Potato Rac

Source: Games For The Playground, Home, School And Gymnasium
Category: MISCELLANEOUS ACTIVE GAMES



I

(For individual competitors)


_2 to 60 or more players._

_Playground; gymnasium._

The simpler and usual Potato Race is played in two forms: (I),
the players competing as individuals; and (II), competing as
teams. The following description is for individual competition;
the team game is described as Potato Race II. There are other
forms of playing the individual game; the one given here is
according to the rules of the Amateur Athletic Union.

The competitors should each wear a large number pinned across the
shoulders on the back, where it may be read plainly by the judges. The
competition is carried on in heats, as many players as the playing
space will allow playing in each heat. Potatoes should be used, or
blocks of wood are officially permissible. These wooden blocks may be
secured of potato shape, and are better than those of cubical form, as
the latter are apt to land on the corners and bound.

A starting line is drawn across the ground. At right angles to it a
row of potatoes is placed for each player in the heat. The potatoes
should be two yards apart and eight in number. (This is the official
number and distance for the Amateur Athletic Union; the number varies
in unofficial games, but should be equal for the different rows.) The
first potato should be two yards from the receptacle, which is usually
placed on the starting line, one beside each competitor. This
receptacle should be a pail, basket, box, or can. The official
dimensions of the A. A. U. call for its being not over two feet in
height, with an opening not over thirty-six inches in circumference.
In handicap events the starting mark is paid from the rear of the can.
The potatoes are replaced on the marks before the beginning of each
heat, the game in this form consisting solely of gathering them up,
not in placing them. There is no rule against tossing a potato into
the receptacle, but it is poor policy to do so, as it increases the
risks of failure.

The contestants start, as for a race, in response to the starter's
signals, "On your marks!" "Get set!" "Go!" The game consists in
picking up the potatoes one at a time and placing them in the
receptacle. The potatoes may be picked up in any order desired. A
potato dropped, however, must be picked up before another potato be
touched, or the player is disqualified. Similarly, a potato missing
the receptacle or bounding out of it must be placed in it before the
next potato be touched, or the player is disqualified. When all the
potatoes have been placed in the receptacle, the player finishes by
dashing across a finish line, a tape, or strand of worsted, stretched
five feet back of the receptacle. As in all races in athletic form, a
player is disqualified for interfering with any other competitor, or
for touching the finish tape with the hands or arms: the tape should
be breasted. The winners in each heat play a final race; or, with
large numbers competing, semi-finals before the finals. Where small
numbers are competing, those finishing first, second, and even third,
may be entered for the final trials. In case of a tie, both
competitors are entered for the next (final, or semi-final) heat, or,
if tied in the final heat, the tied competitors play again.

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