Crowded race courses; aid stations overwhelmed by masses of competitors; care, feeding, and utilisation of volunteers; drafting packs and how to bust them – sure is an awful lot for a Race Director to figure out.
Has there ever been use of computer simulations to help RDs figure out where the problem points are going to be on the course? I’m thinking of something akin to what engineers use to test solutions to rush-hour traffic jams, or even the computer games my boys play at home.
Think of it – given the right simulation with the right assumptions built in, a RD could: check course capacity – where are the “bottlenecks” and how to relieve them Determine the food and water requirements of each aid station determine where to place the volunteers and when to move them simulate a “drafting pack”, and test out various solutions
Think of it – a RD comes up with a plan, plugs it into the simulation, runs the event in cyberspace, sees where the problems will be AND SOLVES THEM before the race!
This might be a good service for USAT to provide to RDs – a real value added for the fees competitors pay them.
If this has been done before – great. If not, it can’t be that hard to do given the right set of computer nerds.
Good idea. But in my experience sim learning is only as good as the sim, and good sims are hard to come by. It’s extremely hard and time consuming to develop a really good sim. Even then part of the learning experience involves understanding the limitations of the sim.
Frankly, just using a good planning process will usually yield the best results. Part of that planning process involves gaming the plan, best done with SMEs present to poke holes in the plan. In this case, SMEs like more experienced RDs (maybe USAT supplied), experienced aid station volunteers, police, medical, referees, and probably a resident and/or city rep.
I’ve helped a few RDs over the years. The best ones had a systematic planning approach. The least successful ones didn’t have a systematic approach that forced them to think outside of their small triathlon box to consider the larger impact of the event. As you note, there is a lot for an RD to manage in pulling off an event.
We’re on the same wavelength – planning is all about complexity. And I think your point that what is really needed is a disciplined planning process that involves SMEs, really gets to the heart of the matter. Maybe a sim really isn’t needed at all.
BUT just for the discussion’s sake – once you develop the plan with SME support, a program with standard planning factors built in could be used to “proof” the plan. This would be useful for new races, or for when races are forced to change part of the plan (course change, etc). It could be part of the USAT “seal of approval”, whatever that’s worth.
I’ve never been an RD, and I really don’t think I’d like to be one, either. But here’s what I think I’d like have if I were planning a race. A simulation that can: Start with a population of 1000 - 2000 racers, with a “normal” distribution of swim/bike/run times (using results from previous races, for example), and simulate the movement of the racer population around a course, predicting support requirements along the way. Predict the effects of the race on local traffic. Predict where bottlenecks will occur, where “draft packs” are likely to form, and allow the RD to test solutions.
The USDB at Ft Leavenworth used the JANUS simulation to proof their plans for inmate movements when they moved to a new facility a few years back – small potatoes, really, but an example of how existing sims can be used for limited objectives.