Race organisers...and race runners
3 watchers
Nov 2021
10:58am, 22 Nov 2021
108 posts
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olde english
do we have many race organisers rattling about here? I could do with some advice...i've just picked up organising a local fell race for next summer. I've been around long enough to be confident on how to put a good old fashioned race on from the view point of the runner and i ve slung toegther lots of unofficial get my mates round for a running bun fight so got timing nailed. However..... the official box ticking. Starting from scratch. For starters 1. it's looking like im going to have to do pre-entry...what system do people use? Had a rummage about amongst all the various companies i ve entered races with b4 and im thinking sientries? The race entry is traditionally only £5 entry and dont want 2 change that so trying to keep any 'admin' fees to as low as possible. if i get the FRA license, the insurance is free, already own tape, finish tokens etc. ta for any advice offered 
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Nov 2021
12:08pm, 22 Nov 2021
7,600 posts
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Surrey Phil
Hi OE. I organise a small 10k with the intention of keeping the costs down. The biggest expense is that of a medical provider although, if you get a few quotes, you can often get something much less than a lot of them will give you. Don't forget to get a Race Adjudicator. Both are named requirements in order to get the race licence. I get my UKA multi-terrain race licence via RunBritain. Being multi-terrain or fell, a course accuracy certificate is not required which will save you about £150. RunBritain also accounts for about a fifth of our entries. Being a community event, we do allow paper entries as well as the vast majority are not affiliated runners. I wish you all the best with the event. |
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Nov 2021
1:59pm, 22 Nov 2021
109 posts
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olde english
cheers for the info SP all stuff i can add to my list of things to do some homework on
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Nov 2021
2:47pm, 22 Nov 2021
21,510 posts
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DeeGee
Hello. I organise an annual weekend running festival which is designed to break even. I use ARC for my multi-terrain races because they allow dogs and my event is designed to be sociable. Your event may have different needs. ARC membership is £50 a year, and there's a fee starting at £25 for the permit itself. It's a sliding scale depending on how many enter, and you pay £25 before the event and the rest afterwards. If you're looking in the £5 entry and don't want to increase it area, then I think you might struggle with a race entry solution. I used EventEntry this year, Craig's brilliant and has been very supportive, and he'd charge you 50p if your entry fee was 4.99, and £1 if it was £5, so you'd need to think about whether you could afford to swallow that or not. I might change that next year as I've started to use chip timing, and might get them to do my entries as well. That's increased the cost of the whole event, but it's easier for me. Timing is now my biggest single cost, followed by medals. But I guess nether of those elements will be on your radar? Our local XC champs have taken entries online this year using a google form and with people sending money via PayPal. That's probably the most cost effective solution, but is also very time consuming. |
Nov 2021
10:44pm, 22 Nov 2021
132 posts
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paulcook
The FRA have a good list of contacts, including a couple of race officers, who might be able to give you some advice. Can't be of much further help, though a couple of people I know who have organised races, seemed to start with checking / getting landowners' permissions. |
Nov 2021
12:57am, 23 Nov 2021
15,818 posts
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rf_fozzy
Not sure you need a race adjudicator for fell races I don't think. As paulcook says, the fra has lots of good advice Worth posting in their forum too - be more fell specific than on here. There's quite a lot of UKA/TRA/trail/road/xc stuff not relevant for fell races. As paulcook says, No1 for you is landowner permission and possibly Natural England permission (takes 6months if you need this - you need to checkas many more places do than used to). Not sure some fell races actually get permission even though they should... No2 would be race hq and parking. Pre-entry - for fell races - take or leave it. You'll need to offer EOD to keep fell runners happy though as some won't want to pre enter. Pre-entry does make life easier for you on the day. I have a spreadsheet system I use for rapid results processing. Takes me about 15mins for ~150 runners to generate provisional results. Whichever system you go for, it just needs to work for you - sientries are ok, but check how expensive they are. For our orienteering races, we use Fabian4, but there are plenty of others. If you're small enough (<250 for a 5mile race) which you probably will be, you don't need chip timing but you will need a timing mechanism - I've just got several ex-parkrun race stopwatches from very helpful fetchie parkrun directors for our club fell races. You'll need a number caller and a scribe, plus a timer. For redundancy if you have enough people, you should double up caller and scriber. Think about marshal safety - particularly any summit marshals. And where you're going to have first aid provision (s/f only?) We use club members with first aid rather than contract out. But for a major orienteering race I'm organising in Feb, I'm likely to contract out. Mountain rescue? You probably at least need to let them know the race is on. Route marking? Partially marked? Navigational only? Finally, you can never have enough marshals. Which race is it? |
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Nov 2021
1:06am, 23 Nov 2021
15,819 posts
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rf_fozzy
Oh, you'll need a robust system for knowing who's started and who's finished - fra advice is clear on this since the inquests. Usually, collection of numbers (do not post out numbers - must collect on the day) is taken as evidence of starting, but some also double check with an initial pen to check numbers (not great in covid times). The double recording method is usually robust for finish recording. Also if a long race you need to monitor progression, recording numbers at certain checkpoints. Then an emergency action plan in the case of missing runners (or marshals). Has to be robust and is where fell (and orienteering) races are more complicated than road/xc etc. I've got an event safety officer for my O event in Feb who's covering much of this |
Nov 2021
11:11am, 23 Nov 2021
34,240 posts
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Foxy
Good luck with the event.
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Nov 2021
5:52pm, 23 Nov 2021
112 posts
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olde english
Thanks all. All v useful stuff. The race is the winster wakes fell race, v low key only 4ish miles (admittedly bloody hard miles) and well established which mks everything a lot easier as i have no intention of changing things. I do have plans to twin it with a new race which i may put on where i live in another village 3m away, sort of a peak district well dressing wk running party... well its an excuse to have a party in our villages.
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Nov 2021
6:13pm, 23 Nov 2021
2,170 posts
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MudMeanderer
Usually, collection of numbers (do not post out numbers - must collect on the day) is taken as evidence of starting, but some also double check with an initial pen to check numbers (not great in covid times). The double recording method is usually robust for finish recording. I've run CTT events, and they require something similar; all riders must sign in and sign back out or are not allocated a time (numbers are usually reusable ones too). It possibly doesn't work quite as well for big mass start events (though BC also require a sign on), but isn't too faffy. During COVID times the suggestion is bring your own pen, but it's of mixed compliance. |
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