Hosting a Great Race

Road Races are more popular than ever, if you are thinking about holding a 5K to raise money for your organization there are lots of things to consider.  Such as budget, date, price, police, location, water, volunteers, sponsors, food and beverages, registration form, registration website, timing, course, and many other things.

The following is some information that could help you decide to host a race (or not!).

The following link is a document written by some folks on how the entire race process works.  It is a great resource on the entire process. Check it out.

Here is another link to some Race Director Resources from Gallager Fitness in Oregon.

www.RRCA.org has some great information for race directors and could be a source for insurance if you don’t have any.  Check out their “Guidelines for Safe Events” ,”Resources for Event Directors“, and “Race Director Code of Ethics”.  You could also take their Race Director Certification course.  US Track and Field www.usatf.org is another insurance source.  You can check out the certified course in the area via USATF and have your event sanctioned.

Also there is a Guide For Race Directors from Rainbow Racing.  Written by owner Wally Egger, the Rainbow Guide for Race Directors provides an overview of how to effectively score a road race, with emphasis on chute design, staffing and function.  Also included is a planning section for organizing an event.  Rainbow Racing is a great resource for race supplies (bib numbers, pins, scoring supplies, and lots of other stuff)

There are many more resources on the web all you have to is search.

One thing to think about is the date.  Saturday’s Spring and Fall are really busy times in the area for races.  It is not uncommon to have two races on a Saturday morning.  While it is OK to do so, it can affect the overall attendance.  March-April is typically “full” and Late Sept-October-Nov is the other prime dates.  June to September is usually hot but other areas have shorter (2 mile) afternoon runs (New Orleans & Baton Rouge).  The afternoon runs are usually a series of runs.  Other areas also have runs that have formats such as “Pick-your-pace Run” (runners guess their pace and awards are given based on closest to pick); “Skirt Chaser 5K” Boulder, CO (women have a 3 minute head start over men), Fat Boy 5K -Baton Rouge (clydesdale division where additional awards are given based on weight classes) and The Mile is even making a comeback.

This leads to timing and scoring of the runners.  CRRC does offer timing directing on a limited basis and rents a timing package to assist in timing, contact Kevin Smith for details.  The previously reference Rainbow Racing Guide has some great information on how to time and score the race.  This method is very budget friendly.  Additionally, Webscorer (www.webscorer.com) is a new “app” that you could use with our rental timing package to host registration, calculate results, and post results.  There is a timing company in the area (Cajun Timing), that can manage anything from registration, timing, scoring and post results.  Contact CRRC for details of the rental equipment or question about timing & scoring.

If you would like to have your race information appear on our web calendar you can use this link to have your race listed. Optionally you can use RunSignUp for all your online registration services by creating Full Race Listing.