But done properly, with everything in place, lined up correctly and with the lanes marked off with pin flags and the wind flags set, to those who set it up, the range is a beautiful place. 

 

Rifles and ammunition are the next big issue to resolve.  Pool rifles have to be cleaned and lubricated and most importantly sighted in on race day.  Organizers are mostly concerned with pool use rifles, but ammunition in personally owned rifles has to be checked as do the trigger pull must be tested.  The targets as well as the rules, which tie directly to event insurance, specify the type of .22 LR (long rifle) ammo that can be used.  Anything with high velocity or a jacketed bullet is not only forbidden, it will damage the targets.  Sighting in or zeroing pool rifles is always a touchy subject.  Rifles tend to zero differently for different people.  Also, if the natural lighting can change during a race they need to be adjusted, which is not possible with a rifle being shared by several racers.  Maybe you’ve noticed, but we try and have the pool rifles sighted in by experience racers during the normal pre-race zeroing period.  We draft these racers because the range officials have to be able to keep a safety watch on the range when it is open, they cannot take the time to sight in a rifle.  But even with our best efforts, there are sighting problems with pool rifles.  Sometimes the race user is just too different than the person who sighted the rifle in, sometimes it’s the rifle, sometimes it the shooter.  Pool rifles tend to be one of our biggest worries, since those new to biathlon are likely to be using them, and their success or frustration often determines if they had fun or not and whether they come back.  At the end of nearly every race we hear someone say something similar to “I guess if you want to be serious about this, you need your own rifle.”  That is absolutely true.  And while many .22 LR rifles can be used for recreational biathlon, actually almost any removable magazine fed, bolt action rifle with peep sights can work, a true biathlon rifle can run anywhere from $900 to well over $3,000.

 

After rifles and targets comes course marking equipment, hazard warning signs, and equipment to “keep score”.  All of it has to be put in place, the course and penalty loop has to be well marked and the racers have to understand where they have to go.  Summer courses require clearing, often mowing and then marking, usually on race day or if we’re lucky, the evening before.  The ski area usually grooms winter courses, but hauling marking signs and cones and getting everything in place can’t be done until race day.  And it has to be done without messing up the ski trail. 

 

At the most recent race at SPAA, June 11^th, 92 cones were placed. 12 pounds of chalk (flour) and two full sets of sidewalk chalk sticks were used up.  Over twenty pin flags and wind flags were carefully measured and placed.  Hazards signs and arrows were placed, and all of this after the course a mowed, and cleared, and it wasn’t a riding mower.  The grasses and brush mowed down was not like your front yard, in some places it was over three feet tall and mixed with berry bushes.  The course had to be modified at 8:00 pm the night before, because a pond had overflowed onto part of the trail.

 

On race morning, officials have to find volunteers to score on the range and at the penalty loop.  The penalty loop is usually the least desired post, since it can get real busy and the “Controller” sometimes doesn’t get to see much of anything but the loop.  In winter we do make sure they get their own heater.  Volunteers need to be trained in how to use the forms, which have been simplified as much as possible.  And, even if the weather won’t cooperate, writing instruments still have to work.  We’ve experimented in the wet Northwest weather and found that the good old pencil seems to work best.  And without these volunteers, there is no race. 

 

Before the range is set up, before the course is set and marked, before the penalty loop is manned, race announcements have to go out, entry forms have to be posted on the website (wabiathlon.org) and made available elsewhere.  Safety clinics have to be taught.  Forms received from racers have to be logged in, fees accounted for, safety certification must be verified, a start list developed and bib numbers assigned.  Race entry fees have to be separated from membership fees that come in at the same time.  USBA membership has to be verified, without it the insurance is void.  WBA memberships have to be separated from USBA memberships and the USBA fees have to be sent in.  Fees due to the venue have to be paid.  Use permits have to be applied for, approved and paid for.  Insurance has to be applied for and insurance certificates must be delivered to the race cite management.  Some of this “accounting” can and is done after the race, but most has to be done before it.

 

But, before you ask “why would you want to do all this?” a well presented race that people have fun competing in and that draws people into the sport is a wonderfully satisfying thing.  It is great to watch the racers, to see the passerby’s become spectators and to answer their questions, to share this sport.  We estimate that for every hour of race time, a small group of WBA people devote eighteen to twenty hours each to preparation, planning, transportation and set-up.  Is it’s worth it?  Absolutely, biathlon is a sport like no other, a mixing of athletic skills that are so different, merged into one challenge.  We are coming to a time in the development of biathlon in Washington where only the weather will cause us to have to cancel races.  We have solved access to rifles with a use agreement the SPAA.  We have a program to purchase at least one high quality rifle of our own, each year.  We are completing construction of our own targets and some to be based in Yakima.  We have watched a core group of dedicated people bring biathlon back to the Methow Valley.  Venues in Seattle (SPAA) and at the Stevens Pass Nordic Center have become some of the most dedicated supporters of biathlon.  It is a lot of work, but each year the small group dedicated organizers seems to get a little bigger and spreads out over the state.  In 2000 the USBA recognized Washington as one of the most active in biathlon development.  That has not changed, so come out and have some fun in one of the most unusual and interesting sports in the world.