Marshals on a road event: the rules and the organisation
Published on September 18, 2026
On a race or a sportive that uses public roads, marshals are both an administrative requirement and half of your volunteer headcount. The two are prepared together. What follows is the French framework.
Who may act as a marshal
The rules are set by the French sports code and spelled out in the order licensing your event. The constant points, which every prefecture restates:
- the marshal is of age;
- they hold a valid driving licence;
- they are approved by the administrative authority, on the basis of a list of names that the organiser files with the licence application;
- they must be identifiable (an armband marked "course"), and carry a copy of the order licensing the event;
- at a fixed point, they use the two-sided hand sign of type K10, one face red and one face green, one per marshal.
Filing deadlines vary from one department to the next: often several weeks before the event. Take your own prefecture's application pack as the reference: it is the one that counts, and it states the deadline, the format of the list and the documents expected.
What a marshal can do, and what they cannot
This is the point to explain at the briefing, because it is counter-intuitive: a marshal signals a hazard. They have no police powers and cannot stop traffic on their own authority. They inform road users that the race is coming through. A marshal convinced they can "block the road" puts themselves in danger and the organiser in difficulty.
Organising forty junctions
The unit of organisation is not the team but the point: every junction, every awkward stretch, with its time window, from the first competitor passing to the sweep vehicle, margin included. Forty points is forty positions, each with its own need and its own hours.
Three practical consequences:
- The list of names comes out of your assignments. If they are kept up to date, the list to file exports as a file instead of being retyped by hand, and exports again the day three people change.
- Every marshal needs their own sheet: their junction, the time they take up position, what to do, the race control number. Printed, because at the side of a road there is not always a signal. See mail merge.
- You need replacements, named in advance on the most exposed points.
Equipment, counted at the same time as the people
One armband and one K10 sign per marshal, one copy of the order per marshal, high-visibility tabards, and a way of reaching race control. Count the equipment on the same list as the people: it is the same table, and it is what stops you discovering over breakfast that you are twelve signs short.
The briefing, the evening before or that morning
Fifteen minutes, sector by sector: exactly where to stand, at what time, how to hold the sign, what to say to a driver in a hurry, who to call. This is the moment where you make up for everything the administrative pack does not convey.
On the wider organisation of this kind of event, see also organising a sportive and organising a marathon.
Frequently asked questions
How many marshals do you need?
As many as there are points to hold, defined with the course and approved by the authority that licenses the event. On top of that, count replacements for the most exposed points and the ones that take longest to reach.
Can a marshal be under eighteen?
No: being of age and holding a driving licence are among the conditions the prefectures restate every time. Someone under eighteen can of course hold other positions on the event.
When does the list of marshals have to be filed?
With the licence application, within the deadline set by your prefecture, often several weeks before the event. Check your department's standard application pack, which states the exact deadline and the format expected.