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What do you like to find in a race?
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Yeah, but all those things are free samples. It's not like the organisers have gone out and chosen and bought them thinking 'this'll go down well with the runners post-race'. Though I have to say I did quite enjoy the two individually-wrapped prunes from VLM 2013.
oops, sorry for the double quote there... new to the whole quote thing!
Would've been more interesting if you'd had to take off an item of clothing each time...
One more thing....
8) A reasonable start time. After working all week I don't appreciate having to wake up stupidly early on a sunday morning just to run for 40 minutes. Think of runners who have to travel a long way, they have to get up even earlier! Knackered before the race has even started.
Organisers should charge a goody tax for people putting their shitty leaflets in. If they want to put a flyer in the goody bag, they need to donate an item into the bag that is actually of use. Electrolyte tabs, or nuts, or a drink, or a banana or something - Goody bags are full of shite no-one cares about, this way you get the best of both worlds.
"Good organisation" is all very well, but what?
Firstly, marshal the start pens properly. If necessary, ask on the sign up form what their most recent race PB is for ANY distance. This will at least give a better indication running through some simple algorithms to give a likely estimated finish time to put them in the right pen. Never raced before? Start at the back pen. If runners are smart enough to make an accurate finish prediction than they can BS there way through the form anyway.
Secondly, marshals at the finish. If you know there is only enough for one bottle of water per runner, make sure only one bottle of water is taken from a runner. I ran the Bristol 10k last month and there was no water to be found at the end. Disgraceful.
Thirdly, bag storage. If you want to offer it, make sure you have enough people to suit the demand. And HAVE A SYSTEM that everyone volunteering there knows and uses. Bupa 10k's bag drop and collection was BRILLIANT! Make the bag collection part of the finish funnel and it naturally manages the queues.
Enough has been said about toilet facilities. But races always need more.
I also echo peoples thoughts on an interesting course - where possible make it spectator friendly and maybe designate cheer points. Plus a good finishing straight off road that can get some crowd and atmosphere around it is a must.
Massive car parks so that I can park this.
Its a taxi for my club mates.
Toilets unlimited.
Marshalls who aren't bored out of their minds.
Tin of booze in the goody bag.
🙂
Its worth no more than a Vauxhall Corsa. No one wants the things.
And a one or two year ban is mine for the taking right now.
But I think you may have detected my standards have slipped over the last hour or so. Top marks.
🙂
+ toilets
age group prizes
accurately measured course, well marshalled/sign posted
accessible by public transport
I really don't want a big cotton T-shirt as I'll never wear it
Personally I like getting a technical T-shirt after the event. But being female and not very large they so rarely fit me. The only ones which I have that fit are from Edinburgh Marathon and The Grizzly. I've stopped taking them at my local running events in Bristol as they are like tents. If gender specific T-shirts are difficult to organise then having an extra small option will mean that people can wear them and provide advertising for your event for future years
Be honest about what people can expect in the race - I'm thinking more specifically of ultras here, but some of it could equally apply to marathons etc:
Don't promise sandwiches and hot drinks at every check point, and then just not bother to provide any at all.
Don't say on your website, 'flat easy course with pb potential' putting lovely photos of flat trails in, and then when people get there its running up and down mountains.
Don't say 'a hot meal will be provided for every finisher'...and then it turns out to be a half polystyrene cup of soup.
If it says 'medal for every finisher', then yes, we do expect a medal for every finisher, even my mate who took 5hrs to complete Edinburgh marathon last year.
If its on a shoestring, run by volunteers, minimal support, bring all your own food etc, then please organisers, just tell us, we will appreciate it all the more
. Just be honest, I would rather that than be strung along on the internet by big promises people cannot deliver.
I do like the guy from Events to Live (do a lot of events in Surrey) who stands at the finish and tries to shake everyone's hand...
toilets toilets and more toilets.
also in the Barcelona marathon they had people with massive pots of vaseline along the route especially the second half which was AMAZING!
@Peter Collins - i've been to an ETL event and was impressed by that too.
Thank you everyone for such an amazing response! I am the Marketing Director of the Cyprus Marathon and due to the fact that 28% of last year's finishers were from the United Kingdom I thought it will be nice if I got some of your views.
26 people expressed their views:
11 - Toilets
8 - Organisation (Marshalls, Well-Marked Course, Signs)
6 - Fluid Stations & Finish Line Drinks
6 - Free Parking / Venue Accessibility
6- Baggage Area
5- T-Shirts
5 - Scenic Route
4 - Results Service
4 - Medals
3 - Punctuality (Start Times)
3 - Cash or Trophy prizes
3 - Goody Bags
2 - Start/Finish Venue
2 - Atmosphere / Entertainment
2 - Refunds
1 - Foil Blankets
+ Gibbet to string up the head phone wearers!!
^ This bloke certainly seems well organised - I like him!
SirGeorge - if your race reflects the comments I doubt there will be many complaints
Now wouldn't it be great if that utter tosser from the British 10k could come on here and do the same thing?
They were nothing to do with the race, they just wanted to rub vaseline on people's chafed bits..............
Brief your marshals well. Be clear about what they're expected to do for runners and what runners will expect from them and how much runners will (or will not) be aware of. They're the chaps out on the course, who could make or break a runner's race by directing them the right way or offering a tiny bit of much-needed encouragement at a crucial point. They need to be aware of what the course looks like from the runner's point of view so that they can direct them effectively. No-one imagines that marshals (and I include all volunteers in this) simply know what their role is, but the odd race I've been to recently seems to have left their volunteers to get on with dealing with runners' entries and queries with not much clue how to go about it or who to ask! Oh, and no marshal should ever say to runners "not much further to go!" ...unless there really ISN'T much further to go!!
T-shirts that fit the larger gent... Too many races now are giving out technical T-shirts where the XL is the largest size and to be honest is now more than a 42 inch chest. Not all runners are slightly built (maybe all the good ones are) and I am very frustrated by this. In recent times I've had tech t-shirts from the Grizzly, the Moray Marathon, the Hartland Heartbreaker and yesterday the Stickler - all off which are too small.
Short of losing 3 stones (I am trying...) I feel unfairly dealt too.
Would love to grab a shower then head straight out on the beer. I managed to grab a cold shower at Chester Marathon last year but after a all others I've had to go back to my hotel or head home first.
The finish line.
I'm relatively new to races, so for me TECH TEES!!!!!
I ran a race organised by Montane so was expecting a decent t. The one I got was made by Fruits of the Loom. Now, their heavy cotton tees are great for the money but the tech tee is absolutely awful. I'm in a quandary on whether I should just chuck it.
Impressed to be asked this question!
-Toilets
-Technical t-shirts with the event name printed large and proud (much better than a medal in my opinion)
- at the aid station, water in bottles or those water bag thingies
- bottle of water at the end
I completely agree with AndyRuns
mile markers and well signed..
no goody bag
no medal,don't feel right its only a running race
if costs can be cut with all the waste you see at races then some of the money made goes to charity.
not even botherd about drink stations as most manage when on training run,we all want different drinks and fuel..
its nice to have a good finish line
I keep all my race numbers write date and time on back as a memo
toilets
headphone ban
I have run two marathons, Brighton and Edinburgh. Comparing the two, Brighton was the better one. It had a much better expo, pre-race drinks/gels, and also the finish was an event to itself. I felt Edinburgh's lack of post-race atmosphere keenly, and was not sure of the direction of the baggage or toliets at the end, although I did find them fairly quickly.
If you ask me what was the better event, I would say Brighton without hesitation. But Edinburgh was well organised (despite its ridiculous stance in printing the results initially). I would pay more for Brighton, but the things that made it better are an added on and not essential.
A illusionary line that I can x twice, once at the start and once at the finish.
Book trunk did not see your post