Having been a long time runner, off and on coach and on a few race committees (including being a RD), here is my take.
First, I looked at the site to see about setting up an event. The site says $6000 in start up costs. Okay that is not a ton of money. My question is how to I recoup that if I do not charge an entry fee. Okay, it looks like I go out and get sponsors that could cover the start up costs,
Second, I need to have a venue/park. In some areas that can be a pain and costly. Think about using the same park every week. Some park department ground crew is going to freak about the damage to the turf. People living in that neighborhood may complain about the parking and the mess folks leave behind (it happens a bit where I live when events are in the park).
It looks like you sign up once and get a bib that has the transponder in it and use that bib the entire season (why not every season?). That saves some money and the issue of packet pick up each week. Pick up the bib at the first race or at the local LRS (if one is willing).
Next issue I see is that you are going to need some staff. Where are these volunteers coming from each week? So many places have runs already that need volunteers so in some ways you are competing against them. Obviously price (free) wins out.
What staff do we need? I am going with start/finish in same location.
1) I figure a person or two to hand out bibs for the newbies.
2) A couple of people to run the timing system (I assume that is part of the $6000 set up cost).
3) Courses marshals and those to mark the course (if you are were going to be in the same place each week it might be worth checking into permanent signs/markers and work with the parks dept on this). Not sure how many as it depends on the course.
Finally, the person looking to do this is going to spend a lot of time each week on these free runs. Not sure about you, but I think that is asking a lot. Heck I figure each week will be 5 hours of work for 52 weeks (assuming you do not take some weeks off). That seems like a lot to ask of a small group of people,
Then, will people really value something that is "free" or will it just become me and a few folks standing around each week for a few folks to run? It seems to me that in the US, the move is toward events with a twist (mud runs, paint runs, obstacle course runs) or bands and T shirts.