Road Race Disasters: What Are the Basic Requirements For a Good Road Race

to all that are posting, I wonder how many of you have actually been a race director, some of your posts about specific requirement are good and basic, but some of your requirements, although nice, are not possible to pull off. I suggest you actuall put on a race before you rush to critique others that have

An accurately marked course and starting on time were my two biggies when directing races. Granted these were small running club affairs with 100-200 runners, but the principle still holds.

Police on Motorcycles & alternating water/ chicken nugget stops

RDchallenge wrote:

to all that are posting, I wonder how many of you have actually been a race director, some of your posts about specific requirement are good and basic, but some of your requirements, although nice, are not possible to pull off. I suggest you actuall put on a race before you rush to critique others that have

Sorry, but I don't buy into the mindset of 'don't complain about a race if you aren't a RD'. We are paying for a service and have every right to complain about it if it does not meet standards or basic expectations. This is especially true of the large events that charge big bucks, are organized by multiple committees and run by profit seeking corporations.

Personally, I'm more than willing to overlook most things if I'm running a small local event. An accurate course is all I ask.

RDchallenge wrote:

to all that are posting, I wonder how many of you have actually been a race director, some of your posts about specific requirement are good and basic, but some of your requirements, although nice, are not possible to pull off. I suggest you actuall put on a race before you rush to critique others that have

For all of us who have never directed a race, what specifically are the requirements that are not possible to pull off?

Great Thread

You have got my attention.

This is the stuff that I live and die on.

I have a small company - Finish Line Road Race Technicians, started back in 1978. We work about 100 events a year from as few as 100 participants to 45,000.

Most of what posters are saying here is the foundation of my business.

Different size events have different needs but they should all of these basics:

Not in any order.

1. Safety, Safety, Safety

This includes the course and start/finish areas. Plus medical onsite.

2. Accurate Course

Get it Certified with accurate splits. This includes large signage for mile/km marks as well as directional. I just did a race that had 26 turns. The director told me a few days before that he may not have all of the volunteers this year. I produced large arrow signs 2 feet by 2 feet - Red on White. It took two hours to plaster the course. It worked well.

3. Start on time. If you don't it means that you are not managing the event prooperly. It's not rocket science. The only time a race should start late is due to an accident or other emergency situation. If you do, let the runners know as soon as possible so they are not standing around. In the 30+ years , less then 10 of our races did not start EXACTLY on time. The others where out of my control.

4. Accurate Splits Times.

Whenever possible we provide clocks for every mile mark. I set them myself. One race we did had a 10k, half marathon, and full marathon going off at the same time - we used 44 clocks with color coded mile markers

5. Water Stations (Pre, Post and on the course)

Have enough for everyone then double the amount of water and cups. Position them for the most efficient distribution.

6.Registration

Spread it out. Divide and conquer. Good signage is a must

7. Flow

Design your registration area, pre-start area, finish, and post finish area for the most efficient flow of people. Example: I design my courses to have a back loaded start (as often as possible).

8. Course design.

KISS. Need I say more! It get's complicated when you are limited to certain roads with specific start and finish locations.

9. Timing, Scoring and results.

Hire a good company. Many races compromise on this because they want to save money. You get what you pay for.

Races are also limited to what they can do at the race site by the size of the event.

It's not that difficult to post results for races with less then 10,000 at the site. You can always post it in gun time order and include the net time. Obviously trying to post in net time would require the timer to repost over and over again....silly. One of most valuable things at a race is a roll of tape for posting! Some races use monitors to display results....cool by not always practical.

Many events (ours included) provide kiosks with individual printed results (receipt printers). This is easy to do and the results are almost immediate (a few seconds after crossing the finish line).

Get the results online ASAP. We get the results online as soon as the awards ceremony is over. With today's technology every timer should be able to do it unless they can't get a good cell signal.

10. Awards Ceremony

Do it as soon as possible. This of course is a problem with longer races like a marathon. Few people want to stick around. As a general rule we start the awards ceremony as soon as the last person crosses - for a 5k around 1:15 after the start. We could easily start earlier but we think it's rude to the late finishers + some of our senior runners are in the back of the pack and we want them at the awards ceremony. Quick posting of results allows those who are not award winners to leave if they want.

Do all of the age group awards, not just the top. Get an announcer that is not in love with their own voice. Do the thank you's, announce the winners and get out of there.

Our awards ceremonies with 3 deep ever 5 years takes about 15-20 minutes max.

11. Get more then you think you need- then add more!

And the above is just the starting point. If you can afford one, hire a pro. And then again there are Pro's and ther are Pro's.

...and that is why I have been participating in David's races since 1980 with never a complaint, never a problem.(though he owes me an AG award from a 1982 Jones Beach boardwalk race).

David Katz wrote:

Great Thread

You have got my attention.

This is the stuff that I live and die on.

I have a small company - Finish Line Road Race Technicians, started back in 1978. We work about 100 events a year from as few as 100 participants to 45,000.

Most of what posters are saying here is the foundation of my business.

Different size events have different needs but they should all of these basics:

Not in any order.

.

.

.

And the above is just the starting point. If you can afford one, hire a pro. And then again there are Pro's and ther are Pro's.

Ashamed I missed this from Mr. Katz. Couldn't be more right.

1. Safety, Safety, Safety

This includes the course and start/finish areas. Plus medical onsite.

Basically, if David Katz, Tom Cooney or Chris Tatreau say you need something in a race, you need it. The levels of problems with their events, that I've experienced, are dramatically less than others. Not to say others aren't good, but these guys are the pros pros.

Katz is top notch---and I work with him at variety of events, from track (indoors and out) to something as big as the NYC Marathon. There is nobody better at the organization of things. That being said, I think David would also agree that even in the best of events, so many things can still go wrong. I think for the most part Competitor puts on well run races--might not agree with all their motives, etc but their track record is pretty solid with getting good numbers, providing well run races, and in general (numbers back this up) people keep coming back. But was Vegas a bit of chaos? perhaps. Water station issues? Not so sure....they followed common practice, and I am pretty certain if you take a survey of 44,000 folks after a race, you'll find a very similar percentage of runners complaining about nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, etc. But 44,000 people causing traffic jams, lack of flow, long walks back to hotel, chaos after, lines for water, bananas, etc.....happens almost everywhere once you get that many folks crossing a finish line. NYC is no peach either. After finishing at Tavern, you continue to march north for countless blocks to only gather your stuff, head out to Central Park West to fight crowds only to walk back at least a mile to your hotel. Is it a pain in the a$$? You better believe it. But want to run NYC? Its part of the experience. So I think some folks expectations are unrealistic. ANY event with 40,000 folks is going to have a much different feel than your local 5K with 400 runners. Its the difference of going to see U2 at a football stadium VS seeing your have cover band in your local watering hole. But I think some things should go without saying....accurate course. onetime start. well marked--for everything from bag drop, to port potties, to corrals, etc. And lastly, safety is always the biggest concern. So as many people complain about certain "headaches" that go along with a race, no one's safety should ever be compromised. And for the most part, 98% of races do a great job with this. The "perks"--those can be argued. The LetsRun demographic is much different that the Runner's World one.....don't want to spend 150 bucks for an entry, then don't. On the other hand, many folks want to see PitBull right after the race, many want to dance with bands every mile, some LOVE taking four hours to walk through an expo and pay 250 bucks on souvenir caps, shirts, water bottles, etc. But for the most part the well run companies will continue to thrive---DMSE, Competitor, NYRR events, Lifetime Fitness, etc have done well with BIG events, many nationwide, while others.....like lowly Devine have gone away. Thank goodness. And on a local level, support those who put on great local races, with all the right perks.....

And for all the internet message board folks who think they have all the right answers, try putting on a local race, or volunteer to help out a local Race Director. Its a difficult task in so many ways--and a costly one at that. But a race is only is as good as its staff and volunteers---and knowledgeable helping hands are always in need.

Thank you for the kind words.

But I have had my share of mistakes - hopefully not as many as some others.

I will share with you two of my secrets of success (just two!) -

#1. TIME

Give yourself enough time to set the event up (prior to race day and on race day).

My dad was a cook in a diner. He opened the store - 5 am. He was there at 3:30 am, turning on the grill and preping the food. No one wants to walk in a diner when it opens, order eggs and the cook tell you the grill's not hot yet.

Given enough time you can set things up correctly. You have time to solve problems. You rarely have time in that narrow window of the event when the first runner shows up to the start of the race.

I don't consider myself smart - just try harder then others. Sometimes it takes me a little more time to figure things out then the next guy. But with enough time anything is possible "infinite monkeys".

For a local 5k with a starting time of 9 am we are at the race site by 3-4am. Then done setting up our stuff when our client shows up.

#2 Look for Mistakes/Problems.

Don't wait for them to hit you in the face. Every event has problems - try to anticipate them.

One of the most fun parts of my job is solving problems at events. It's not that I'm smarter then others, it's because I'm old then dirt and have seen nearly everything that could go wrong at a race!

but David that's exactly my point....the VERY best is the biz still make mistakes from time to time--and many of those factors are absolutely out of a RD control. One overeager/misinformed volunteer/staff member can ruin an entire aspect of a race. I've seen head-honchos kicked out of Central Park with an all access badge on, I've been escorted out of the floor by MSG's security because my all access badge "wasn't good here", I've been turned away from the front door of Tavern with the 2nd place male in my possession! Standing right next to me! Of course folks were all wrong in these situations, but they truly felt like they were doing the right thing because someone told them that was their duty. Now those are extreme examples...but something as simple as one overzealous volunteer working a crossing area to a corral, and they start turning people away, that might kill the entire traffic flow pattern for everyone, and then big problems soon follow. Its funny the expectation the public has that ANYONE wearing ING orange jacket on race weekend should be able to answer every race question from busing to expo, to media credentials, to medical, to which start am at, to how to I track my husband, to where do I meet "Team Italy" after the race? Wow. So when everybody gets worked on a message board about problem A, problem B, problem C, etc etc, there's a WHOLE lot more that goes into race planning than simply stating "Race starts at 8AM...should cost 5 dollars...plenty of port-potties"

And David...you solve problems well. Perhaps the dashing tux you wear on the floor of msg that gives you all the extra knowledge? happy holidays!

To me it sounds crazy to show up 5-6 hours before a race to set up...but maybe that is why he is a pro race management kind of guy, and I'm not! : )

David Katz wrote:

For a local 5k with a starting time of 9 am we are at the race site by 3-4am. Then done setting up our stuff when our client shows up.

I took devious joy in reading about the DC Hot Chocolate disaster last week. Today I saw a google advertisement for Hot Chocolate Dallas 2012. Right on the front page of their website they are using the DC sellout to promote the Dallas race! The website is a little lacking on the race info, but heavy on the perks and goodie bag. I hope the Facebook complainers from the DC race forewarn the potential Dallas racers.

They don't appear to be scaling back at all either.

"Over 60,000 "Will Run for Chocolate" in 2011. Will you be among the 200,000 running for Chocolate in 2012?"

2 of the races I took part in this year.

The Avenue of the Giants Marathon

- significant road congestion led to many marathoners abandoning cars and running to the start (we had been warned)

Berlin Marathon

- Tiergarten a giant toilet due to a lack of porta-potties at the start. Men and women peeing anywhere and everywhere (sorry, no pics)

- way to crowded for midpackers - take a look

http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/feofano/DSC_9440-2-1.jpg

- big gap between water stations around the 20 mile mark

David, you rock, thanks for the responses on here!

To go back to Wejo's original post, in my book there is only 1 "basic requirement" which must be met by anyone putting on any road race, and that is for the event to be a safe event.

Everything else is window dressing. I have competed in, coached at, volunteered at, or produced somewhere around 1500-2000 races over the past 32 years. I have only felt that it was an unsafe situation a few times, and in those cases the race producers have gotten an earful from me. In one case, I was coaching at an XC ski race about 6-7 years ago. We could see a massive lightning/wind storm rolling in across the valley. It was early enough in the race where things could have been stopped, but for whatever reason the host chose to keep sending out starters 1 every 30 seconds. Sure enough, within 15-20 minutes all sorts of hellfire was released. We had trees coming down, lightning cracking all over the place. Seriously, what are people thinking?!

The other items David lists are all high on my list of things to get right, but every one is something that a good race (or at least a race I've enjoyed) didn't have in place at some point. For example, "accurate course"...I do certification measurements and produce races on courses that are certified. I think certification is really important and it's a process I have a big interest in. But I get just as much joy out of competing in and put as much effort into the Tuesday night summertime XC races we have locally that are known to be "5k". I also don't mind if a small local race doesn't go to the trouble of certifying a course, as long as if they say it's 5k it's pretty much 5k. If I want to compete in a race where I know positively wihtout a doubt that the distance is correct I'll race on the track. It's hard to screw up 12.5 laps = 5000m. On the roads even if you get it certified there is always the chance some well meaning volunteer puts a cone in the wrong place or directors runners off course.

One other thing that goes along with the safety side of things that I consider an essential from the RD side of my life, is to have EMT personnel on hand and in critical locations or have them informed and able to get to your course in very little time. Races are seeing more and more cardiac situations these days, not sure why that is but it certainly seems to be the case. In my book you have got to have EMTs or other trained personnel and AEDs available especially at the finish line or longer races.

One race I was a part of producing this year had the following philosophy: "We want you to have a great race on Sunday. But more importantly we want you to get home after the weekend and be able to have a great race next weekend."

David Katz wrote:

For a local 5k with a starting time of 9 am we are at the race site by 3-4am. Then done setting up our stuff when our client shows up.

I call B.S. on this, unless there's some extenuating circumstance surrounding that 5k (difficult to secure location, highly unusual course, or something). My team regularly arrives no more than 2 hours before race time, sets up and fires the gun not one minute past the advertised start time.

Granted, we do a fair amount of work before race day, but if you're showing up 5-6 hours before a 5k, you either have a very unusual 5k, are horribly lacking in volunteers, or you are terribly inefficient.

1. Accurate course.

2. Course is well marked. Don't make the runners guess which way to turn, or if they should turn.

3. Start on time. If you advertise 8:00, start at 8:00. If you're going to have speeches from the race director, sponsor, mayor, and benefactor, followed by the National Anthem and an invocation, start all that stuff well before the advertised start time so the gun can go off when it's suppossed to.

That about covers it for me. I don't care about any of the post-race stuff, and if I see that the awards presentation is going to take more than an hour or so after I finish, I get in my car and go home. I also don't care about t-shirts, finishers medals or age group awards. After 20+ years of racing, I don't need any more of that stuff.

How about an "a la cart" approach to entry fees?

Entry fee: $10

Want a t-shirt? Add $5

Want a tech shirt? Add $10

Want a finisher's medal? Add $5

Ect., ect., ect.