Race Directing

I am in charge of a race called Cupid's Chase 5k, which is this Saturday. This is part of my job as the Marketing and Special Events Coordinator for the City's Parks & Rec Department. Maybe if it were my only job, I wouldn't be such a big ball of stress right now, but it's not. This, among other important work deadlines, has left me running through to-do lists in my head in the middle of the night, and made me just a tad frazzled this week. To be honest though, I put a lot of it on myself. Obviously, I have a vested interest in running. So, if I am going to put on a race, I am going to put on the best race I possibly can.

This week has been crazy. I've barely been on social media at all (which is an indication that I'm really busy -because as Dan says - I can't live without my social media fix). I've barely had time to eat (another indication that I'm stressed and really busy, because I sure as hell never miss meals). I feel like I've been ignoring my bassets (major sads)- it's been get home from work and go straight to bed. I've written before what it's like to be a race director, and every year it gets harder and harder, and I get more and more appreciative of race directors who put on events way greater than mine.

True story: I am a perfectionist. I do not like to depend on anyone, I like to do everything myself, and I do not like when things are out of my control. But here's the thing with race directing. So you plan and plan. You have all your water stations manned, signs posted, participants registered, T-shirts ordered. You are the most organized race director on the planet. You still need to be prepared for anything.

When you’re planning a race, you pretty much have total control of how you’re planning it. Once the gun fires, it has a life of its own. Now it’s in the hands of volunteers – lets say several hundred volunteers you may have never met before. They’re manning barricades, handling registration and packet pick-up, taking care of duties at the finish line, in charge of shuttling runners (because of course, I made my race a point-to-point = logistical nightmare) – anyway, they’re doing all the difficult duties necessary and executing the plan that you produced.


And most of the time it goes well. Sometimes people don’t show up where and when they’re supposed to. The police officers may not be in place where they are supposed to. The barricades are out of place. Or the shuttle buses are late. There’s a trickle down effect. Come race day, you’re depending on so many other people. The hope is that you’ve educated them well enough and that they've actually paid attention. This is one of my major stresses.

And then there’s the weather. Last year we got ice and snow in Texas THE DAY BEFORE MY RACE. The decision was made (not by me) to cancel the race. The next day (RACE DAY) it was 70 and sunny. Take a moment to imagine the backlash I received on that one. You can’t control whether your race day will be sunny or full of thunderstorms. You should plan for the worst and hope for the best. Could be cold. Could be hot. Could be windy. Could be rainy. Could be beautiful. And you’re sending people off down city roads and into communities. You can’t personally control it all, and you don’t know whether someone’s going to pull their car out of the driveway or whether some little kid will run out in the middle of the race. I do the best I can to control the course and what goes on out there as best as possible. I drive myself crazy thinking of every possible scenario.

 My race currently has 600 people registered a few days out from the race. I couldn't be more ecstatic and more petrified at the same time. This is BIG for a small town 5k and we've already hit record numbers. Can we handle this many runners? With good weather, we could easily hit 700 runners by the time the gun goes off at 8:30 AM on Saturday morning. It's more than I hoped for and makes me so happy. Georgetown is not a very easy city to get approval for a 5k. In fact, it's about to get even harder to put on a 5k here. I feel like this race can make a feel statement: we have a great running community, and we are here to stay. Most 5k's in town draw 175-250 runners, so I'd like to think that the little things I've done for the race since I took over - new & fast course, nice awards, better designed shirts,better organization and easier registration process, have actually made a difference.

While I probably won't sleep much before Saturday's race, I'm ready to put on a good event. Next time you race - please thank your race directors. They work harder than you know.