British masters nationals urges entrants to keep cool amid squeeze

According to Mike de Silva on Facebook,‎ 808 athletes have entered British masters nationals Sept. 17-18 at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham — the second-highest turnout ever. He adds: “More than 100 volunteer officials will arrive at the Stadium at 08.30 on Saturday and most will work through to 19.00. 08.30 to 18.00 on Sunday. Some will work even longer, double checking results before publication, prepping for the next day etc.” Results will be posted here. Because of the time squeeze, athletes were warned: “Before you [start getting] heated and complain about your frustrations, due to matters beyond our control, please consider the following: Some of you will be doing three field events in one day, so a delay in one will mean you could miss the start of the next one.”

BMAF nationals are being held later in the year than normal. but so are worlds.

The BMAF site adds:

Also some officials will be at the venue from 08.00 and some will be there to the finish of the last competition at 19.20, they do not have to be here, so be careful who you vent your frustrations on. Yes there will be clashes of events, throws, jumps and track for some of you; it is impossible to cover every eventuality.

However, we can deal with that on the day, when we can try to look to slot you in with another age group in one of the events. This is not normally a big deal, we have been doing it forever, but this year there are added complications, just allow us time to sort it, as close of declaration is too tight – you have to help us to help you.

Why is BMAF nationals so late in the season?

I’ve been told it’s “preparation for Perth” and “BMAF usually have combined events champs at this venue at this time of year and they just flipped the dates of track and field championships and combined events.”

So there you have it. Best of luck to all!