Race Director 101
A tool to ensure that all Race Directors have a successful race.

As with any event planning, the first step is to always begin to formulate a plan, or a framework of a plan.  The plan never has to be perfect, or final, but a drafted framework should be penciled onto paper which will become your working plan.

As time progresses the blanks and uncertainties will be filled in and the picture will be clearer and the outcome more successful.  Event planning is no different to any project planning in business.  In fact a business approach should be taken to ensure success.  So much time, effort and even money can be spent planning an event that you need to (have to) be successful.  Yes, you can be successful.

The following can be used as your initial framework to begin your race planning.  Remember, whether you are planning a 5k or a marathon, it's all about scale.

Race Planning Committee
So often forgotten is the race planning committee.  Many times one person is assigned to do all the work and ends up killing themselves in the process resulting in the work not being any fun at all.  Side note:  this actually should be fun.  Think about it, this is the time to meet new people, whether they are sponsors, partners or customers.  You need to have a planning committee.

Who do you need on your committee?

1.  Finance - # 1 and first, they need to be good at managing money and a person that doesn't always say yes to all expenditures.
2.  Sponsor Coordinator - This is the person who goes out and seeks sponsorships for your event.  This money will be used to underwrite the events expenditures, shirts, food, police, race timer.
3.  Event Logistics - Think about having someone for parking, race day registration, post race refreshments, on course fluid stations.
4.  Volunteer Coordinator - Someone to go out and find the army of volunteers you will need.  This person should probably even train and support them.

Pre-Race Activities
Here are some points your race planning committee should decide on.

1.  Date and Time:  Consideration of date and time is important to consider whether other events are already scheduled, what the weather conditions are like at the time of the year you choose.
2.  Location:  Where will you hold your race, public park, rural, city road, trail or someplace else.
3.  Permits:  Depending on where you hold your race, you may need to obtain permits to hold the event.  Permitting can take a long time if you are not prepared.  Ensure you give this aspect of planning plenty of time.
4.  Liability Insurance:  All events should have some form of liability insurance to cover your interests.  Many municipalities request that they be included on the insurance certificate so that their interest are also protected.  One day liability insurance is relatively inexpensive.
5.  Race Timer:  Many race timers schedules fill up very quickly, make sure you obtain one early on to alleviate the potential stress that comes with not having one.

Marketing
In many aspects of business you can perform everything badly, but just not your marketing.  Don't leave it too late.

Here is a listing of all the marketing channels you should engage in.  They are obvious, but they should be done.

1.  Website
2.  Facebook
3.  Twitter
4.  Event Calendars 
5.  Partnerships 
6.  Event Fliers 

Race Day Activities

1.  Race Course:  Set the course up early and as much as possible you may need to mark the course the evening before.
2.  Volunteers:  Ensure your volunteers arrive at a minimal 30 minutes early.
3.  Start/Finish:  Get the start and finish setup.  If you are using scaffolding of some sort get your vendor to set it up the evening before. 

Post Race Activities

1.  Tear Down:  Ensure you have your tear down crew ready to go after the last athlete has finished.  Many municipalities require tear down by a certain time in order to ensure the city street can get back to normal again.
2.  Race Results:  Try to get your race results posted to your website within 24-hours of the conclusion of your event.
3.  Thank You:  Often much neglected are the thank you email to the participants, the hand written thank you notes to the sponsors and others who have supported your event.