I started putting on races around 1980 and basically learned how to make a race a success through a series of mistakes made in the early races. Later I started helping other organizations put on a race to raise funds. I would meet with the group leaders in charge of the race and go over all the details that need to be done to put on a race. I asked several people to be by my side as we went over the necessary tasks that needed to be done putting on a race, following me as I ordered tee shirts, awards, measured the course, advertised the race and found volunteers to help with the race. Most were amazed at how much detail and different things that need to be accomplished a month or two before the race date. The number of details that need to be done prior to the race is a lot to remember for new race directors. I decided to write a guide for race directors to let them have a reference to these details and titled it, “Race Directors Guide” “Organizing A Small City Road Race.” I took it down to a local print shop and ran off a couple dozen copies. I was a good 40 pages long. I didn’t realize how much information was needed until I saw it all in print.
I can’t remember the year I did this, but it was probably late 1980’s or so. I was looking through an old copy and was amazed at how out of date it was. When I published the booklet, we used what is called the “card and bucket system” of determining the results after a race. We handed the runner a numbered card with the place finish on it. They would take the card over to a table and fill in their name and age and sex and then place it in a “bucket” that matched their sex and age. I can’t remember the last time we used the “card and bucket system” with the chip timing system that is so prevalent now. And since that was the standard back then it took up a major portion of the booklet. The need to rearrange things was necessary. The booklet also listed finding the award winners by tearing off the bottom portion of the runner’s bib that had their name and age and placing it on a coat hanger in the order they finished. Then going through the bib strips to find the correct runners and awards. Listed as another system was the “Numbered Board and Name Tag System.” We had a 4’ by 8’ Masonite board that was divided into 3-inch squares. We numbered the squares from 1 to 150 or 200. We would place a name tag on their finish number and read results from the board. We tried the “Age Graded System” that determined the winner by how close the runner came to their age and sex world record. You needed a special calculator that read off minutes and seconds and a booklet with a decimal on the record. We did about two races with this system, but it took time to determine winners as every runner had to be calculated. While these systems still work and can be used, they haven’t been used for many years. Changes to the booklet needed to be made.
The most difficult portion was in the cost of putting on a race today versus 35 years ago. Tee shirts and awards and entry fees have become much more expensive. With the difference in these prices the cost of putting on a race changed considerably. Tee shirts are no longer priced at $5. The other change that is necessary is the entry fee for the race. Entry fees of $15 have changed to $30 - $40 for a 5k and up to and over $100 for a marathon. This was the most difficult change needing to be made in the updating of the booklet. The different duties of the personnel needed to put on a race hasn’t changed that much. Registration people, direction people, course set up people and handing out awards are still basically the same. The big difference is with chip timing the results are printed out and the need to go through cards and buckets to find a winner is gone. The booklet is still in the re-write stages but making progress.
