Rulebook

Proposal 14: Slow race rules [ Revision 17 ]

Committee: Track & Field
Submitted on 2015-01-03
Status: Passed on February 20, 2015

Background

To eliminate injustices, for unicon 17 there was developed a new judging system, that should be implemented at competitions in the future.

Proposal

Chapter number: 2.20.4 Slow forward

old rule:

The object is to ride in a continously forward motion as slowly as possible without stopping, going backward, hopping, or twisting more than 45 degrees to either side. Two different board sizes are used: Age 0-10: 10m x 30 cm. Age group 11-UP: 10m x 15 cm. The Slow race is measured using the bottom of the unicycle wheel. Riders start with the bottom of the wheel on the starting line. On command by the Starter, the rider must immediately start forward motion and let go of starting posts. The timer stops the watch when the bottom of the wheel touches either the finish line, or the ground after the line on boards that end at the finish line. Riders can be disqualified for very slight stops or backward motions, twisting more than 45° to the side, riding off the sides of the board, or dismounting. Riders get two attempts. There are no crank arm length or wheel size restrictions for this event. No safety gear is required.

2.20.5 Slow Backward

This is the same as the slow forward race except: 0-10 ride on 60 cm board, 11-UP ride on 30 cm board.

new rule:

Slow Forward

The object of the discipline Slow Forward is to ride in a continuous forward motion as slowly as possible without stopping, going backward, hopping or twisting more than 45° to either side.

The position of the unicycle during a slow race is measured from the bottom of the unicycle wheel. In a slow race, the rider starts behind the starting line. On command by the starter, the rider has 10 seconds to start forward motion and let go off the starting post. The timer starts recording time when the bottom of the wheel crosses the starting line. The time stops when the bottom of the wheel crosses the finish line, or touches the ground after the end of the board that marks the finish line. There are no crank arm length or wheel size restrictions for this event.

Rules:

I. Board size: 10m x 15cm

II. Penalty rules:

The judges give penalties to riders who seem to make "micro-errors" (for example twisting about 46 or 48 degrees; vibrations of the wheel) or if they are in doubt, wether an error was made. Each penalty deducts one second from the ridden time. Riders are still disqualified if their wheel comes off the board or other obvious errors are made, for example dismounting or twisting 90°.

III. rules for international championships:

1. Qualification round

1.1 Riders must complete a time equal or greater than 45 seconds to move on to the finals.

1.2 Riders get two attempts to complete this result.

1.3 Previous results are valid: If a rider has already completed a result of 45 seconds or greater at another competition, they can start automatically in the finals and they don´t have to take part in the qualification round, provided that the result can be found in an official result list.

1.4 The boards can be marked with tape on the floor.

1.5 No age groups will be ranked.

1.6 Results will not be valid for records ( world, continental, national and regional records)

2. Final round

- There will only be one team of judges, in order to have a fair competition.

- Only results from the finals will be valid for records ( world, continental, national and regional records)

- The champion is the rider who performed the best result in the final round.

2.1 All riders who are qualified for the final round start here.

2.2 Riders get two attempts.

IV. Safety gear:

Riders must wear shoes. No other safety gear is required.

V. Options for smaller championships:

At regional or national championships, the host can decide to offer age groups and adjust the qualification time to a lower time as needed. If he decides to offer age groups, the qualification round becomes the age group competition.

The final round is obligatory.

Finalists will be ranked in their age groups with their best time reached in the final round or preliminary age group attempts. Previous results from other events are not valid to be ranked. If the host decides to offer age groups, the board size of 10m x 30cm can be used for age group 0-10.

Slow Backward

This is the same as the Slow Forward race, with the following differences:

Riders ride backward.
It is an error to ride forward.
Riders ride on a 10m x 30cm board.
If the host of a national or regional championship decides to offer age groups, the board size of 10m x 60cm can be used for age group 0-10.
Riders move on to the finals if they have completed a time equal or greater than 40 seconds, previous results are valid.

Body

See discussion.

References

These new rules are based on the prototype, applied at unicon 17. See discussion.

In Germany, the new penalty rules were applied at a regional championship after unicon 17 and the riders were asked to give their evaluation. The result was the following: 100% of the riders prefer the penalty rules and and more than 60% think that they had ever been disqualified without any reason in the past.

Discussion

View Discussion

Change Log:

Revision 17 changed by Ana Schrödinger (06 Feb 10:14)

Your suggestion is worked into.

Revision 16 changed by Ana Schrödinger (04 Feb 03:00)

2 examples of micro-errors are added.

Revision 15 changed by Ana Schrödinger (04 Feb 02:26)

Your suggestions about finals and records are worked into.

Revision 14 changed by Ana Schrödinger (02 Feb 11:20)

In order to get a shorter competition as asked.

Revision 13 changed by Ana Schrödinger (31 Jan 09:45)

the section "options for smaller championships" has been compleated

Revision 12 changed by Ana Schrödinger (31 Jan 06:59)

I simplified the text as you asked me.

do you prefere "Finals" or "real competition" o "competition"

Revision 11 changed by Ana Schrödinger (31 Jan 04:09)

I made the revision as Scott asked.

Revision 10 changed by Scott Wilton (30 Jan 06:26)

bottom of wheel/tire/unicycle wheel fixed

Revision 9 changed by Scott Wilton (29 Jan 08:55)

Updates from Klaas.

Revision 8 changed by Scott Wilton (29 Jan 06:59)

Re-written by a native speaker

Revision 7 changed by Ana Schrödinger (28 Jan 17:01)

I took notice of Klaas´s comments and changed some details.

Revision 6 changed by Ana Schrödinger (26 Jan 14:40)

start details were described more exactly

Revision 5 changed by Ana Schrödinger (24 Jan 13:56)

start details

Revision 4 changed by Ana Schrödinger (24 Jan 03:13)

details about the start were added

Revision 3 changed by Ana Schrödinger (14 Jan 15:50)

"Qualification round" and "Regional Championships" were completed.

Revision 2 changed by Ana Schrödinger (11 Jan 12:07)

"greater than" instead of "slower than",

definition of "another competition" and

"verifiable time"

and added one explanation to the finals.

Revision 1 changed by Ana Schrödinger (03 Jan 16:18)

Votes on this proposal:

13 out of 22 voting members have voted.

Agree: 10, Disagree: 1, Abstain: 2.