Giddy as a School Girl

You only get one chance to make a first impression, or so I've been told. With that in mind I strive to make a good first impression despite any personal characteristics that may militate against my success. I believe I was successful at my USAT official's clinic, either that or I was just darn lucky…well, ok, I was darn lucky too.

One of the top race officials in the country, Jurgen Heise, is interested in having me on his team of officials at some large scale events. He was the head ref at Ironman Canada this year and does a ton of other stuff. He tried to see if I could help out with the upcoming RedMan Iron Distance triathlon in Oklahoma City but the time is growing short and the RD is busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest so it isn't going to work out. He was also wanted me on his crew for the Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon next season but alas, I will be racing at IMCDA (YEA!). This is a relationship I need to cultivate.

The cool news, the "giddy as a school girl news" that I received this morning is the following:

"Brian: Could you do Toyota USAT pro rules race on 10/14? You would need to be here Sat for a pro rules clinic...Charlie Crawford is HR. It would be excellent opportunity. We never get pro rules races in our region."

So, my name has been forwarded to Charlie Crawford for consideration and with any luck I will be selected.

Now I know you are all asking "Who the #@&% is Charlie Crawford?" Well, let me enlighten you. Charlie Crawford is the Big Cheese, the Head Honcho, the Big Kahuna (no, not THE Kahuna) he is the head USAT race official in charge of the entire USAT officiating program, in short, my top boss when I am acting in my capacity as a USAT official. So…as you may surmise that is a pretty exciting position to be in for a neophyte like myself.

In addition to getting to work for Charlie in a race the event is also big doins'. You may not have heard of the Toyota USAT race before and that is because this is the first time it is being held. It is Triathlon's FIRST U.S. Open and it is the Life Time Fitness Series Championship!

I am holding my breath and crossing every appendage I have!

In other news, I've decided to end each of my Ref related posts with a rule and explanation, preferably a more obscure rule, so here we go.

Article III – Genera Rules of Conduct and Penalties

Rule 3.4g – Unfair Advantage: No participant shall use his (or her) body, head, arms, or legs to gain an unfair advantage, or to push, pull, hold, strike, or force through one or more participants. Any violation of this section shall result in a variable time penalty.

So, charging the finish line and shouldering past someone in your age group for the win…don't even think about it because you will not get that one second lead, you will be penalized. I was trying to think if this has happened to me in a race and I came up with a few examples but the first one I thought of was when fellow Outlaw Miguel "Sharkbait" Sanchez grabbed my ankle at the end of a pool swim and tried to pull me back. Now that was all in good fun but if an official caught it an Unfair Advantage penalty would be assessed.