HELP! Problems hosting Relay on Track.
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Hey everyone, my name is Jacob and I am part of a College Relay at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, CA. We have had problems convincing the athletic department to let us use the all-weather outdoor track to host our Relay. They say that so much concentrated foot traffic will cause damage to the track. I was wondering if anyone else ran into similar problems and how you resolved them? Otherwise, we are confined to a very small grass lawn area which may not be sufficient for our growing Relay. Last year they had about 50 teams and it was very crowded, and this year we have about 75 teams. Please help! jgalvare@calpoly.edu or post a reply. Trackback URL for this post:http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/trackback/3670
track at relay for life
Use of track
Hi Jacob, We've been using the all-weather rubberized track at our local high school with no problems for three years now but we do have a few restrictions. NO food or drinks other than water. NO tents on the football field's faux turf...at least nothing poked into the surface, so no tent stakes. Rubber-wheeled baby strollers and wheel chairs are fine but NO rollerblades, skateboards, bikes or scooters. We use glow sticks and bolts as weights in our Luminaria bags since we are not allowed to have any open flames or sand on the track. Our stage is on the rubber but the legs are placed on top of plywood by the tent company. We had over 600 participants last year with no problems. Good luck!  Track
Likewise, we have held our Relay at the local High School and have had absolutely no problems or concerns with using the track. We normally have in the range of 700-800 participants in addition to a couple thousand attendees and the track does just fine. I am sure a university's track is even better than a high school's. Cal Poly Relay
Hi Jacob! I use to attend Cal Poly....back in the day when they had Poly Royal (I graduated 1986). They didn't mind foot-traffic on the campus then. Will they let you have the event on any of the walkways around campus? We had booths set up near the Business Building, but there were booths all around. I realize pavement isn't ideal, but if this is an option you haven't checked out, maybe it's worth a try if the outdoor track is out. Good luck! 2008-04-22  Re: Cal Poly Relay
The Relay has always been on Dexter Lawn but they are doing construction there and it really is just too small for us now. Were your booths set up by the Business building on the front side (In between the building and California Ave.)? That might be an alternative since that lawn is much much bigger, and even nicer with more trees and shade, but it's uneven. Thanks for the idea though!  Jacob,
Our Relay is hosted
Jacob, Our Relay is hosted by the local high school who recently refurbished their track. They have been very cooperative in allowing us to use all the athletic fields. Although we had some restrictions about camping on the football field (graduation is held within a couple days of our event and there was concern about the grass being damaged by the tents), there has never been any concern about the outdoor track. Obviously, we cannot drive vehicles on it, but they do allow wheelchairs and strollers and all the participants. The first year, we put plastic liner trays under each luminaria bag just in case there was an issue with buring through to the rubber surface. In subsequent years, that has not been required, though. We have between 400 and 500 participants and the school district has welcomed us back each year stating they are more than pleased with the condition of the facilites after each event. Good luck!! |
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Joined: 2008-01-10