There have been a number of races in the area this past month. What made me think of the races is that they were all near a holiday. The Pumpkin Dash 5K was named after Halloween. The Thankful Turkey 5K was celebrating Thanksgiving. The Jingle Bell 5K is with Sights and Sounds celebration and Christmas. I wrote a ‘Small Town Race Directors Guide’ to give some direction to organizations planning on trying a road race for a fundraiser. There is one section that talks about selecting a date and time. The first sentence asked if the town you were planning on the race site had a celebration that drew lots of people. Working with the celebration organization that is the sponsor is a win-win situation. The race will bring in more people for the celebration and the runners will be able to take part in the celebration. Both will see an increase in attendance. Other possible holidays that work include MLK Day, Juneteenth, Patriots Day, Valentines Day, Presidents Day, and May Day — a few examples.
The only celebration that might have a conflict is New Year’s Day. The best advertisement is to “Start the New Year Off With A Great Run”. Most serious runners do not celebrate the evening before a race but New Year’s Eve is a different kind of celebration. Think how many of your friends want to drink a toast to the New Year. Running a race with a hangover is not the best way to shake that foggy feeling from the evening before. And since the sole reason for the party is to stay up until after midnight and welcome the New Year, which makes running with a lack of sleep and maybe a hangover, the runner will have to be a very serious runner to show up.
The celebration might benefit with a race the same day if it is more of a local event. High Schools have Homecomings and a football game or even a parade. Having the runners lead the parade is one way to draw some attention. Lockhart Kiwanis had a rodeo to go to after the race. Same with Wimberley. San Marcos has the Firecracker 5K with a fantastic display of fireworks that evening to watch. One year the race was held in the evening to make it easier for the runners to hang around for the display of fireworks. These are a few examples of selecting a date for the race.
