We believe that all of our clients should follow local, state, and federal guidelines that are in place on the date and location of an event. This is difficult as the guidelines change quite often as the infection rate for the virus varies for different locations. Above and beyond the guidelines, we believe that the main objective should always be to produce events that are safe for the participants, volunteers, spectators, and administrators of the event.
We believe that each event director should be aware of local, state, and federal guidelines for Covid-19 and design a plan to implement these guidelines as they apply to their particular event.
The State of Tennessee has published Covid-19 guidelines as part of the “Tennessee Pledge” which is a plan to help Tennesseans get back to work in a safe environment, restore their livelihoods, and reboot our state’s economy. You can view these guidelines as a pdf file by clicking this link. The link to state Covid-19 Non-Contact Recreation Guidelines may be viewed here. The state government has left specific county guidelines up to the local county officials in each locality.
Knox County is currently under a restriction of a 10 person social gathering limit as of December 3, 2020. For running events, the local officials will allow a maximum of 250 participants per event with start waves of 10 participants at 5 minute intervals.
We realize that each event will be different due to the venue, the length of the course, different state and local recommendations and guidelines, and other unforeseen factors. TRS will work with each event to assure that these differences are taken into account while adhering to the guidelines and recommendations in place at the date and location of their event.
The consistent federal, state and local recommendations that affect all events are the 6 foot distancing guideline and the guideline for all participants, volunteers, staff and spectators to wear protective face masks. In our opinion, these guidelines should be mandatory.
We also realize that guidelines are impossible to enforce if an individual refuses to comply with them for whatever reason. We are not dictating that any event follows any guideline that they feel is unnecessary for the safety of their participants, volunteers, or spectators or that would negatively effect their participation level. We are simply defining the level of risk that we willing to take in order to service an event.
Specifically, there are certain procedures that we deem necessary to protect our staff from infection. The following procedures are required for any event that TRS is contracted to time:
- All participants, volunteers, spectators, event staff, and timing staff should be required to wear protective face masks at all times at the race venue. Athletes should wear protective face masks before and after competing in the event. We encourage everyone to bring their own mask to the event. Masks will be available at the race site for anyone who does not bring their own mask. Athletes are encouraged to wear the protective face mask on the course during competition
- Participants, volunteers, spectators, and staff should strive to maintain a minimum 6 foot distance from each other as much as possible.
- Registration shall close one hour before the scheduled start time of the race on the day of the event. Registration must be submitted on the participant’s laptop or smart phone. There will be no onsite day of race registration utilizing TRS equipment or personnel. TRS personnel will issue bibs to new registrants and process any registration changes as required.
- The start gate will be open for an extended length of time to allow participants to start the race without crowding up in a confined area. For events that utilize a separate start and finish line, we can leave the start gate open as long as necessary to allow participants sufficient time to start the race while maintaining a safe distance from other participants. For events that utilize a common start/finish line, we can leave the start gate open until the first inbound finisher approaches the common line. For shorter distance events with a large number of participants, we may need to work with the event to separate the start and finish lines. In some cases, we may be able to assign athletes to a start wave as part of the registration process. If this approach is taken, the staging area for the start line should be large enough to stage the waves and maintain a 6 foot separation between the athletes, Athletes should arrive at the start line no more than ten minutes before their assigned start time. Athletes should maintain a minimum 6 foot distance from other athletes at the start line staging area.
- Athletes should exit the finish line area as quickly as possible when they complete the event. Athletes should wear a protective face mask when exiting the finish line area and maintain a minimum 6 foot distance from other athletes and spectators after they finish the event.
- Spectators should maintain a 6 foot distance separation from the finish line chute.
- Results will be available online as participants cross the finish line if internet access is available. Results will be furnished to the event director when the defined awards format is complete.