How to Host a Successful Road Race

Road races, whether they are a 5k, 5 mile, or marathon have become an institution in this country.  Viewed by individuals and organizations alike as a way to bring people together to accomplish goals, either by competition, exhilaration of the finish, or raising funds for charities. Road races are more influential than ever.  We all have our favorite race and reasons why it is our favorite.  Is it the post-race refreshments, a scenic course, or incredible SWAG that gives us these feelings, it is different to everyone.  I was asked to post on here to give everyone a little insight as to what are the basics to making a successful road race.  As part of my job I time races for Greater Cleveland XC Running, Racing, and Promotions.  We time an average of 30 races a year, including Friday Night Lights, Captains’ Run, Red Bird Run, and do promotions for many others including the Lake Health Series.  I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to smooth successful race.  As much as I would hate to admit it even as we grow we have made mistakes of our own, so as I learned the hard way hopefully you won’t have to. 

Ok, so Rule #1 for success is that you have to be different:

Anyone can throw together another weekend morning 5k but how will you differentiate yourself from any number of other races going on at that time.  Even changing the time of the race can be that IT factor.  Friday Night Lights is our most successful race.  It is held on a Friday night (obviously) under the stadium “Lights” at Mentor High School.  The race doesn’t start until 9pm.  This gives it something that this area has not seen.  It pulls people in from over an hour away because the course is also quite fast.  This makes for a good marketing tool because it is not what people are used to. 

On to Rule # 2 Timing:

I’m not talking about chip vs. hand timed.

This is the age old story of David vs. Goliath on a Sunday morning.  We all know what we are doing that 3^rd Sunday in July…  That’s the Johnnycake Jog.  It would be hard to have a successful expansive race on that day, or even the day prior.  Yes, sure you can have maybe 50-100 people but it will be hard to get much more than that because nearly 3,000 of North East Ohio’s running community will be gearing up for its biggest 5 mile.  So use a race calendar and figure out what days are good days to hold your race…  It may just be the thing that gets you the numbers you need.

Rule # 3 Sponsors:

Sponsors are crucial to a road races success.  They hand you the money or supplies you need to fund your race or make it runnable by anyone and all they ask is that you put their logo on the back of a t-shirt?   Sounds like a fair trade to me.  A very good race director will spend months in advance readying for their race including gathering all the necessary supplies which include, food, water, awards, door prizes, shirts, timing, and course prep.  Sending out letters, e mails, or phone calls to local establishments is a great way to get backing for your race.  Most places will donate something, at least some cash so you can afford timing for your race, or food for after.  So hit up those businesses you know of, your friends’ businesses, and the ones that are in direct correlation with your race.  So to use Johnnycake Jog again, the course runs right past the Target on rt. 20, well Target donates thousands of bottles of H2O, also volunteers and promotion of the race.  Pretty smart. 

That brings me to Rules # 4 and #5  Workers and Course work.

I lump these together because the course work is done by your workers.  
 
So, there are ton ton ton of high schools in lake county.  I cannot even begin to count them.  These are a great place to get workers,  if you were unaware most high schools require a certain amount of volunteer hours for graduation, and if they don’t Colleges like it on high school transcripts.  Your local XC or track teams are usually your best bet, but if you got other sports, you could pull in some people that wouldn’t normally go to a road race, because their kid or friend is volunteering at it.  This is a trade secret so don’t post it on facebook that I am telling you, but it is your number one way of getting kids to volunteer and the community familiar with your race.  Now course work is probably more important than #5 but the first 4 rules are basic necessities.  So if anyone has gotten lost on a course before, you know how frustrating it is.  MARK YOUR COURSES PEOPLE, you can’t depend on police, or volunteers to know their way around your course, but runners are usually used to reading arrows if they are visible enough.  There are some people out there with poor senses of direction so you won’t always be able to please everybody, but go through it with someone that has not run your course before and see if they can get through it, also make maps available, then they can’t blame you for their mistake!

There are other keys to having a successful road race, but every race although the same at its core, is ultimately different, so it sometimes takes a year or two of bumps to get to the point where you can spend most of your time marketing it and less time preparing because you know your Do’s and Don’ts.  

Follow these basics and you are definitely on your way.  - John Distler

p.s.   I did not cover timing because this is an informational blog, not an infomercial blog.  If you want to talk about timing you can email me at distler@secondsoleohio.com