Stepping out to a Red Track Athletics Meet hosted by Athletics ACT can be a little daunting for some.

We hope the following Frequenting Asked Questions (FAQs) will make your experience as pleasant as possible.

Registration

Registering as a Little Athlete (U12 to U17s) you can indicate if you want to dual register with Athletics ACT (AACT) and compete in the AACT competition this season as a senior athlete as well as a Little Athlete.

Ginninderra Athletics is the ACT’s only all ages and abilities athletics club and there are many registration options for members that are not Little Athletes, including Masters and Open athletes.

Entering a Weekly Red Track Meet

For both of the above membership options the most cost effective and preferred method of entering is via the AACT online portal.

During the week of the meet the portal is opened for nominations (and usually closes 9pm on the Thursday evening prior to a Saturday comp but check each week for directions).

On this portal you login and nominate the events you wish to compete in that week including your best time or distance for seeding, you confirm and submit (and pay for basic dual) and you will get a confirmation email.

There is also the option to register on the day (in person), but no guarantee that the events aren’t closed or full .

Check In

On the day report to the sign-in room (AIS or Woden) and sign-in for all your events before the specified event closing time (usually 30-45 mins prior to the event but please check the program to avoid disappointment of missing out on your event).

The sign-in room at Woden and the AIS (Commonwealth Room) can be found underneath the Tower at the 100m finish line.

Marshalling

The next thing is to marshal to your events (usually 10 mins before scheduled start) make sure you keep note of your clashes and notify the friendly officials.

Rules

Red Track Athletics Meets are conducted mostly by qualified Technical Officials (TO) and Volunteer Officials.

The Officials follow the competition rules by the book. This prevents fouls, false starts and other infractions from clouding official results.

Following our Event Fact Sheets will assist you to abide by most of the AACT rules – see their Competition Rules for specifics.  Athletics Australia have comprehensive resources on competition rules.

Seeding

Red Track Athletics meets seed athletes in track events to ensure that everyone is given a fair go. This does mean that in any given event there can be a mix of boys, girls, men, women and age groups including field events.

You provide your “seed time” and throwing weight during marshalling or online when registering. It is very important that you enter the correct detail to avoid disappointment. What you provide will determine which heat you will be allocated too. No entry may result being placed in the last heat.

Warm Up

There is no designated warm up area at an AACT Meet. Most track athletes do their warm ups on the back straight or at the 100m start line.

For Field Events, warm-up using the equipment (High Jump / Pole Vault mats) is possible. Once the competition begins you cannot use their equipment for practice. You are permitted to bring your own.

Uniform

Ginninderra Athletics mandates athletes to use our Official Uniform. This is covered within the Club’s Constitution.

Registration Numbers

Athletics ACT require you to wear your Registration Number. AACT may give you a registration number for both your front and back of your uniform.

The number is provided in the Call Room during marshalling for your first ever meet of the season. Please allow enough time to collect your number before Check In (see above).

Volunteering

Athletics is a Volunteering intensive sport. Officiating and providing your time to rake a pit, assist with Starting or manage Check Ins, helps to ensure Red Track Meets run smoothly. It is also a great way to give back to the sport where fees are kept low (no one is paid to officiate).

Athletics ACT have deemed that the overall Club Point Score competition will have a multiplier applied to the score, so if a Club like Ginninderra Athletics can provide a quota of Officials each week, we will not be penalised. If we don’t, the Club is heavily penalised.

Mentoring and Support

If you are going out to a Red Track Meet for the first time and would like a friendly Ginninderra Athlete to show you around, where events are located, how and where to warm up, as well as do the whole Check In and Marshall process (see above), send us an email and let us know. Our friendly experienced athletes are always available to give you a hand.

Remember to wear Ginninderra’s uniform as we can always find you and cheer you on.

Drinks and Food

Depending on where the Red Track Meet is bring held, there may or may not be a Canteen in operation.

Ginninderra Athletics offers its members an Esky in our team area at these meets that is based on the honour system – you pay for what you take. Prices are cost price and therefore quite reasonable. Let us know if there is something in particular you are looking for?

Results

Results are available in real time via Live Results and linked from the Athletics ACT website.

Ginninderra Athletics also takes lots of photos each weekend and these are published to Facebook and we normally do a weekly round up of how everyone went and this is published to our website.

All performances at a Red Track Meet count as records at Ginninderra Athletics. Unfortunately your performances are not automatically added to ResultsHQ if you have an account, but you can add them yourself. You must be competing for Ginninderra Athletics to claim a Club Record.