THE OPS MANUAL

Anyone who knows me knows I like to put EVERYTHING in writing. In our industry, there are so many details and so many moving parts that documentation is critical to succeeding in this business. Sharing of information with your race committee can sometimes make or break your event. The more people involved in the race who knows what is going on in your event the better. A race director who holds all the information close to their vest is doing a disservice to everyone.

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NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION STRATEGY TIPS

Everyone has their own long-term goals and objectives that may frame their New Year’s resolutions, so we won’t impose our opinions by telling you what you should or shouldn’t set as your own personal goals. However, we do have some tips that may help you with keeping your resolutions and not giving up on them only a few short weeks into the new year.

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FIELD SIZE LIMITS: HOW ARE THEY DETERMINED?

Real estate. This is one of the single biggest challenges many races face given the current incredible and amazing growth of our industry. Where do you put all these people? Demand is far exceeding available space for many races – look at the BAA Boston Marathon, the TD Beach to Beacon, the Mt. Washington Road Race, and the New Balance Falmouth Road Race, to give just a few examples.

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TIPS AND TRICKS: HEAVY LIFTING

More often than not, runners arrive to the race site about one hour before the start. Everything is usually all set up by then. Do they ever wonder how that all happened? Who set up the scaffolding and truss, what about the photo bridge or the bleachers and all the barricades and fencing? What about the tents and staging and the sound system? Who moved all the pallets of food and water into place with forklifts? Contrary to popular belief, it didn’t all just fall out of the sky…or did it? So, who exactly does all of this “heavy lifting” at road races?

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TIPS FOR DEALING WITH ROAD RACE MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS

No matter how meticulous your planning, sooner or later something unexpected is going to occur that is going to require you to make on-the-spot decisions. Veteran race directors Dave McGillivray and Sean Ryan offer some tips on what to do (and not do) when disaster happens. 

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WATER STATION MANAGEMENT

Lately, I’ve been running in a lot of road races in preparation for the World Marathon Challenge (in fact, when you read this, I'll be a week from landing in Antarctica for the first of seven marathons). I haven’t participated in this many races in such a short period of time in 20 years. Back then, however, I was running fairly well, like in the 6-minutes per mile range. Now I’m closer to 7-minutes or even 8-minutes a mile. It’s a different experience running with the masses versus running closer toward the front with the faster and more competitive folks.

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RUNNER CLINICS

When I'm hired to direct a race, the client will often ask, “Do you think we should put on a clinic for the runners, too?” I am always torn as to the best way to respond to this. I’ve been to many clinics that were well organized and well attended but I’ve also been to as many or more that bombed, especially in terms of attendance of participants running in the race. It can be incredibly embarrassing to both the organizer and the presenter to be talking to an empty room with only six pigeons and three squirrels present.

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