Being a starter — how hard can that be? Raise a gun and say, “Runners to your marks. Set. Bang!”  Well, the latest monograph on the art is circulating within USATF, and you won’t believe how much you don’t know. Check out this PDF.  It’s  33 pages and 21,000 words long. But it contains some revealing nuggets, and contradicts what you may think from watching track on ESPN or NBC. For example, masters operate under the “Two to the individual” rule — which means you get DQ’d only if you’re caught jumping twice. This contrasts with the elite USATF/IAAF rule, whereby the first false start is charged to the field, and the next person to jump is bounced. So if a starter at Oshkosh DQ’s you after someone else leaves the blocks early, you have an argument to make.

The starter’s opus was written by Eric D. Zemper, and revised this year, as part of the work of a USATF National Track and Field Officials subcommittee chaired by Rex Harvey, a longtime member of the Games Committee overseeing masters nationals and a candidate for WMA president.

Here’s what the monograph says:

In 2003, the IAAF implemented a new false start rule. The new IAAF rule allows only one false start per race without disqualification.  This means the first runner who jumps will not be penalized, but anyone who jumps after that first recall will be disqualified, whether or not they were the one who jumped the first time.  This is sometimes referred to as the “one to the field” rule.  The USATF also adopted this rule beginning in the 2004 season.

However, the old rule disqualifying a runner after the second false start charged to the individual will continue to be used for Combined Events, and for Youth and Masters competition.

And if you’re still not sure, here’s what World Masters Athletics says in its rulebook:

(9)   In any race, individual athletes who are charged with a false start, as determined by the head starter, shall be warned. Individual athletes who are charged with their second false start in the same race, as determined by the head starter, shall be disqualified. This includes the Combined Events.

Aside from the “masters exception” to the usual false-start rules, USATF starters have to be superquick on the uptake when other issues arise.

I found this incredible quiz on the USATF Officials site.

On your Marks”, “Set”, Pull the Trigger… That’s it???
By Raymond Pierre, Master Starter
Southwestern Association
raymondpierre@sbcglobal.net

You know, there’s really not much to starting a race other than giving a couple quick
commands and shooting a gun. Yet, in the wake of the Justin Gatlin turmoil at this year’s
Nationals, and all the light shed on us starters, it makes us wonder: Why is it that starters
all over the world are continuously, incessantly criticized among their peers, in the various
newspaper and magazine articles, over the internet, and on television?

They held the athletes too long, or not long enough. They botched a judgment call, misread the false start apparatus, disqualified the wrong lane, didn’t notice the blocks slipping, or the athlete holding her hand up, and then — just when the starters about got it together, they pulled the trigger, and — *click* — forgot to reload the gun.

Maybe we’re so vulnerable because the rulebook gives us unappealable power. Maybe
it’s because the starter is forced to wear a silly red blazer, in 90-degree heat. Or
perhaps it’s because we’re “center stage for 30-seconds”. Standing on a podium trying to
appear to be made of stone, we know that for 30 seconds prior to each and every race, the athletes, the coaches, the fellow officials, the media, the spectators, and the volunteers have given us their complete, unwavering attention. Do our job right, and we’re completely forgotten after the gun goes off. Slip-up just once… now we’re dinner conversation.

Is being a starter difficult? Can anybody do it? Maybe, maybe not. Let’s find out… I’m
handing you my gun — a .32 caliber pistol. I’m serious, take it. Handle it carefully, it’s
loaded. (If you already have a starter’s pistol, humor me. This is still a fun exercise.)

Now that you’re the starter, I want you to stand on this podium. Relax. Ignore the 20,000
people watching you, and the fact that this is a national championship race with
professional endorsements on the line. Now I want to ask you some questions.

This is a real time quiz — meaning you must answer NOW. You don’t have minutes to deliberate over it. Answer these questions properly and maybe you’ll get out of this meet with a pat on the back. Slip up once, and the entire stadium will know it and you get “BOOO’ed”. Ready? On your marks, set…

Question #1: (by the way, these are all true cases…)

100 METER DASH FINALS… THE NEXT PERSON TO FALSE START IS DISQUALIFIED: Just before you pull the trigger, lane 3 fidgets, but stays in the
blocks. 1/10th of a second later, lanes 4, 5, and 7 all bolt out. You take your finger off the
trigger and say, “Stand Up!”. Who’s disqualified? Quick, you’ve got 10 seconds to decide.

Question #2:

200 METER DASH PRELIMS, 2ND HEAT: Immediately after starting the race you realize
you started them from the 800-meter starting line, not the 200-meter starting line (they do
look very similar). Quick… what do you do?

Question #3:

110 METER HURDLES FINALS… NEXT FALSE START IS OUT: You just disqualified an
athlete and he absolutely REFUSES to leave the starting line, and not only raises a
commotion, but acts like he’s about to charge after you. What do you do?

Question #4:

3,000 METER STEEPLECHASE FINALS: 40 meters into the race, an athlete gets
accidentally tripped up by another athlete and falls. 3 more trip over him and fall. The rest get away. What do you do?

Bonus question: Same question, but the collision happened commencing a barrier jump at 40 meters. NOW, what do you do?

Question #5:

100 METER DASH FINALS… NEXT FALSE START IS OUT: You shoot the gun, and Uh-
Oooh, the False Start Detection Device sounds off and the race is stopped. The Machine
says the athlete moved .098 seconds before the gun. You think you should have been
able to see such motion. But, all 3 pairs of assistant starters’ eyes — plus yours — saw
absolutely no motion from anyone, thus you disagree with the Machine. SO… do you go
with the Machine, or the eyes? Time’s up. Decide now.

ANSWERS: None of these issues are directly addressed in the rulebook. You’re on your own. Welcome to the world of the starter!!! (Now, give me my gun back!).