**We have booked the Kinsmen Fieldhouse for Friday, January 21, 2022 – save the date! Below is information from our 2020 Relays; please stay tuned for an update regarding our 2022 Relays. **
When:
Friday, January 24, 2020, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Doors Open at 5:45 p.m.
Where: Enter at Track level, Kinsmen Field House Door #3 (Northwest corner)
Download form: 2020-Elementary-Schools-Relays-Invitation.pdf
Registration
The cost is $36.00 per team (non-refundable). Please only enter the number of teams you definitely will be bringing up to a maximum of:
- Large schools up to 4 boys and 4 girls teams
- Small schools up to 8 teams of boys, girls, and/or mixed (co-ed). Small schools are schools having fewer than 120 students in Grades 4 through 6.
To enter, complete the attached form, and e-mail it to ESQ@telus.net by Friday, January 17th. Cheques for the entry fees ($36 x the number of teams you are entering) should be made payable to “Edmonton Harriers Track and Field Club” and mailed to
Shantelle Maisonneuve, 760 Knottwood Road South NW, Edmonton, AB T6K 1W5
to be received before Friday, January 17th.
You can register via e-mail (see below) but cheques must be received by Friday, January 17, 2020.
Schools must pay for the number of teams they register. Registration will close January 17, 2020. Those teams that have registered and paid will be placed into heats. If we are not full on this date, schools can register additional teams (if you are interested in this option, please note it on the registration form).
If you find that you cannot send the teams that you have registered, please let us know by January 17, 2020, otherwise you will be charged for the number of teams registered on this date.
Coaches: Please pick up your “race packages” at the table when you arrive. The package includes your race numbers, a heat sheet, pins, and receipts. The race numbers have the team name and heat number written on the back. Please use the correct number for the appropriate team. The number goes on the front of the fourth relay runner.
If you have any questions, please contact ESQ@telus.net.
Meet Format
Each team consists of 4 runners. There will be approximately 30 heats plus the 3 finals. The early heats (where schools put their faster teams) will have a maximum of 6 teams per heat. If all schools send the maximum number of teams, some of the later heats may have more than 6 teams competing.
Only “small” schools can enter a mixed team. They can also enter all-boys and/or all-girls teams, to a maximum of 8 teams. Mixed teams will compete in the Small Schools Mixed Relay section, single gender teams will compete in the competitions open to all schools. To qualify for the final of the “Mixed” relay, teams must be made up of 2 boys and 2 girls. Small schools which do not have an equal number of boys and girls may run “imbalanced” teams (e.g.: 3 boys and 1 girl, or 3 girls and 1 boy) in the heats to give as many runners as possible the opportunity to run, but these teams will not be eligible to run in the final. If you know in advance that you will be bringing imbalanced teams, please indicate on the entry form so that those teams can be “flagged” as exhibition teams.
All runners must be kept off the track until race time. All non-competing runners and spectators must stay out of the infield.
Harrier marshals at the far end of the track will organize teams into heats. Make all runners aware of their heat number and listen for instructions regarding marshaling. Heat sheets will be posted around the walls (and will be posted by Wednesday, January 22nd on the Harriers link from the website www.ellistiming.ca ). Teams, which have been “organized”, will be taken to the infield and will have their heat number with them. This should give everyone watching a good idea of which heat is getting ready to race.
The first runner must complete his/her lap in his/her lane. After the first exchange, all runners run in the inside lane (lane 1). Pylons will mark the exchange zone. We will be fairly lenient with the exchange. Only obvious infractions will result in team disqualification.
Race order will be girls, boys, mixed. The first race will begin at 6:30 p.m. Subsequent races will begin approximately every 4 minutes early in the evening – later races with slightly slower runners may take a little longer. Please ensure that you label your most competitive team as an “A” team so that they run in an early heat and have sufficient rest before the final (if they qualify).
If you feel your fastest team may not be competitive with other “A” teams (example: your fastest team will only consist of Grade Four athletes, when it is reasonable to expect that “A” teams from other schools will consist of Grade Six athletes), please feel free to mark on the entry form that your fastest relay team should be entered as a “B” team.
The 3 finals will allow the top teams to compete against each other. Teams will be run off at the beginning of the night and the top six fastest teams in each event (regardless of heat placement) will be run-off in a final at the very end of the meet. The result of these finals will determine our medal winners. This will apply to the boys, girls, and “Small school/Mixed” sections, so there will be 3 “Final” races at the end of the meet. Should there be few entries in the small schools section (as has happened recently), their final may go mid-meet so that those teams can get away early. If this is the intention we will let people know once we have all the entries.
Times and placement will be posted (as they become available) on the wall near the track entrance. Please be aware that, although we cannot definitely determine which teams will run the final until all heats have run, we generally have a good idea after the “A” and “B” teams have run. Please make sure you do not miss the finals.
Awards
Ribbons will be awarded to all teams in each heat. Place ribbons will be given to the final runner of each team to pass out to their teammates.
Medals will be awarded to the top three teams in the final in each event. In the case of a tie for advancement to the final, placing in the heat will be used to determine the qualifying team. The winning teams in the finals will receive the trophies. Trophies will be presented to the top schools in all three categories: boys, girls, and small school/mixed sections.
Access and Parking
The outside door at track level will be opened at 5:45 p.m. – no earlier. Please enter through this door (Kinsmen Access Door #3, northwest corner), as the Kinsmen staff will not be letting relay participants in through the main door as it is considered a separate facility.
PLEASE READ AND ACT ON THE SECTION RE: PARKING.
TEACHERS/COACHES,
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR PARENTS ARE AWARE OF THE PARKING SITUATION AND OF ANY PLAN YOU HAVE TO BUS STUDENTS OR CAR POOL!!!!
Buses can drop people off at the doors and park at the tennis courts/Husky Building near the High Level Bridge.
Parking:
Parking for our event is a significant challenge as everyone (approximately 800 vehicles) comes at the same time and the Kinsmen Sports Centre remains in full operation during our event. Our main concern is for the safety of athletes and everyone concerned with this event both in the parking lot and in the facility. We absolutely need to ensure that there is access to the facility for ambulance and other emergency vehicles should they be needed.
Please keep the following in mind and pass this information along to spectators:
- Carpool or use busses wherever possible. Athletes, coaches and spectators can all meet at the school and ride the same bus.
- Plan to arrive early. Later arrivals will be parking in the winter overflow lots at some distance from the facility.
- Park only where legally permitted. Ambulance and other emergency vehicles must be able to quickly access the facility . Bylaw Enforcement Officers will be present and will ticket and tow any vehicles parked illegally.
- Leave valuables at home.
- Follow the directions of parking lot attendants.
- Edmonton Transit Routes 9 Northbound and 52 Northbound have stops just outside the Kinsmen Sports Centre.
- The facility is a fifteen-minute walk from the University Transit Centre — see https://goo.gl/maps/yQNSmkcYseG2 .
Finally, please remember that this event is a “fun” event. From experience we know that everyone appreciates the efforts put in by all the runners, not just those who make the Finals. Please approach this event in a spirit of celebration of physical activity and teamwork. Please note that in any kind of dispute the decision of the track officials is final. Only official coaches will be able to bring any “irregularities” to the attention of the officials.
**NOTE: As of November 2019 there is no food vendor/cafeteria at the Kinsmen Sports Centre. The space between the main entrance and the pool viewing area is still open as a sitting area. There are vending machines located throughout the building. Please plan accordingly.