This thread has turned into a great discussion! After this I’ll post the course data from my Garmin device but this one’s going to be long enough…
There doesn’t have to be running allowed. People have pieced together the original logic for this in this thread. We ride unicycles. Part of riding unicycles is a strange desire, on our part, to do things the hard way. So in our track races, it is required to ride the whole distance, including all the way across the finish line. This equates to riding more than 101m in a 100m race. In all but the longer races, falling off is a disqualification. We make those races hard on purpose.
My preferred examples of this philosophy are the High Jump and Long Jump. We do it on a unicycle. This means we don’t sprawl in a dirt pit, or land on our backs on a crash pad, we have to land RIDING. That puts major limits on the heights and distances, but it keeps it an all-unicycle challenge.
All forms of IUF unicycle racing are derived from our experience on the track. We started with the same set of rules, then have made modifications to suit those events. I think our biggest “improvement” when it comes to MUni racing is that we’ve removed restrictions on the equipment you can ride. Riders are free to ride whatever they want. Of course this puts the onus on event hosts to give accurate descriptions of race courses, so people can train for it and decide which unicycles/cranks to bring. This has often been difficult to get due to last-minute course plans or changes (and I’m not even talking about this year).
The base intent is that it be a unicycle race, but this gets less realistic as courses get more and more extreme. Also as they get longer. Since even an “easy” XC course may have some technical or steep parts, it ididn’t make sense for riders to be required to ride everything. So why not ‘anything goes’?
The origin of this may have been from the MUni race at Unicon X. Very large numbers of riders hit the course at a time, and the sandy uphill areas became mayhem. Dismounted riders were cutting off people who were attempting to ride these short sections. Other dismounted riders were thoughtlessly blocking the way, oblivious to the riders behind them. It was decided that dismounted riders should yield to riders who are mounted (may not pass mounted riders). But how to enforce that with a group of several hundred excited riders who speak a mix of languages? It requires something that can be explained relatively easily. NO RUNNING, and NO PASSING PEOPLE WHO ARE RIDING IF YOU’RE NOT. It works.
However, with today’s longer races, the difference between walking and running would be less significant. Please note that running is allowed as an option. The Rulebook version I have shows the changes from 2008 to 2010, and this part doesn’t show as a change. Section 2.20.6.1. I guess this part only applies to Time-Trial type races though.
I don’t know about you, but when I go out for a 1 hour+ MUni ride, it’s not a MUni race. That is not the same animal.
The 10m thing has been taken out in the 2010 rules. Is the 2010 Rulebook published yet? I have only a draft version. Never saw a complete printed copy at Unicon. For the Unicon XV XC and Downhill, the 10m rule was definitely impractical, and Connie told me it would not be enforced (the rule was optional). But I don’t know if that was communicated to the riders very well.
A competition organizer can change a course for whatever reason he/she wants. The description in the program book, which obviously was written for the Tony Melton version, gave a good idea of what the expected course was, and was enough to tell me I should at least have a brake. But as usual, distances and elevations were sketchy at best. I’ve always tried to work with organizers to get those details published as early as possible. However sometimes, courses have to be changed at the last minute even if it’s not by accident. At the 2008 USA convention in South Dakota, every MUni course was changed on the day-of due to bad weather the night before.
It was hard. That’s not just me saying that. What do you mean, anyway? Because somebody rides something means it’s not hard? You have an odd set of perceptions. I have to ride with Beau Hoover from time to time. We have a saying --“Just because Beau rode it doesn’t mean it isn’t impossible.”
I’m not sure how those events were run. Usually in the past I’ve seen them run at various levels, and switch back and forth. Top riders don’t need to start jumping at a level lower than they feel good about. Things might need to be run differently to accommodate large numbers of competitors, but anything that eliminates unnecessary jumps by experts would clearly save time.
Course design is a key component to a good race. Over the years I’ve seen great ones and bad ones. All three courses at Unicon XV were great. Obviously many riders were disappointed in the DH, but it was a very fast course, and still had its challenges.
Unicycling is not a decent means of transport. The disadvantages greatly outweigh the advantages over things like bikes. In today’s approach to unicycle racing, we seem to still keep that in mind.
No. We don’t have more that two gears, we can’t coast, and we’re not connected to the UCI. 
Not even walking is allowed in Uphill under current rules. We’re still oldschool on that event, in that the intent is to UNICYCLE the hill, whatever it is. That said, I will remind people that event organizers can always make up their own events, including variations on the strictly defined ones in the rulebook. Like a race up Mt. Diablo. That would have to allow dismounts to be realistic!
Here we go again. Did somebody (one of the organizers) say the course was changed to accommodate lower level riders? It was never made clear whether the course was changed for safety, to make it possible for more people to actually ride it, or due to bad communications. If it was changed deliberately, it was probably for safety but I’ll leave it to the organizers to confirm that or not.
There was one spot on the XC race course that had a conveniently located “chicken line”. Though it probably would have been faster to walk straight down that steep bit, I found riding the alternate route much more enjoyable.
But in reality, these races are usually going to be run on existing trails, where building your own trails is usually a big no-no. If it’s an open area where various lines can be taped off this can work, but mostly we will be stuck with what the terrain or trails allow. Viable chicken lines will probably be a rare treat.
Not as steep? It’s an uphill race! But next time I’m sure it will be different.
This is one of the other motivations behind the current rules. But has Ken already mentioned, much of this has to do with designing a course that’s appropriate to the type of event. Too easy and it doesn’t contain enough challenges. Too hard and you might cut way back on the amount of riding people do.
I think I’ve found a new quote for my sig line! 
This definition was added as it was clear we needed to draw the line with some kind of simple, easy-to-see definition of the upper limit of “walking”. But my 2010 Rulebook draft shows this sentence as being removed, which could be a problem for future races if riders are limited to walking…
Yes, you could. And what a pain in the butt it would be. And the people who crossed the finish line first might not be the winners. And it would be extremely difficult to settle on how much penalty for what. We’ve thought about it, and nobody’s ever decided to try to do it.
You don’t have to. If running/walking are allowed, they are legitemate forms of locomotion for that race.
A good point. Though I had to resist running on the downhills in Lap 1 of the XC (it’s hard to slow to a walk), this was not an issue for me on the uphills. Though I could have run a bit of it, my fitness level would have me walking most of the steeps anyway. That’s not somebody else’s fault; had I been in better shape I’d be better able to ride or run them. But I walked quite a bit on the XC (and the Marathon).
Yes, in China as described above, and at other events where there were too many riders on too narrow a path, and/or riders not yielding after their second dismount. So new rules were drafted to address these problems.
Statistics show that 80% of statistics offered in online forums are completely made up. 
I explained earlier why it would have been a big mess to try to change again after the course was changed to the green markings. I know it was in the middle of a very long post (like this is) but it’s there. It would have been anything but simple.
AS IT STANDS:
- For XC racing, the IUF rules allow a choice of walking or running rules, with penalties for violations to be determined by the hosts.
- For Uphill racing you still are expected to ride (or hop) the whole thing. You can allow dismounts or not, depending on the type of course. Multiple tries can also optionally be allowed.
- For Downhill racing, dismounts are allowed but riders are not permitted to run. Also there are detailed notes about yielding to mounted riders. This applies more to group-start races, not TT-type ones.
But remember, hosts can always make up their own events if they want, which include variations on those types of event.
925meters per lap?
