Numer-crunching the Rules
Licensing Issues
The Rules of
By Norrie Williamson
Running
Running is said to be the simplest of sports, requiring only shoes, shorts, shirt and off we go. Anywhere we want at whatever speed, and on whatever terrain we wish! And if everyone is honest and trustworthy, then we don’ t even require rules and officials. As long as we have the same start and finish line, we can race( except in exceptionally short and tight races), as we would know amongst ourselves who won and lost. But this doesn’ t give us any comparative performance until we set the distance, have a timekeeping system and a line judge for when it is too close for us athletes to call – and this is where the rules come in.
Athletic rules provide the process, structure and standard that ensure performances are comparable around the world. In essence, there are five reasons for having rules:
• The health and safety of participants, officials and coaches.
• The health and safety of non-participants including spectators as well as those who may get caught up in the event, e. g. pedestrians or vehicle drivers in a road race.
• That no athlete has an unfair advantage over another.
• Administration, communication, promotion and marketing of the sport.
• Maintaining standards of performance, rankings and databases.
How long would rugby, soccer, hockey or netball players last in a game if they didn’ t know the rules? Not more than a few minutes, I would guess …. So why is it that runners feel able to go into road running without learning the rules of the sport?
The rules of athletics are covered by the IAAF( International Association of Athletic Federations) and are contained in a 313-page handbook which is valid for two years at a time and has a total of 264 rules, each with a number of clauses. National Federations are allowed modifications to cater for local conditions and circumstances, and then in South Africa we have provincial rules for the same reason. For example the IAAF requires refreshment in a road race at 5km intervals, whereas ASA requires 3km intervals, and the KZN rules require 2.5km intervals due to the humidity there. National and Provincial rules can be more restrictive, but not less restrictive than the IAAF.
Numer-crunching the Rules
The massive number of IAAF rules is thanks largely to attempts to cheat or bypass standard procedure. This is clearly highlighted by the fact that there are 85 pages concerning doping, nine new pages purely on disputes and discipline, and 30 pages explaining the roles and requirements for 32 different types of officials across all disciplines. Compare that to a total of just 30 pages for all track events, including technical details such as hurdle heights and positioning, and only an additional five for race walking, four for road running, and seven for cross country and trail running. Even explaining the rules, equipment and procedures for seven complex field events takes 60 pages – just two thirds the number required to prevent cheating and discipline those athletes wishing to gain an unfair advantage.
The challenge is therefore not the sport, but rather those who seek to undermine it and you would be surprised at how many runners cheat the system, including some well known sporting personalities. Take what appears to be a simple act of giving someone your timing chip, or your race number for an event like Two Oceans( without going through the substitution process). It may seem innocent enough, but how many rules does it break? Clearly, the result will be incorrectly allocated to the original entrant, and will that performance then be used for an entry / seeding at another event? What happens if it affects the age prizes? Such things ruin the credibility of the results and devalue the real achievement of honest runners.
Keep in mind it’ s two runners who have cheated in such a case, the one who gave the number and the one who received. This can also be downright dangerous, as the Two Oceans organisers found out a few years ago, when an overseas runner passed on his number. The recipient collapsed and passed away, and the subsequent medical and administrative actions were based on the details of the original runner, which saw his parents being called internationally to be told of the passing of their son. Luckily the son was watching the streaming of the race with his parents, so they were spared the trauma, but that was when the cheating was identified. Had the other athlete been unconscious instead of passing away, he would have been treated based on incorrect medical files.
Licensing Issues
Another rule that has generated considerable comment and emotion is the recent ASA ruling on the display of race and license numbers. Many runners do not seem to appreciate that a sponsor may be putting millions in to have the exposure of its name on every athlete, so with the plethora of race numbers being issued by events, the sponsor was not getting the exposure it paid for. In addition, a percentage of runners were‘ free-loading’ by sharing licence numbers. These cheats therefore forced an
Images: Moegsien Ebrahim & courtesy Colleen McNally
34 ISSUE 94 MAY 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za