You are forgetting that the hobby joggers that make up the majority of road race fields are there for the participation/social aspect. They are not there to race or run hard, just finish. Shorter races are just not gonna work with that crowd. All you would end up with is small group of kids, high schoolers and maybe some young adults. There are already track races for those age groups so what does having road races add?
bumpuds wrote:
I think it would be cool but not as short as you’re saying. Maybe a series of 2k-4k races would be successful, that’s a good combination of speed and endurance but still long enough to be “worth it” like some other posters were saying and fairly easy for non runners or more recreational runners to accomplish. And it would have to be a series with cumulative points, I seriously doubt a stand-alone 2-4k race would ever see much success. It may also work better as short cross country rather than short road races but the thread is about road racing so I guess that is irrelevant.
First thing I would do would be to race a distance people actually understand. 4k? 2k? nobody races that distance or cares about it.
Les wrote:
You are forgetting that the hobby joggers that make up the majority of road race fields are there for the participation/social aspect. They are not there to race or run hard, just finish. Shorter races are just not gonna work with that crowd. All you would end up with is small group of kids, high schoolers and maybe some young adults. There are already track races for those age groups so what does having road races add?
The 50-59 age group for road miles is very competitive and certainly not a group of young adults.
doping apologist wrote:
How much are you willing to spend to run a mile on a closed course?
It's cheaper to block off less than a mile of roads (you can double back at some point and use the same road to finish the race than it is to block off several miles for a longer race. I think people would pay $20 to do a road mile, there are already big road miles across the country that have a higher fee than that. You're largely paying to pay police to be present at the closed intersections and for traffic department to place the barricades and cones. Smaller amount of roads means less expenses there. A street use permit is likely a couple hundred dollars. So you could get this done in a lot of small towns/cities for $2k or less to block off a few blocks or a little more. $20 entry fee, you need 100 people to do it and have no frills. Get another 100 people to pay for timing and other race equipment, and another 100 people to pay for post race stuff... So you can make it worth it with just a few hundred people paying $20 each.
A few years ago I looked into starting a mile race; met with the local Chamber of Commerce and the Police Dept.
The $2k guesstimate for police/public works cost would have been off by a factor of close to 7 in my case. Needless to say that quote ended any further discussion.
SLG wrote:
The start of your ordinary road 5K/10K is already chaotic and sometimes borderline dangerous, when the starting line is not wide enough, and/or the race organizers do not do anything to get the little kids off of the front row. I would not participate in a one mile race with these same conditions, as the risk of getting injured would be too great.
Kind of confirms my idea that most distance runners are afraid of speed. They're afraid of running fast, mainly because they can't and it hurts to do more than the 10k shuffle at first, so they live life in the slow lane, making up things that might happen if they go too fast.
fisky wrote:
There are no short road events because no one would show up. Overwhelmingly, what I've heard from recreational runners is "I'm just getting warmed up at 5k" or something to that effect.
They don't want to run the mile or the 800 meters because... IT HURTS. IT HURTS A LOT!
People think running a marathon is tough, but the pain of running a 5 1/2 hour marathon can be endured because after a while the endorphins kick in and it's a matter of slogging along with a run/walk to finish. Yes, it's tough, but the pain is entirely different from the near-death experience of an all-out mile or 800m. Most recreational runners aren't willing to go that deep.
Case in point, I was injured and sitting out an adult track workout with a successful D1 runner and he remarked, "Ever wonder why these runners can beat you in these workouts, but you beat them in a race?" I replied, "You and I are different. We can handle the pain." He nodded in agreement.
You say recreational runners don’t want to hurt or go deep into the well. Why would anyone doing something for recreation want to go into the world of pain an all out 800 provides?
let's get this started! wrote:
SLG wrote:
The start of your ordinary road 5K/10K is already chaotic and sometimes borderline dangerous, when the starting line is not wide enough, and/or the race organizers do not do anything to get the little kids off of the front row. I would not participate in a one mile race with these same conditions, as the risk of getting injured would be too great.
Just separate everyone based on times. You could have a schedule like this:
Heat 1 - seed times under 4:30, starts at 9:00 AM
Heat 2 - seed times from 4:30-4:49, starts at 9:03 AM
Heat 3 - seed times from 4:50-5:09, starts at 9:06 AM
Heat 4 - seed times from 5:10-5:29, starts at 9:09 AM
Add more heats as necessary to keep the heat sizes manageable. Sure, you'll get some people who'll exaggerate their seed times, but having three 5:10 guys in the sub 4:30 heat won't cause an injury hazard to anyone, nor will the following heat have to deal with overtaking them.
The Harrisburg Mile (Harrisburg, PA) has a simile set up and is pretty popular.
Les wrote:
You are forgetting that the hobby joggers that make up the majority of road race fields are there for the participation/social aspect. They are not there to race or run hard, just finish. Shorter races are just not gonna work with that crowd. All you would end up with is small group of kids, high schoolers and maybe some young adults. There are already track races for those age groups so what does having road races add?
Shorter distance races would appeal to the hobby jogger and instant gratification crowds since you could do them on a whim with little to no prior training. Jog your mile, then stay for the post-race events (live music? beers and beer miles? maybe even some carnival games at the finish?). You could also have a post-race raffle. Every finisher is guaranteed one raffle ticket, and the faster you are in your age group, the more tickets you get.
Having road races also adds more racing opportunities and variety. Most of my races would still be on the track, but I'd love to race a 1K and a mile on the roads a few times a year.
Can be cheap wrote:
doping apologist wrote:
How much are you willing to spend to run a mile on a closed course?
It's cheaper to block off less than a mile of roads (you can double back at some point and use the same road to finish the race than it is to block off several miles for a longer race. I think people would pay $20 to do a road mile, there are already big road miles across the country that have a higher fee than that. You're largely paying to pay police to be present at the closed intersections and for traffic department to place the barricades and cones. Smaller amount of roads means less expenses there. A street use permit is likely a couple hundred dollars. So you could get this done in a lot of small towns/cities for $2k or less to block off a few blocks or a little more. $20 entry fee, you need 100 people to do it and have no frills. Get another 100 people to pay for timing and other race equipment, and another 100 people to pay for post race stuff... So you can make it worth it with just a few hundred people paying $20 each.
The Frederick Market Street Mile in Frederick, MD is held in conjunction with a street fair, so much of the course is already closed off. The race is essentially the opening event of the street fair.
This is an excellent idea. Depends on the swag, and location , $20 to $30
$50 Burbon Street Burbon mile