Duties of Head Umpire:
ARTICLE 1. The duties of the head umpire shall be:
a. To instruct the umpires as to the rules and violations in general and as to the special track conditions and special regulations the games committee or appropriate referee established for the meets;
b. To place umpires where they can best judge possible violations;
c. To secure and clarify from the umpires the facts of all apparent violations of track rules;
d. To report all apparent violations of the rules and incidents of concern to the referee;
e. To check proper placement, height and weight of the hurdles (when the games committee has not provided hurdle inspectors); and
f. To instruct, supervise, and receive reports from those appointed to serve as lap scorers.
Duties of Umpires:
ARTICLE 2. The duties of the umpires are to detect and report, in writing, without waiting for a protest, all apparent violations of the rules to the head umpire. In doing so, they do no assume responsibility for disqualification – only the referee can make a disqualification. A yellow or white flag shall be made visible as soon as the umpire’s area is cleared to indicate the umpire’s judgment. Each umpire shall use a yellow signal flag to indicate apparent violations and incidents of concern. A white flag should be raised to indicate that no apparent violation has occurred. In races of 5,000 meters and longer, the use of white flags is not mandatory.
Before the start of relay races, a yellow flag shall be held aloft at each zone until the competitors at that zone are ready. A white flag shall then be raised.
Note: Umpires should be highly qualified and available in sufficient numbers to carry out their duties properly.
Placement of Umpires:
ARTICLE 3.
a. The head umpire shall be stationed, or move from place to place, during a race so that all possible violations may be seen and thus augment umpires’ reports with personal information.
b. The following plan is recommended for placement of umpires in track events:
1. Umpires shall be given a chart of the track on which each umpire’s station is located for each track event, and flags to indicate whether violations have occurred. Each umpire must cover the assigned station for each race.
2. During races around the track, one or more umpires should be stationed so as to observe violations on the turns, on the backstretch, and at the finish. Although it is not the responsibility of timers or judges of the finish to report violations, the referee may, with propriety, seek and weigh their observations in making a decision.
3. During straightaway dashes and hurdles races, at least two umpires shall stand behind the starting line while the others are at intervals along the track.
4. To judge baton passes in relay races, four umpires shall be assigned to each passing zone. Two shall stand on the inside of the track and two on the outside and sight along the staggered zone lines to ensure that the baton is exchanged within the passing zone.
a. Note: In the 1,600-meter relay, one umpire shall be palced at a mark 40 meters (131 ft., 3 in.) [10th 400-meter hurdle mark] from the beginning of the exchange zone. When athlete approaches this 40-meter (131 ft., 3 in.) [10th 400-meter hurdle mark], the umpire shall raise a white flag indicating that outgoing runners must maintain their positions per Rule 5-8-4.