Crowd Sourced Marshals (CSMs) for The Munga

[AdamA]

Hey Alex, 

 

I would put my name down for a Dot watcher/Virtual Marshal.

 

I couldn't do it 24/7 but definitely in shifts of 2 or 3 hours (maybe 6hrs but that would be stretching it) 

[eddy]

Nobody on here is in good standing on the forum. 

 

We do have someone which 90% agree on is the worst though.

 

 

You are not a Patch on him...

[Karman de Lange]

You know you can automate this as a digital function with a GIS geofencing query and a few other spatial/non spatial queries.

 

Geofence a small buffer around the route and as an athlete leaves that area set up an automated alert. You can activate no go zones where you know mistakes are made as separate triggers to warn you of mistakes.

 

Then you can also set up digital alerts for other safety reasons the same way they do with the iritrack at Dakar. If a rider is stationary for a certain time period outside of a designated stopping point you can set up an automated alert. Bear in mind human dot watches between 2at 5 am are going to be iffy at least.

 

These set ups are fairly common in a few industries and fairly reliable. 

 

most gps devices have this build in these days.  

 

Its really simple to code as well .  You simply plot the actual route coordinates, do simple 1 line query and if they more than xyz meters from closest  plotted points throw alert .

 

not rocket science.  Probably 2-3 hrs work if you already have the dots getting recorded 

[The Munga]

You know you can automate this as a digital function with a GIS geofencing query and a few other spatial/non spatial queries.

 

Geofence a small buffer around the route and as an athlete leaves that area set up an automated alert. You can activate no go zones where you know mistakes are made as separate triggers to warn you of mistakes.

 

Then you can also set up digital alerts for other safety reasons the same way they do with the iritrack at Dakar. If a rider is stationary for a certain time period outside of a designated stopping point you can set up an automated alert. Bear in mind human dot watches between 2at 5 am are going to be iffy at least.

 

These set ups are fairly common in a few industries and fairly reliable. 

Yes for sure. It is possible to geofence within limits, and we are looking into to this. But the human element is what makes our race enthralling so we are trying to leverage the fact that many people spend inordinate amounts of time watching blue dots! We believe there are people that would find it quite exciting to 'police' sections of the route using tech. But maybe a combination of the two is the way to go?

[The Munga]

Hey Alex, 

 

I would put my name down for a Dot watcher/Virtual Marshal.

 

I couldn't do it 24/7 but definitely in shifts of 2 or 3 hours (maybe 6hrs but that would be stretching it) 

Awesome! Please send a mail to info@themunga.com 

[The Munga]

Silk Road Mountain Race has similar concept. Every rider is allocated a dot watcher who literally can be anywhere in the world. They watch your dot from a safety perspective. I'm still in contact with my 'watcher'. Great idea.

The main problem with having one dot watcher on a long race is that the rider is likely to outlast the dot watcher when it comes to sleep deprivation!

[Zatopek]

The main problem with having one dot watcher on a long race is that the rider is likely to outlast the dot watcher when it comes to sleep deprivation!

Use the automated/technology options mention here to alert the dot watchers. E.g. when a risky turn is approached, drastic changes avg speed etc. The human can then evaluate the situation.

 

I'm also willing to watch a dot - I'm in different time zone so can take a night shift etc. Will send an email.

[Stefan Cremer]

No dot watching for me this year. 

 

At long last my dot will be watched come end of 2021 ;-) 

[Mark James]

One of the key focal points in the race is safety. When a rider has spent 40 hours on their bike with no sleep, they often fall asleep on their bike! This is fine when its on a lonely dirt road, but obviously another story on a busy tar road. So most of our 'detours', while they may seem like a stuff around, they are really because we want to avoid the above scenario.

 

As an example, the two tar sections before RV2 in Britstown, and RV3 in Loxton. In both cases the route turns onto tar roads, and then within a kilometre, turns back off the tar road into the veld, on a farm track. These are easy turns to miss for a rider. So these sections would be red flagged for you guys, and the minute you see a rider missing this turn, you alert the 'chain of command' and we try and get hold of the rider, or inform the rider when he gets to the RV that he has a time penalty. 

 

This is a working idea, but that is pretty much the gist of it. We don't have the resources to monitor every rider over 24 hours over those sections, hence reaching out.

By "and we try get hold of the rider", I take it that this entails trying to call the rider on a cell phone? 

 

Have some time on my hands at the moment, so might be willing to help out and do some screen staring  

[mecheng89]

Sounds cool. Will drop a mail. 

[The Munga]

By "and we try get hold of the rider", I take it that this entails trying to call the rider on a cell phone? 

 

Have some time on my hands at the moment, so might be willing to help out and do some screen staring

Yes, correct. The moment we see someone is off course, we try and reach them on their phone. Remember, every minute a rider is off course, they are normally penalising themselves, so its fair game to phone and give them a heads up. 

[117]

Resurecting the thread so I can follow the cape grit chaps for the weekend

[Vetseun]

I see Piet Loubser says it is gonna be brutal.

If he thinks it will be brutal then it will be proper tough.

[Help.Me.]

Vettes is jy nie weer deel van die Munga nie?

[117]

Its game on in 1min for the Cape Grit guys