10 steps to a successful race

I had a silly story teed up for this week’s newsletter about a time from my early days with Run The Day.

Instead of boring you with it, I decided to call an audible and share 10 steps to planning a successful race. I figured it would be more helpful than a story with my corny jokes.

Plus, I get asked quite a bit about how to start a race. While I wish that I could talk to everyone who is in the early stages of race planning, I unfortunately am only a single human being with limited time.

So, I figured the next best thing would be to write a blog post. You can read the full guide to planning a successful race here.

Selfishly, I much prefer talking to people than pounding my keyboard. But this week, I did not mind writing too much, so I just cranked it out (with the help of awesome teammates!)

With that introduction, please let me know if I missed a step (you can simply reply to this email). The blog is a living document and the goal is to make it as helpful as possible, so I am 100% ready to push my ego aside and revise the article based on the wise feedback that we receive from our community (I know that many of you have been directing races since before I was born!).

With that, here are 10 steps to planning a successful race:

10 steps to planning a successful race

1. Clearly define your race goals: are you raising money for a cause, strengthening your community, promoting health and wellness or remembering a loved one? Maybe it is all of the above. Regardless, identifying your goals will help you to plan and concentrate on what matters the most.

2. Establish a budget: build a budget to save on costs and ensure that the race generates money. If you are looking for high level guidance, download a quick and dirty race model that I built.

3. Select a date and venue: the right day and location can drive strong attendance and prevent logistic issues.

4. Build your race committee: clear responsibilities allows tasks to be handled efficiently while minimizing last-minute chaos. Consider assembling a race committee with folks covering the below roles. The below roles can be combined, shared or outsourced depending on the size and bandwidth of your team. They can be volunteer or paid positions depending on the size of your race.

   • Race Director: the CEO of the event. This person quarterbacks the planning process while being held responsible for the event’s success.

   • Volunteer Coordinator: recruits & trains volunteers.

   • Sponsorship Sales: secures financial and in-kind contributions from sponsors.

   • Marketing Manager: generates awareness, promotes the event and drives runners to register.

   • Race Day Operations: handles course setup & race-day logistics.

   • Registration Support: manages registration platform & runner communications.

5. Create a timeline with a detailed checklist: start 3-15 months before race day to allow plenty of time to accomplish everything.

6. Set up registration: I am biased of course, but folks tell me all the time that Run The Day’s platform makes registration super easy.

7. Develop a winning marketing strategy: combining digital marketing with personal outreach and offline guerilla tactics is a great way to attract huge crowds.

8. Secure sponsorships: identify potential sponsors, craft a compelling sponsorship proposal, reach out to decision makers and close deals!

9. Prepare for and execute race day logistics: thoughtful preparation and focused execution creates a seamless race day.

10. Thank everyone: following the race, send thank you notes to participants, sponsors, volunteers and everyone who contributed to a successful race day.

Organizing a successful race is not easy. Hopefully these 10 steps make it a bit more manageable. If you are looking for additional guidance, read my comprehensive guide to planning a successful race.

If you organize a race for your community, thank you! The world is a better place because of it.

-Ian

Read Write Run: a great school race

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