Putting on a race

Who knew that putting on a race could be so complex and so expense? Well, to honest, I kind of expected it to be expensive and of course nothing in this world is easy any more.

But as I sat through our meeting this evening, I was just taken back by cost of every little item that it takes to put on a race and the number of people needing to be involved in the race planning and organization just to get it on the calendar. Let alone the number of people needed on race day.

The logistics in and of its self are mind boggling from the number of water bottles for the race to the number of porta potties needed - from the mapping out of the course to the breakdown of awards. And these are some of the easier discussion points. There is the entry fee to charge and flyers that need to be approved and so on and so on. The list of tasks needing to be completed is only slightly shorter than Santa's list of kids getting presents this year.

Is there wonder why most race directors have white hair or if they have any hair at all?

Yet, races continue to pop up like dandelions in my yard. Almost every weekend there is a new race on the calendar.

And apparently there is no shortage of individuals either who don't know any better or are just to plain stubborn to realize (I count myself a little of both) the sheer volume of work that goes into making a race successful.

A while back, I wrote about saying "thanks" in one of my post. Today, I say "thanks" to the race directors of the world for all you do that gives me a safe race to run and marvelous experience.

Sharing one thought at a time,

 

The Cool Down Runner