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Re: [RC] Start times - heidi

Just wondering why riders all leave at the same times in a big pack and
race, couldn't they be started one at a time in one or 2 minute
intervals, to avoid a rush.  I know there are always those that race,
but really you are racing the clock, as your time is what counts.  In
carriage driving and eventing they are sent out on course from a count
down and very rarely have to pass anyone, but I know in endurance when
everyone rides their own ride there will always be the slow ones and
fast ones, and middle of the pack.  Let the fast ones start first, the
ones who are slow go last, and the rest in the middle in one or two
minute intervals, in groups of 2 or 4, or whatever?  Would that be too
much work to have a starter person?  We have an official clock, the
starter gives you a start time, a 30 second warning, and then counts
down from 10 seconds, and off you go.  Is that too much, or would it not
work at all for endurance?

Endurance is not about racing the clock.  It is about placing on a given
trail under a given set of environmental circumstances relative to how the
other horses place.  You cannot do this with staggered starts.  If you are
riding for a placing, there is no point in trashing your horse to beat a
clock "just in case" a horse that started later than you might be able to
do it faster.  Part of the strategy of placing is being able to evaluate
how your competition is doing.

That said--the majority of endurance riders don't race.  They DO sort
themselves at the starting line accordingly.  Many of us planning to ride
slowly aren't even mounted up yet when the leaders start out.  Marathon
runners sort themselves at the start this way as well--the slow ones don't
want to be run down by the fast ones, so they get at the back of the pack
in the start.

So to answer your question--no, that would not work for endurance.

Heidi



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Replies
[RC] Start times, Debbie Buick