Race Directors
SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR RACE:
STEP 1: LOOK INTO VARIOUS LOCATIONS FOR THE RACE, AND FIND OUT WHAT IS REQUIRED TO GET PERMISSION TO USE THOSE LOCATIONS.
If you want your race to be at a park and only on park property, first talk to the City Parks & Recreation department or the County if it is a county property. If your race is on city property, talk to the city. There are also school, church, business, and other properties to consider. If your race route goes through multiple properties, you need permission from all of them. There are often fees for race directors to use various property, and sometimes you need to pay the police if they need to block off or direct traffic for you. Sometimes various property owners will let you put your race on for free or cheaper if it is for a charity, if it is very small, or if you are somehow going to benefit the owners in some way, such as giving them a portion of the proceeds or putting it on for them. Some property owners have so many race requests that they are less willing to allow you to put a race on or will ask for a fee that is too expensive. Others welcome races to their property.
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STEP 2: GET INSURANCE.
Many property owners will expect a million dollars of insurance. USATF.org offers race insurance of a million dollars for only $75 for the first 100 runners. It only increases a small amount as your numbers of participants is higher. This is much cheaper than using a regular insurance agency.
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STEP 3: PLAN YOUR ROUTE.
There are many websites where you can easily plan a route that will measure the distance of various routes you come up with. Googlemaps.com, MapMyRoute.com, and others will allow you to easily see some options that will save you hours of driving around town. Once you make a route that is the distance you want, make sure to drive it or walk or run it so that you can see if it will work. Sometimes these maps are out-dated and streets, buildings, and obstacles may make your route impossible.
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STEP 4: CONSIDER DELEGATING OUT RESPONSIBILITIES OF ORGANIZING THE RACE BY PURCHASING A RACE PACKAGE FROM A RUNNING STORE.
Some running stores offer a race package, where they will offer you some or all of the following: Time your race, post the results, provide equipment and/or set it up, such as cones, finish shutes, finish signs, registration signs, mile marker signs, bibs, water jugs, starting guns, etc, allow you to use their website and store to accept registrations, provide prizes, allow you to put a flyer(s) for your race in their store, and give you other suggestions and guide you through the process of creating a race from beginning to end. The rates they charge vary depending on the projected size of your race and how much help you get from them. Some running stores will only help you if you agree to only get assistance from their store. If this is the case, you need to find out what they will offer and make sure it covers all of your needs because you will be limited to only their assistance. Running stores vary in what equipment they offer and the level of involvement they will have in your race and things they offer. 26.2 offers a complete race package for $250 but the price varies depending on your race size.
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STEP 5: DECIDE HOW TO RECEIVE REGISTRATIONS AND/OR HOW TO TIME YOUR RACE.
You can accept registration on race-day only, by mail, online, at local businesses, in person, by phone, by e-mail, and at home. Providing multiple options for registrants increases registration, but it also makes more work for the race director. Decide what options will work best for what your goals are. If you choose to have a store or timing agency time your race, sometimes they will need all your registrations to be made on their website only or have you type them in if they are not made online so that the registrations will be automatically used at the finish to correspond to the runner’s name, time, age division, and gender to create quick results so you can easily find out who the overall and age division winners are, post results quickly, and conduct your awards ceremony promptly after the race.
If you are going to manually time your race, you can accept registrations from multiple sources. There are timing systems available for purchase as well.
TIMING AGENCIES:
- 262running.com, American Fork, fee charged, timing and registration
- Runnercard.com, Statewide, (Doug Padilla), fee charged, timing and registration
- Runners-Corner.com, chip timing
ONLINE REGISTRATION SITES (GREAT PLACES TO ADVERTISE AT THE SAME TIME):
262Running.com
No fee charged if race fee is under $15. Small fees if over $15 paid by race director.
Regtix.com
$1.oo + 2.8% of the cost of the event. For example, if your event is $5.00, the transaction fee is $1.14, which the participant can pay, or the race director can pay. If the cost of the event is $30, the fee would be $1.84, etc. You are paid on the 1st & 15th of each month.
Runnercard.com
Participants pay a small transaction fee or Runnercard will subtract the fees from your check after registration closes, based on how much each entry is. Your check will be mailed to you or you can pick it up after registration closes. E-mail Doug Padilla at doug@runnercard.com. Fees: <$5/transaction = $1.50, <$20 = $2.00, >$30 = $3.00. It costs more somewhere above $30, but I’m not sure on the higher rates yet. I think it’s $4.50 for $60 transactions.
Active.com
There is a $3.25 minimum per registration per person. The processing fee can be charged to the participant when they register online or can be absorbed by your organization. Participants get a discounted fee if they pay to join active.com.
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STEP 6: PLAN WHAT WILL BE NEEDED TO MARK YOUR COURSE.
You can have people standing at every turn as well as various points to assure runners they are still going the right way, which requires lots of volunteers or paid help, or you can mark the course in other ways, such as spray painting arrows, using cones, signs, flagging, flags, etc. Be aware that the closer to your event that you mark the course, the less likely it will be that your cones and markings will be removed. If you mark it the day before, your cones and signs may get run over, stolen, or re-routed, especially if near a school when school is letting out.
CONES, MILE MARKER SIGNS
There are sign stores that sell metal upright sign-holders for about $2-5 each. You can just tape your sign to it in case of wind, and laminate it in case of rain.
262running.com, American Fork
You can also buy light weight small cones at Walmart for around $1 each. But if it is windy, these cones may be blown around.
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FLAGGING, FLAGS
Flagging is the plastic ribbon used to create finish chutes, etc. This can be found at hardware stores.
Flags can be found there too (orange flags on metal wires 2 feet tall to push into the ground). These are great for marking courses along grass or dirt or snow since they resist the wind and are cheap to replace and are less likely to be removed by passers. They aren’t highly visible though, unlike cones.
CREATING A FINISH CHUTE:
To keep runners in order as they finish, creating a finish chute is imperative. These can be created by tying flagging to any objects that are sturdy enough to withstand the wind. You might try PVC pipes that fasten to wooden bases that can be built for very cheap. They can be easily taken apart for compact storage and they are light weight. Runnercard and 26.2 Running Co. can create shutes for you with tall, heavy plumbing cones. These heavy cones are quite costly, costing about $25 each at hardware stores.
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STEP 7: PLAN RESTROOMS:
Parks often require races to provide their own restrooms so that their restrooms are not overwhelmed by large numbers of users. Some companies will charge you less if you come pick up the port-a-potty yourself and haul it it with a hitch and ball. These individual stalls come on a permanent trailer that is easy to haul.
PORT-A-POTTY COMPANIES:
A Company, Tyler Kofoed, 801-264-120, www.OrangeRestrooms.com, tyler@acoinc.com
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All-Star Sanitation, Provo, 801-785-7354, 389 E 900 S
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STEP 8: PLAN WHAT SUPPLIES & EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED:
BIBS/Name tags (Mandatory if you are going to award age division winners or post results)
The advantage of using a highly visible number pinned to the front of the runner is that you can associate the number with the runner, and it is much faster to write down a number than a name. It also is very quick to find the bib for each runner because it is easier to organize them by number than to alphabetize names because there are only 10 numbers and 26 letters. If you take pictures of the event, it is also easier to identify each runner with a highly visible number on the front of the runner. Make sure to tell participants to pin the number to the front of their body, and not the back, and to use at least 3 pins so the wind doesn’t flip the bib upside down making the bib impossible to read.
Runner’s World (FREE in exchange for the e-mail addresses of your participants)
Road ID (FREE in exchange for the e-mail addresses of your participants)
Runcorner.com, Orem ($25/100)
262running.com, American Fork (call first to see if they are in stock)
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SAFETY PINS:
Craft stores, Walmart, and other stores sell safety pins. You can also order them in bulk from race companies for cheaper.
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PAPER CUPS/WATER JUGS/COOLERS (Mandatory unless you are at a location where drinking fountain is near)
Costco: 1000 cups for $20
UtahRunningClub.com has a 2-gallon water cooler you can rent for $1.
26.2 has a large water cooler for rent.
Village Inn in Orem is looking for races to bring ice water to to help promote their restaurant. They will set up a gazebo and table and bring cups and large coolers of ice water and will bring a couple people to pass out water to finishers. They will also give out discount cards and sometimes a free pie for a prize.
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START/FINISH/REGISTRATION BANNERS (optional)
26.2 Has a finish and registration banner for rent.
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LARGE TIME CLOCKS (optional)
Runcorner.com, Orem, You may rent their clock for $100 if they are your only running store sponsor.
262running.com, American Fork. This clock is about 5-6 feet long. It costs $3000 to replace it if you break it, so be careful with it. It comes in a case with a handle and is about 100 pounds. It usually costs money to rent it. If you get the entire 26.2 race rental deal it is $250 for everything.
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STEP 9: MEASURE YOUR COURSE:
Once you have planned a rough draft of your course using an online method, you should measure the course with a measuring wheel. These are available for around $25 at hardware stores for a 3-foot wheel. There are 1 foot wheels available, but the smaller the wheel, the less accurate your measurement will be because it will turn from side to side easier adding extra distance. Find out the conversions between feet and meters and miles and as you mark the course put something on the course so you can remember where the mile markers are. If you want to certify your course with USATF they will charge a fee and will measure it with a bike. This will ensure the length of the distance of your race is far enough. They will make sure it is AT LEAST as long as the distance you are claiming, but it may be longer than the actual distance. Plan if you will use tangents or not and make sure that runners are well informed on your website and at the race of whether they are allowed to cross the road to run the shortest distance on curves or if the course is measured only on the sidewalk or one lane only, etc. Having an accurate distance will make more runners happy and increase the satisfaction of the runners. Make sure that it is not dangerous for runners to cross roads or trails on either side before measuring the course. If traffic will be open to vehicles or other trail users, measure it on one side only and instruct runners to use only the side of the road or trail with traffic going in that direction, and not to use tangents. It can cause a lot of anxiety, confusion, and frustration for serious runners to hear mid-race from another runner or police man on the course that they need to stop using tangents or they will be disqualified. Especially if many or most of the other runners are using tangents or if the race ends up being longer than the distance it was supposed to when they don’t use the tangents. How ever you measure it, make sure runners can run it the same way. Giving last minute directions at the starting line is not the best way to inform runners of these rules because often not everyone will hear the instructions and sometimes the front runners will be doing strides or in the bathrooms or focused on their race and will not hear the instructions due to their heightened emotional state!
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STEP 10: ADVERTISE
#1 RECOMMENDATION: Get advertising help from Utah Running Guide: DETAILS: www.UtahRunningGuide.com/Advertise
Save on the COST and TIME of printing flyers and passing them out! Use online advertising instead!
Option #1: BASIC LISTING:
Get your race listed on www.UtahRunningGuide.com (about 2600 unique visitors each month) with complete and current information (excluding a logo) for only $10 (free if you have a prize for the top female in your race and will specify what it is).
Option #2: PREMIUM LISTING:
Get your logo and additional information listed about your race on the web page of the month in which your race occurs, with your listing in dark bold, and a direct link to your race with another logo on the main race page, www.UtahRunningGuide.com/Races, and an invitation to over 500 members of our facebook group “Utah Running Guide .com” that includes details about your race and a logo. See the details on the Advertising link above to see the benefits of the facebook invitation.
Create a website (only $10) or a free blog, such as at blogger.com and keep your race on it year-round.
It is helpful to list your results from the previous years so that people see that you have a legacy and experience. Also, runners like to run races that list their times on a website because it makes them feel good that you remember their performance and that others can see that they completed your race. It also draws people back to your website throughout the year when they want to refer back to the results, so they can see upcoming events you’re planning.
Get your race listed on all of the websites mentioned on the “Race Calendar” page (see the list at the bottom of that page).
Put your flyers in running stores near your race (see “Running Stores” link on home page).
These stores are some of the best places to advertise because about 95% of customers who come in are runners and most of them are interested in races, which means you are advertising to your target market!
Provo:
26.2 Running Company does not currently allow the hanging up of flyers to my knowledge.
Orem:
Runner’s Corner has a race center with a large section of wall next to the front door for race flyers including a few hanging flyer-containers.
American Fork:
26.2 Running Company:
has a small space on their check-out counter where a few flyers can be put, and they also allow you to hang flyers on their front and back doors and walls and windows.
Highland: Get Fit: new store.
They allow race flyers to be put on the counter but they want their store to look tidy. They do send out e-mails with many of the races they know of each month, so you can e-mail them your race info. They are considering creating a uniform board for posting races that keeps flyers organized and straightened. They let you hang posters in their windows.
Draper: Salt Lake Running Co:
is going green and won’t allow you to hang up posters or put flyers in the store
Sandy: Wasatch Running Center:
has a race area where you can put flyers and also puts them in the window and sometimes on the check-out counter under the glass.
Salt Lake: Salt Lake Running Co: has two stores.
is going green and won’t allow you to hang up posters or put flyers in the store
Race Director Etiquette: Every race director wants their event to have a large turnout, but supporting other race directors will help the running community more than trying to get rid of competition and will help you to develop good relations with people who you may want to help you in promoting your event some day. Allowing the community to see all of their options for races sometimes helps people to realize that they would rather run your race anyways because they can make a more informed decision. For these reasons, it is courteous to not put your flyer on top of another race flyer, or to hide other race flyers. This will help create a culture where other race directors to in turn will do the same for you. In fact, if you see that flyers are messy and scattered and unorganized, it would be to your advantage to straighten up a race center to make all the flyers neat and visible. When customers see a jumbled up mess of flyers piled over each other, it is overwhelming to them and they usually don’t even want to look at the race center. Often you can easily find a visible location for your flyer if you take down the flyers for races that have already taken place. This saves the store the hassle of keeping on top of that constant chore and sometimes helps the stores to be more willing to allow so many flyers to be posted in their stores.
Flyer & Website Suggestions:
Don’t forget to mention the following CRUCIAL information at the top of your website and flyers (and make it very visable):
1. The Date
2. The Time
3. The City and State
3. The Name of your race (no one seems to ever forgets this one)
4. The distance of your event, such as “5K”, or “1 Mile Kids Race,” etc. Don’t just put “Fun Run” or “Kids Race.”
5. The web address(es) where they can get more information and/or sign up, and/or a phone number and/or an e-mail address.
6. Mention if you have cash prizes or some other prize(s) for the top finishers. Even if your race is a charity event or just supposed to target families or non-competitive runners, you will find that often the competitive, serious runners who look for races with prize money will be one of your greatest sources of advertisement which will help your cause greatly. They usually have large networks of running friends who ask them what races they are doing, and often also advertise for race directors even if unintentionally by telling others about the races they run and what prizes they win.
Copy Centers:
Stevenson Genealogy, Bulldog Ave, Provo, UT: 4 cents per copy (white paper), 4.5 cents per copy (colored paper), 75 cents/cut
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STEP 11: PLAN PRIZES
IF YOU PLAN ON AWARDING TOP FINISHERS BASED ON PLACEMENT, MAKE SURE TO GET EQUAL PRIZES FOR BOTH TOP MALES & FEMALES (or make it somehow fair for females to compete for the same prize(s), such as subtracting time from their race or giving them a head start)
Only offering prizes to one gender is simply not fair and hurts female sports. Females deserve an equal chance to be rewarded for their efforts and hard work just as males do. Most runners expect that when you advertise a prize you are offering you will give it to both the top males and females, due to the obvious physical advantages that males have in running. The advantage of only giving prizes to your over-all winners regardless of gender is the convenience of being able to find the winners quickly and easily because you can hand them their prizes quickly right as they finish without referring to the results or having to remember to look for the top females mixed in with so many males, so it is easy to recognize them. However, if you do this you need to give the females the option of an adequate head start (for example, a 3 minute head start for a 5K) or a time adjustment, such as subtracting 3 minutes off a 5K time. If you still insist on giving out prizes to only one gender with no adjustment for females, you need to specify that in your advertising or when people ask about the prizes or you may get a few highly disappointed females at your race.
ADVERTISE WHAT PRIZES YOU WILL BE GIVING OUT TO TOP FINISHERS AS SOON AS YOU KNOW
In general, the higher your prizes, the bigger your race will be (assuming you advertise properly), the faster the top runners will be, and the farther people will travel from even around the world, in some cases, to run in your race. For example, the Utah Valley Marathon offers one of the largest cash prize purses in Utah, and they have grown in size in only their 3rd year and are now one of the largest races in Utah with over 1000 runners in their marathon and elites who come from around the globe. Most race directors do not mention what top runners will receive, so many runners assume there probably is no prize. Advertising a prize will set your race apart from other races and attract many runners to your race. Runners usually do not have time to call every race director to ask what the prize is, so saving them time trying to figure it out will help a runner who needs to make a decision on which race to run.
CLARIFY ON YOUR WEBSITE, IF YOU HAVE ONE, AND AT YOUR RACE BEFORE IT STARTS, THAT YOU WILL BE ABIDING BY NCAA RULES
It is important for race directors to become aware of and have a basic knowledge of NCAA prize rules for high school and potential and current college athletes. Most coaches, surprisingly, do not have an accurate understanding of the rules themselves and misinform or do not inform their athletes of the rules. Athletes who are or want to be on a high school or college athletic team are not allowed to accept any prize of any type if it has any cash value during the academic year. It does not matter if they are “in season” or not. They can only accept these prizes during the official summer vacation if the value of the prize is less than the cost of participation. These rules apply to athletes from the time they enter high school to the time they complete their NCAA eligibility in college, including any lapses in time between high school and college. Prizes such as gift certificates and other items that can be purchased count as prizes with a cash value. The only prizes that can be accepted are trophies, ribbons, plaques, etc. They can not donate these prizes to other organizations or people. The prize should go to the next runner who is eligible, who is the rightful recipient of the prize. Athletes who accept prizes against the rules may lose their NCAA eligibility and also jeopardize their team’s NCAA status, and may cause their team to lose the ability to compete in NCAA sports. Ask runners, before giving them prizes, if they are an athlete as has been described, and if they are, bump all prizes down to the next runners. Race directors should not withhold their prizes when NCAA athletes win because this is false advertising. Eligible runners sometimes expect to win the prize that they have earned and it is extremely unfair to accept payment to run in your race and then not give these fine and hard working athletes what they ran their heart out for. For more details on the rules see www.UtahRunningGuide.com/PrizeRules.
ENCOURAGE COMPETITION AND STILL KEEP THE SPIRIT OF FUN/CHARITY IN YOUR EVENT!
It is helpful to the sport of running and helps runners to improve their fitness and performance by creating an incentive to run quickly and to compete with each other. It is possible to have a fun race that benefits your cause as well as is a competitive event, despite the misconception that a competitive event will ruin the spirit of charity. If you want a non-competitive, laid back event, and don’t want it to be called a race, do not offer prizes to top runners. You don’t even need to time the event because saying it is just just a fun run and that you just want people to have fun, even if it is for a great charity. If you give out prizes either as a surprise at the finish or advertising in advanced after advertising as such, it is contradictory. If you offer prizes to top finishers, even for age categories, based on placement or time, it is a “race” and you are setting a tone of competition for your race. Offering prizes not only rewards and encourages runners in training hard, but it also helps bring people to your event and can be a “thank you” for their support. So it can be a win-win opportunity. The more you give the participants, the more they will give you. Most people are charitable, and want to give you more for your charity, but the race is the medium for facilitating this, and you are marketing a product in exchange for the donation. If you don’t put on the race and simply ask for donations, people wouldn’t likely donate as much, which tells you that they are there in part for the race experience and you need to keep in mind the point of view of the participants and the reasons they paid to come, which include more than the charity. This isn’t to be viewed as selfishness, just a part of business and the fact that people do not have unlimited resources to contribute to every good cause, although they are happy that some or all of the proceeds will be going to charity.
PLAN HOW YOU WILL AWARD PRIZES IF AN UNEXPECTED PROBLEM ARISES
Do not be surprised if the runners expect you to give them the prizes you told them you would and if they expect fairness in the awarding of prizes just because your race is a charity event. Runners may have a different reason for signing up for your race than just charity, but this does not make you exempt from offering them fairness. Prizes that you may think are not that big of a deal may be very important to a runner for many reasons. Some runners might be living in poverty and it might make a big impact on their financial survival to withhold a prize that you may think is menial. For some runners it is a big financial and physical risk and gamble to run your race in hopes of winning a prize to compensate for their entry fee, time, and the physical toll (running your race means they might not be able to participate in other races that day, the weeks surrounding it, or even that year depending on how physically demanding your race is, where they might have had a better chance of winning a better prize). Just because your race is for a charity does not mean that you can expect runners to be content with going home empty-handed or with a different prize than you advertised because a lack of planning on your part, or a mistake, such as accidentally giving prizes to the wrong runners and coming up short-handed. If you make a mistake or run out of prizes, or if some of the runners go the wrong way on the course, due to not marking the course well enough or a volunteer who misdirects or fails to direct runners the right way, make a way to give out double awards to both the top runner(s) who went the wrong way and those who didn’t. You might offer to mail out a duplicate of the prize(s) when possible, or offer a prize of equal value that is acceptable to the recipients. Do not expect that a runner should be willing to give up a prize to a young or elderly participant because of a mistake you make. All runners should be treated with equality. Good customer service skills apply to race directing, which include giving runners the benefit of the doubt and making sure that they get everything they earned, even if it is the race director who takes the extra expense. If there is a problem or a glitch that causes you to run out of prizes prematurely or something else that is a significant inconvenience, try to offer something to the participants to make up for the inconvenience if possible. They will go home happy, spread good news to their friends and neighbors about their experience, and return the next year with their friends.
DRAWINGS ARE NOT THE SAME AS RAFFLES
Raffles are ILLEGAL in Utah. If a participant in your race is automatically allowed to be in your drawing because they paid to be in your race, then it is legal, and is called a DRAWING, NOT a raffle. If the participants have to pay in addition to their race entry to be in the drawing, it becomes a RAFFLE.
STEP 12: PHOTOGRAPH YOUR EVENT (Optional)
You can hire a photographer, ask a volunteer to take pictures, take them yourself, or ask a professional agency to take pictures who will sell them to your participants (this may be free of charge to you). Pictures will bring people back to your website and will help people remember your race the rest of their lives, being a type of self-perpetuating advertisement for you. People also put these pictures on facebook and other social networks, which helps advertise your race even more. Putting a picture(s) in a newspaper or newsletter is a great source of advertising.
Photographers:
Bigacci Photography, Julie Gerszewski, bigacci.blogspot.com
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Post Photography: Cassilyn Post, Provo, UT, 801-377-2286
Tranquility Images (Photography), Jaime Hill, 801-694-1920
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T-SHIRTS, BANNERS, TRINKETS, OTHER PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS:
WMI, We Mark It Specialties, LLC, Randy & Tanya Bishop, 801-360-2307, 932 N 1140 W, Mapleton, UT 84664, randybwmi@gmail.com
JOIN THE USATF LONG DISTANCE RACE CIRCUIT:
The cost is $500, and they have many runners who compete in the circuit, and if 50 of them run your race for example, and you charge $20 per person, that is 50 x $20 = $1000. You usually have to offer $750 combined prize money to the top 3 men and women and masters, so in this scenario you would make $250 extra from the runners in the circuit, and more from runners who come from the advertising provided by their site and circuit runners who invite their friends. If your entry fee is higher, you would make the difference. Contact them to find out about other incentives to join. See usatf.org for contact information to find out what’s involved and other benefits.
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GENERAL SUGGESTIONS:
OFFER FREE ENTRIES (COMPS) TO ELITE RUNNERS
Elite runners, or “local elite” runners, will add to the prestige of your race. People will want to come to your race if they know that elites will be there. It is an honor for them to run with fast runners, and people will talk about your race for months and years to come and hear about it from other runners when they remember that “So-and-So” ran that race in “such-in-such” time with them. Your results will reflect a fast course, which is appealing to runners. Even if your course isn’t the fastest, they will see that it is possible to run fast times at your race, and it is likely that they will have fast runners to pull them along. Leading the race is a challenging thing, so these runners will be helping all those behind them to run faster, and when people run faster, they have a better experience and go home with happy memories of your race. Plus they can brag that they kept up with one of the elites for a while, or even ran the same race as them.
You can decide what kind of level of running ability qualifies for an elite comp. You can make the standard anything from Olympians to people who have ran a certain time in a similar distance within a year or two before your race or people who have won other similar races, depending on the size of your race and the volume of elites that you can accommodate or expect to attract. Advertising that you offer elite runners free or discounted rates and even lodging or other accommodations will bring in many elite runners to your race who will help to build up your race. Some elites will think that a free entry into a race is plenty of incentive to choose your race, especially if it is a very prestigious and large race, while other elites, particularly the faster ones, will look for races with some other prize(s) for the top finishers to attract them to your race, especially runners from out of state.