Race directors- what are you doing to try and come back post Covid?

It doesn't matter what race directors want/do. It's the governments who will make rules on what and what is not allowed and they aren't going to permit a huge crowd of people to assemble for something that is not essential at all. They're going to be one of the last things to come back.

What might be interesting is if a government were to not ban mass sporting events specifically but instead to only rule broadly that social distancing etc must be enforced. In that situation the race directors would have a bit of leeway to find workarounds for example you could stagger the start and make it a chip-timed run not a gun-timed run. That would eliminate the congestion at the start of the race but would take away a lot of the comradery. And you would have a situation at the finish line where the first runners to finish have to wait a long time to find out if they won or not. Perhaps in large races you could have the elites first and then stagger the rest of the runners. But then cut off times would have to be more generous if you're taking e.g. an hour to release everybody.

The above is common in triathlons to ensure safety on the swim leg, so it's not that far-fetched for the future of marathons.

This guy is still Ok .

https://twitter.com/JasonGendron16/status/1256627703383547905

Race Director Central wrote:

There won't be racing in 2020. No way you can start a race and have hundreds, if not thousands of people all corralled together.

Stop being so selfish.

Time Trial and post it on ista.

Or do a virtual race with a live app like viRACE last Friday a guy ran a sub 15 minute 5k on a race there. Plus it is free for everyone including if you´re a race director and want to add an event

No race directors needed.

Choose location.

Set distance.

Set date.

Announce on social media.

No fees.

No awards.

No aid stations.

No permits.

No insurance.

No participation medals.

No mass crowds.

No jobby hoggers.

No charities or causes.

Winner knows who or she is, all the rest go home devastated.

T.M.A.D.D.D.H.A.S.F.N.E.

A.G.I.A.N.

.Trump2020OP-the real one......... wrote:

No race directors needed.

Choose location.

Set distance.

Set date.

Announce on social media.

No fees.

No awards.

No aid stations.

No permits.

No insurance.

No participation medals.

No mass crowds.

No jobby hoggers.

No charities or causes.

Winner knows who or she is, all the rest go home devastated.

T.M.A.D.D.D.H.A.S.F.N.E.

A.G.I.A.N.

Obviously you know nothing about the sport. How do you think the elites get paid to compete?

I moved all my races to be virtual races and still charge outrageous fees!!!

That Memorial Day 5k that was going to $35? Guess what. It's now a $35 Memorial Day Virtual 5K!

That July 4th 10k that was $50? Still $50 for the virtual race!

I might move my September Half Marathon ($75 until June 1, then $85 thru September 1 and $100 on race day) to a virtual race. Am I going to reduce the entry fee? Heck no?

You think I'm in this for the love of the sport? Gtfo. I'm here for my pocketbook!

I got t-shirts and medals to mail out.

People still want to race!

(On a serious note, I've never done a virtual race and don't plan to. I also don't understand how you charge more than $20 for any distance of a virtual race and that's only if you are sending out shirts and medals to the participants/finishers).

buck up, buck-o wrote:

Gamim wrote:

Why can't we race?

The coronavirus mainly target the old and fragile people.

Maybe put an age limit for runners allowed to race, like under 50.

right...and how do you think the old and fragile get it?

from thick-headed selfish people racing in mass groups and spreading the infection then going to the store and spreading that sht everywhere the old and fragile get their food.

This exactly.

In all this talk about opening up everything for the healthy people and letting the old/sick/immune-compromised quarantine themselves it is forgotten (or ignored) that in order to protect the vulnerable members of society we have to also quarantine the perfectly healthy members.

If I (perfectly healthy and not worried about COVID-19 personally) go do a race and catch it I very likely won't even know but I could spread it to anyone else I contact that isn't so lucky. For that reason it is irresponsible for me or anyone healthy like me to participate in mass events like racing.

Partly true.

Government plays a role in whether these things will be allowed to happen.

I'm guessing in some states some races start to happen.

Hopefully, it does.

Still, pure folly.

Other part of Truth.

Neither the governments, the naysayers, nor the germaphobes will dictate what path the toll of this viruses takes.

No government shut down meat packing plants.

The virus did.

No workers left standing trumps any order, opinion, or regulation. It just is. It's why there will be a run on meat this week, regardless of politics, stringent regulation, or lack there of. No meat, no burgers.

"Open up the economy!!"

.....Declarations, won't matter. What you believe, want, or think should happen will prove irrelevant.

Virus is still in charge.

Most Georgia races have been cancelled, postponed or turned virtual. However, a few races are still scheduled to be held. Here's how one Georgia race director is handling a 5K for this Saturday.

"It's been a long haul getting through these past few months, and what's to come may feel a little daunting as well. But there's a few things we know...We want to get out and we don't want to put ourselves in harms way. We can do both. We've reworked and rethought out everything we do so that you feel and be safe.

Before Georgia and the rest of the country shut down in self-isolation, we put measures in place to protect you and your family while out on the course. We are going to keep these measures in place as we re-launch our favorite events. Here is a quick run-down of some of what we are doing to keep our racers safe:

Small events like our racer-favorite Treasure Runs, where racers are spread out along the course, will restart but will remain “contactless” (no hand stamps)!

Larger races are under evaluation, but if they are held, we will continue to use the following practices that best comply with CDC guidelines:

Extended Racing Hours: Instead of checking in from 7:00 - 8:00 am for an 8:00 am start, we'll be extending that out to encompass all of the wave starts. We may be starting from 8:00 am to 10:00 am.

Marking the ground: We'll be putting X's and arrows on the ground so you'll be able to keep your distance.

Net Chip Timing: Race times will be based on when you cross the start and finish line to avoid the need for bunching at either chute.

Wave Starting Lines: Racers will line up in groups of 10 or less so everyone can space out and follow CDC guidelines. Because of chip timing, your overall race time will not be affected!

Contactless Finish Line: Along with getting your chip time when you finish the race, we will also use our handheld tomcat scanners for a contactless time verification. We will not collect bib tags, and will instead get your name as you cross to verify finish order.

Awards: Medals will be passed hand to hand, and we will not put them over your neck.

Single Use Items: Bib pins will not be recycled, and be sure to bring your own hydration as we are not providing hydration along the course.

Masks: We are asking that everyone bring & wear a mask for before and after the race (NO...you don't need to wear it while you run)

Every single event that we host in-person is under careful evaluation to make sure that we can provide the safest environment for the Five Star NTP racing family. As always, use your best judgement and do what you need to protect those you love.

For those who need to maintain social isolation: we will miss seeing you on the course, but there are still many virtual events going on! Join in on the corRUNa Challenge, or join the virtual division on upcoming races like the Super Mom 5K/10K.

We know that the past few months have fundamentally changed your life in small or big ways. However our foundation of family, fun, and fitness will never change. We may be wearing gloves or facemasks, and we may not be able to high five you after you cross that finish line but we will still be cheering you on!

So shake the dust off of your running shoes and feel the sun on your face. We can’t wait to see you again!"

(On a serious note, I've never done a virtual race and don't plan to. I also don't understand how you charge more than $20 for any distance of a virtual race and that's only if you are sending out shirts and medals to the participants/finishers).

You can do a Virtual race free on the viRACE app

My Spidy Senses Are Tingling wrote:

Banff Marathon cancelled their race and won't refund anyone's money. That's going to alienate a lot of runners and I think you will see a lot fewer people wanting to pay for a race because of that no refund part.

I think race directors are going to be chickens next year and have everyone wear surgical masks in marathon even though the science shows the coronavirus has very little effects on most people.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/mobile/runners-demand-refunds-after-banff-marathon-cancels-event-withholds-entry-fees-1.4924048

The Race directors who say , "Im not taking the loss , you will take the loss" . These races will have some ill will . The Sun Run basically shut down its Instagram account because of angry runners .

They are deciding to keep the 3 million dollars of race entry fees .

Outside air is much better circulated than breathing in the same recirculated indoor air as everyone else.

Indoor track may be gone for good.

Bad Wigins wrote:

wejo wrote:

I'm hopeful that 1) it can be shown that there is very little chance of catching COVID while running a race outdoors.

It's been shown a million times over - but not on TV. Both the politicians and media are bending and twisting the science in absurd ways to try to save face from their overreaction.

Within another month or two they will declare their "cautious" phased reopening scheme a success and tell you what heroes they were.

You’re still on this overreaction thing? Perhaps you underreacted with 2600 cases max.

We had a half marathon scheduled for April 11, and we had been working on incorporating these elements (and more) into the production plan. Of course, with the timing of things we ended up putting that race on hold for now, but we are hoping we can make it happen this summer with the alterations to "business as usual" in place.

This race usually draws about 1000 runners. Due to a narrow spot on the usual course from about 1.3 miles to 1.8 miles we split the field into 2 start waves, 600 starters at 9am and 400 at 11am. It's a point to point race. We usually have chip timing at the finish only - i.e. no start mats because it only takes 30-35 seconds to move all the starters past the start line. We do a 2-hour gap between start waves in order to deal with busing runners to the start (economically, it would cost a few thousand $ extra to bus everyone at the same time, and this race we try to keep the entry fee down) - and also to avoid having leaders in the 11am start wave fighting their way through the back/middle of the pack of the 9am start wave. With a 2-hour start gap a 1:15 finisher in the 11am wave only catches 9am wave runners who are slower than 3:15 to finish. If we did say a 15 minute gap between waves it would be miserable to be one of the fast runners in wave 2.

For this year, we had planned to go to an "open" start line with chip mats at the start. Runners could start any time between 9:00 and say 9:30. For the first 10 minutes we planned to allow only a max of 10 runners to start every 15 seconds. When we ran on-course scenarios, we felt that would spread runners out over the first mile pretty well - and of course deeper into the course things spread out even more. Then after the first 10 minutes runners could start whenever they want, and we planned to make announcements in the start area to encourage starters to go solo or in small groups. The only issue we saw was if a lot of runners decided to wait until the last few minutes of the start window to go.

We also had changed the course this year (due to part of the traditional course being closed) so the first mile, usually on a road, was now on a bikepath with only 2 blocks on a road and we could easily cone off a runner's lane. The rest of the course is about 2.5 miles of roads in a quiet development in the middle of the race and the first 5 and last 5 on a bikepath.

Timing and the finish results order was going from gun to chip this year.

For the finish, we had figured we'd minimize "stuff" at the actual finish. Bottle of water and go. Whatever it takes to minimize crowds, gotta make it happen. The one thing we hadn't figured out was how to eliminate spectators. This race doesn't draw tons, but it's a bad look if you have any kind of congregation now.

Post-race, we usually finish at a brewery (sponsor!) and have a party on their grounds. Due to the course change we weren't going to be able to finish there anyway, but we had worked out with them to have a longer post-race party, still with food and drinks. With the need to cut even that back, we were planning on giving runners food and drink coupons that they could use any time over the next 30-60 days. It wouldn't have the fun post-race vibe as usual, but at least as a runner you get a little something for the effort.

We don't usually have awards at this race - sometimes small stuff, but that's not what this race has been about. But of course finishers still like seeing their time and where they placed. Our timing contractor posts things in real time online, so that's an easy shift for us to move to (vs posting on site).

We've rescheduled this race for "earliest summer date possible" and will need about 30 days lead time once we get the government go-ahead, to get volunteers, get our contractors back on board. Fingers crossed that with a number of changes to the usual plan that we can safely host this one later in the year.

Could you imagine if NASCAR races allowed all the fans of the elite down on the race track into the event.

The thing to do is have some test races. There has to be somewhere in the world where this could be pulled off.

no out of staters for most races for a while. 14 day self-quarantine will be way of the future.