Runners & 5k volunteers - I need your help!!!

[Genuine GA Peach]

I'm considering organizing a 5k for our church. I've volunteered at a race for several years, and I've run many.

so...anybody ever organize a run? Volunteer? If so, any advice will be greatly appreciated.

and runners - what do you like & dislike about the races you've run?

I'm leaning toward a turkey trot, starting in 2012. That should give me plenty of time. There aren't any turkey trots in this area, so it should be well attended.

[ktunes]

can't help you out there...i'm not much of a runner so i've never been involved much...but kudos to you for even considering...sounds like it would be a chore...is there some kind of running organizations you could contact for help?...

anyway, good luck...

[Deleted]

A couple of thoughts: Offer free T-shirts to the first X (50?) registrants. Make sure you have a good liability waiver for entrants to sign. Have people with water cups (and trash cans nearby) offering water to runners at the halfway point. Have enough bathrooms. This has been more of a problem for the triathlons I've done. I do not like waiting in line for 15 minutes and worrying about missing the start of the race. Have a "rain" plan. Will it be rescheduled or will it go on regardless? Who decides? How will it be communicated?

I'm sure I've missed stuff, but the good news is that you can probably find the Web sites of recent races and see what other details I've missed.

[Genuine GA Peach]

I'm going to ask the organizers of the race that I volunteer at for some advice. There are also a few Methodist churches that have an annual 5k, so I thought I'd ask them for help.

from my running experience (I try to run one 5k/month) and my volunteer experience, I have a little bit of personal insight. The scary part to me is getting sponsors. If we put the proceeds to a good LOCAL cause, I think it will make it a bit easier to get businesses to sponsor the run.

I know I can get contact info for the official race timer. To me that's important. I've run a few inaugural races that only had somebody calling times from the finish line with a stopwatch. I didn't really like that. I do use my own stopwatch when I run, but I still prefer to have somebody calling splits. And I gotta have that timing board over the finish line...that's my motivation to kick it up at the end!

oh...and no repeat course. I hate making 2 laps to run a race. I've run two 5ks and a 10k like that...ONCE. I never ran those races again because of that one thing. One of them is organized by a friend of mine in memory of his daughter. I'd love to run the race & support the cause (track scholarships for her HS), but I just hate the repeat course!

I've run a few out & back. That's ok, and probably what we'll end up with at this race due to the location.

THANK YOU for your help! And Ktunes...thanks for your kind words

[NancysSummerSip]

One of our town churches has a very successful Turkey Trot. It's a four-miler on Thanksgiving Day. It's called the Run 4 The Pies. The first 500 finishers get a pie (apple or pumpkin). One thing I hate about it that there's no limit on pies per family group. So if four kids from the same family run, and all four finish in the top 500, all four get pies. I know that fits the rules, but I'd prefer to see a one-pie-per-family limit.

Other than that, it's a great race. They give out long-sleeved shirts, which is pretty rare for down here.

Make sure you have enough water stations. I don't mind out-and-back course, but don't EVER run out of water.

Assuming you are on public roads, you will need the cooperation of the local police, along with an activity permit.

I really hate the stopwatch start/finish. I like timing chips (the wraparound ankle style, NOT the shoelaced style), but renting these is pricey. See if your local running stores or running clubs have them available and are willing to lend them to you. It's much more accurate and you get results posted faster than the stopwatch method.

Food/drink at the end: nice idea. See if local grocery stores will donate. Or local produce stands and specialty stores. Bagels, bananas, oranges, sports drinks are always welcome.

[Genuine GA Peach]

the lady who does the race times here has an electronic system where she inputs the bib number as runners cross the finish. Results are posted within 24 hours. She's awesome! I don't know how much she charges, but I'm definitely including her in the budget.

I like the Run 4 the Pies idea. We definitely have plenty of pie bakers at the church.

the course I'm looking at would not require the use of public roads (there's a state owned camp property next door to the church). If the camp will let us use their roads, we shouldn't need traffic control.

thanks, Nancy

[NancysSummerSip]

The pies at our race come from Publix, but I don't see why donated pies would not be a good idea. After all, if people buy them from your church bake sale, why not receive them as a prize? You could do a Peach Pie 'n Turkey Trot. ;D

[Deleted]

Make sure the start of the race is clearly identified, organized and the starting "gun" is loud enough. I was in a first year event this year and most of the comments I heard about that race was that people had no idea it had started. LOL.

Other comments were:

- that there wasn't enough "stuff" as promised. It was an Easter race, so they were supposed to have bunny ears for all runners. They did not have enough. There were not enough T-Shirts. Also they did not have enough food (as advertised) afterwords for all the runner.

- that there were not clearly identified mile markers with time

I'll probably think of some others/

[Deleted]

Make sure the start of the race is clearly identified, organized and the starting "gun" is loud enough. I was in a first year event this year and most of the comments I heard about that race was that people had no idea it had started. LOL.

Other comments were:

- that there wasn't enough "stuff" as promised. It was an Easter race, so they were supposed to have bunny ears for all runners. They did not have enough. There were not enough T-Shirts. Also they did not have enough food (as advertised) afterwords for all the runner.

- that there were not clearly identified mile markers with time

I'll probably think of some others/

[Deleted]

As a novice runner, I concur on the requests for a loop route. Out and back is no fun, and I don't like the idea of getting lapped by the fast people on a repeat course. Separate the walkers and the runners at the starting line. Runners hate having to weave their way around walkers. I'll defer to the more seasoned folks on the rest of the technical course stuff.

As a generally greedy person, I like novel giveaways. The pies are a fun idea. Most runners will acquire a drawer full of free race tshirts pretty quickly, so the races that give away something else are nice. I've gotten running gloves, a toboggan cap, a "technical fabric" shirt, a Christmas ornament - all fund and different.

I volunteered with an annual 5k for a number of years back in my old home town - in that regard, I would caution you not to try and use this as a fundraiser. The one I worked with was technically a charity event, but it cleared maybe $100 in a good year. The goal was really to not lose money. If you consider the volunteer hours that go into planning it, if your goal is anything other than community engagement and PR, you may be disappointed.