So I've compiled a list of things Novices should do before and at an event. Please, if you see something that should be added here let me know.
Before the event:
-Clean out your car! If it's not nailed down, get it out of there. This includes junk in the trunk
, trash in the floorboard of the back seat, things hanging from your rear view mirror. Trust me, you dont want these things flying around during a run.
-Check out your car! Make sure you have a full amount of oil. Make sure your tires are well inflated (5ish psi over inflated is best to be honest) and they're not dry rotted or cording. And the most common mistake on a car? Make sure your battery is secured! It must have some sort of tie down.
-Get a good nights sleep. Racing on a hangover and 2 hours of sleep makes for a long day.
At the event:
-Show up early! Normal registration ends at 8:30. You should be at the event, car ready, numbers on, and registered long before that.
-Show up with enough time to walk the course at least 3 times BEFORE the novice walk through. If your first time seeing the course is with Diane and I during the walk through you're doing yourself a grave disservice.
-Bring sunscreen!! This should be pretty obvious....
-Don't be afraid to ask for rides with better drivers. It'll help you get familiar with the course and you get to meet the people you'll be racing against. But don't be down if someone won't take you along since they may be competing and those extra few tenths of a second that a passenger adds can be a bad thing. Also, try to ride along in a car similar to yours. As fun as it is to ride in a Z06 when you drive a Civic you're only hurting yourself in the long run. Make sure there's enough other cars between you and the car your riding along in so you can get back in time to drive your own car.
One more very important note. If you have friends planning on coming to see you run tell them to be on thier best behavior!! We've lost a significant amount of venues due to friends of our novices showing up and making thier own impromptu races on the streets near the events. We will not hesitate to come down on them (and you if you're involved in the jackassery) very harshly if we see anything even remotely stupid going on. Niether your friends nor you are worth loosing yet another location.
