Running USA’s annual Global Runner Survey has always been an important gauge of runner attitudes and trends for the endurance events industry. And in 2024, following some key content additions, the report is more valuable than ever.

So, how can you leverage runners’ fitness and social habits to increase the reach of your event? What is it that runners really value in a race? And how can you remove obstacles holding back your race’s growth from its full potential?

That’s what we’re discussing today, alongside a plethora of interesting data points from the 2024 Global Runner Survey with the help of my guest, Running USA Director of Operations, Michael Clemons. Michael - soon to be Dr.Clemons PhD - is an endurance events man through and through, having held various roles in the industry in a career spanning over a decade, and in his latest role at Running USA has been responsible not only for Running USA’s marquee industry conference, but also all pieces or Running USA research, including the Global Runner Survey.

And with Michael's help we’ll navigate the most important findings of the report, tracking annual trends in runner habits and preferences as they evolve over time, as well as trying to make sense of what the numbers mean for your race, in terms of concrete, actionable takeaways.

In this episode:

• The Global Runner Survey: what it is and how it is compiled
• Demographics of survey respondents: age, gender, income, ethnicity
• What increased inclusion means for running events
• Making group runs part of the event lifecycle
• Promoting your race where runners are: gyms, fitness centers, race expos
• The growth of recreational running vs competitive running
• Runners' top criteria for choosing what race to enter
• What runners value in a race: swag, water stations, hygiene facilities
• Runner's entry fee expectations
• How far runners will travel for 5Ks, marathons, ultras
• The importance of solid pre- and post-race communications
• Income-based entry fees and other ways to broaden race participation
• Understanding runner sub-segments with the help of runner personas

Many thanks to our podcast sponsors, RunSignup and Brooksee, for supporting our efforts to provide great, free content to the race director community:

RunSignup are the leading all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events. More than 28,000 events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. Find out more at https://runsignup.com/.

Brooksee are the timing technology industry-leader, bringing affordable real-time tracking and timing checkpoints to races with their patented iPhone-sized micro checkpoints. Find out more and get 50% off your timing for your next event at https://www.brooksee.com/headstart.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about liability waivers or anything else in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/racedirectorshq/

A couple of episodes back, we looked at event liability insurance: why it’s important that your race is covered by a robust liability insurance policy, the circumstances under which a liability policy would kick in, and what happens when it does.

But there was a significant part of that discussion we only briefly touched on in that episode, and that was the importance of supporting your liability protection with the use of a liability waiver.

So, what is a liability waiver? What needs to be in it? And how does a waiver protect you, the organizer, should a participant or volunteer decide to pursue legal action against you?

That’s what we’re discussing today with my guest, industry veteran Laurel Park. Laurel is not only an experienced academic researcher in data analysis and survey design, but also an incredibly active member of our industry, having served as the President of the Ann Arbor Track Club and a long-time contributor to Road Race Management.

During her work, Laurel has developed a keen interest and expertise in liability waivers for races and with her help we’ll take a look at what waivers can and cannot protect you against, the different aspects involved in drafting a solid liability waiver, and how waivers work alongside your liability insurance policy to deter and defend against frivolous litigation directed against you and your company.

In this episode:

• Waivers: your first line of defense
• Waivers in contract law
• Participant waivers vs volunteer waivers
• Understanding and laying out your event's "inherent risks"
• Waivers for minors and kids runs
• The legal enforceability (or un-enforceability) of waivers
• Ordinary negligence vs gross negligence
• Waivers and insurance: one or the other, or both?
• Using waivers to support insurance claims
• Are online waiver signatures as good as paper waiver signatures?
• The pros and cons of using waiver templates

Many thanks to our podcast sponsors, RunSignup and Brooksee, for supporting our efforts to provide great, free content to the race director community:

RunSignup are the leading all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events. More than 28,000 events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. Find out more at https://runsignup.com/.

Brooksee are the timing technology industry-leader, bringing affordable real-time tracking and timing checkpoints to races with their patented iPhone-sized micro checkpoints. Find out more and get 50% off your timing for your next event at https://www.brooksee.com/headstart.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about liability waivers or anything else in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/racedirectorshq/

If you’ve ever directed even a single race, there’s a good chance you would have received at least one email from a frustrated participant complaining about the distance they ran not matching your race advertised distance. They do have a GPS watch, you know.

And although it’s easy to jokingly dismiss these kinds of demands - most people do - there often is an uncomfortable point to the complaint: How do you know the actual distance of your race course, if it hasn’t been accurately measured and certified?

The answer, of course, is you can’t really know. In fact, if empirical evidence from professional course measurers offer any kind of hint, it is that your actual course distance is likely much more off the distance you advertise than you think - most likely much shorter than the advertised distance.

So what’s involved in getting your race course professionally measured and certified? Why don’t all the other methods we’re all familiar with, like drawing lines on a map or using a measuring wheel, work as well? And, at the end of the day, do participants really care whether your course is actually 10K rather than 9.8?

That’s what we’re discussing today with my guest, Matt Slocum of Precision Course Design. Matt, although a very accomplished runner, is a relative newcomer to the business of races, but what he lacks in industry mileage he more than makes up for in his dedication and obsession with the craft of course measurement.

And with Matt’s help we’re going to be going behind the scenes of a race course measuring operation to look at how professional course measurement works, why most other DIY methods tend to underestimate the distance of a race course (often by a lot), and how investing a modest amount in professional course measurement can actually benefit your race for years to come.

In this episode:

• Do your participants care about an accurately measured course?
• What types of races is course measurement relevant for?
• The process of professional course measurement: how it all works
• Why the course you've measured yourself on a map is probably short
• Designing a road course to match the race distance you aim for in your event
• How course certification works
• The cost of measuring and certifying your race
• Making small changes to a certified course

To find a course measurer in your region, use the links below:

• USA: rrtc.net
• UK: coursemeasurement.org.uk
• Canada: athletics.ca

Many thanks to our podcast sponsors, RunSignup and Brooksee, for supporting the podcast:

RunSignup are the leading all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events. More than 28,000 events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. Find out more at https://runsignup.com/.

Brooksee are the timing technology industry-leader, bringing affordable real-time tracking and timing checkpoints to races with their patented iPhone-sized micro checkpoints. Find out more and get 50% off your timing for your next event at https://www.brooksee.com/headstart.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about course measurement or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.

If there’s one thing you can’t have enough of as a race director, it’s race insurance. Particularly - knock on wood - when the unexpected happens and you’re faced with a dreaded lawsuit that threatens to take away your livelihood and your piece of mind.

So how can you best protect yourself and your business from the risks associated with putting on a race? What will your standard event liability policy cover? What does it exclude? And how should you expect to be protected against legal and medical claims should your race be held liable for a participant injury or loss of property?

That’s what we’re discussing today with my guest, Nicholas Hill Group partner and event insurance veteran, Nathan Nicholas. Through Nicholas Hill Group, Nathan has helped develop some of the most robust and widely-used specialist insurance policies for the endurance events industry, and with his help we’ll try to understand where the boundaries of liability insurance protection lie for you, the event organizer; how event liability insurance ties in with other types of business insurance you may be buying; how the type of race you put on affects the cost and availability of insurance cover you might find in the market; and how the diligent use of participant waivers and incident documentation can help reduce the risk of frivolous lawsuits being filed against you.

In this episode:

• Event liability insurance: what it is and what kinds of contingencies it covers
• How event liability insurance differs from Business Owner's Policies (BOPs) and other types of general business insurance
• Will an event liability policy cover me for event-related work outside of race day?
• Will an event liability policy cover volunteers, spectators and third-party vendors on site on race day?
• Negligence and gross negligence in the context of liability insurance.
• Understanding an event liability policy: deductibles, claim limits, additional insured's.
• Getting insurance for obstacle races, ultramarathons, night races, races serving alcohol.
• Liability waivers: do they work?
• What to do (and not to do) when sued for liability by a participant or other party.
• How are your legal costs covered in the event of a lawsuit? Will you have to pay out of pocket?
• Does a virtual race need liability insurance?
• Race cancellation insurance: what it is and what it covers
• Will a race cancellation insurance policy cover the costs of postponing instead of cancelling a race?

Many thanks to our podcast sponsors, RunSignup and Brooksee, for supporting our efforts to provide great, free content to the race director community:

RunSignup are the leading all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events. More than 28,000 events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. Find out more at https://runsignup.com/.

Brooksee are the timing technology industry-leader, bringing affordable real-time tracking and timing checkpoints to races with their patented iPhone-sized micro checkpoints. Find out more and get 50% off your timing for your next event at https://www.brooksee.com/headstart.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about event liability insurance or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.

When doors start dropping off planes mid-air or your favorite online retailer gets in touch to let you know your personal details may have been compromised, it’s tempting to think you may have done a better job handling that crisis were you in their shoes.

But how well-prepared are you really to manage the many crises that can come up during the planning and delivery of your race? Anything from a late delivery of medals or an unfortunate slip-up on social media to a full blown race cancellation.

That’s what we’re discussing today with my guest, PR pro Meg Treat of Treat Public Relations. Meg has been on the podcast before, discussing DIY PR strategies for race directors, and in today’s episode she joins me once more to discuss crisis communications, that is, what you should and shouldn’t do when a crisis hits.

How early should you look to communicate the situation to your participants and stakeholders? How should you go about doing it? And is the much-revered total transparency approach your best bet out of a tricky spot?

In this episode:

• Crises big and small: what constitutes a crisis?
• Are social media making crises worse and more frequent?
• Navigating safely around the culture war minefields
• To comment or not to comment: does acknowledging a crisis make it worse?
• Getting ahead of a crisis: how early should you start communicating about a potential crisis?
• Turning a crisis into an opportunity
• Are there lesser or "almost" crises you can ignore?
• Balancing financial loss against reputation loss in a race cancellation
• The importance of a well-thought-out refund policy
• Showing empathy towards your participants when something goes wrong that may affect their race
• Taking ownership gracefully and staying out of the blame game
• Writing a crisis communications plan

Thanks to RunSignup for supporting quality content for race directors by sponsoring this episode. More than 28,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. If you'd like to learn more about RunSignup's all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events visit runsignup.com.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about some of the things discussed in today’s episode or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.

It’s that time of the year again. RunSignup’s annual RaceTrends report is out for 2023, and it’s larger and more comprehensive than ever before!

Among the most notable trends highlighted in the report we see registrations for 2023 races up from 2022 and tantalisingly close to 2019 levels, entry fees continuing to climb across most race distances and event types, and encouraging trends in younger runner participation first seen in 2022 carrying through to 2023 numbers.

With me today to go through the data, the trends and their implications, I’m delighted to welcome back to the podcast RunSignup’s Director of Marketing, Johanna Goode. Among other things, Johanna is the person we all have to thank for compiling this invaluable piece of industry research each year, and with her help we’ll try to get a feel for where the industry ended up in 2023 and make sense of what the future might hold for race directors in 2024 and beyond.

As with RaceTrends reports we’ve looked at in the past in the podcast, we’ll only have time to go through the most important highlights from the report, so if you’d like to get your hands on the full set of findings, head over to runsignup.com where you’ll be able to find and download your free report copy.

In this episode:

• The methodology and data behind RunSignup's RaceTrends report
• Are we back to 2019 registration levels?
• Are race timing companies disappearing?
• Repeat participation numbers across different events and how to increase repeat participation in your races
• The importance of integrated email marketing
• Why are larger races continuing to lag behind smaller races in participation growth?
• Are virtual events still around?
• Participation trends in the 18-29 age group and how to foster higher participation among younger runners
• Are people registering later than they used to?
• Entry fees are going up, while the number of price increases is going down
• The rise of mobile registrations and how to optimise your race website for mobile users

Thanks to RunSignup for supporting quality content for race directors by sponsoring this episode. More than 28,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. If you'd like to learn more about RunSignup's all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events visit runsignup.com.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about some of the things discussed in today’s episode or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.

With more than 2 billion monthly active users (MAUs), Instagram has secured a comfortable lead as the social media platform of choice for the vast majority of online-active almost-30s and 30-somethings out there. And with Instagram’s core audience slowly aging to match running’s demographic sweet spot, it’s really important your race gets its Instagram strategy right soon, if you have an Instagram strategy at all.

So, how do you master Instagram’s highly-visual storytelling to reach new audiences on the platform? How do you build a consistent brand voice with all the tools Instagram has to offer? And how do you leverage running influencers, user-generated content, freelance contractors and free-to-use graphical design tools to make the most of the limited time and money you can commit to the platform?

That’s what we’ll be discussing today with returning guest and resident race marketing expert, Andy Reilly. Through his race marketing agency, Eventgrow, Andy has planned and executed online marketing strategies for some of the country’s top running events, including the Buffalo Marathon, Run Catalina and the San Francisco Marathon, and in his past appearances on the podcast has contributed to some of our most popular episodes, most recently a Facebook marketing two-parter that is a must listen if your race is doing anything on Facebook.

But, today it’s all about Instagram, and with Andy’s help we’re going to be looking at Instagram from the very high level of strategy and using Instagram alongside Facebook and your other marketing channels, all the way down to the nitty-gritty of image selection, contrast plays, picking catchy headlines and even what types of faces work best on an Instagram ad. Not to mention a very practical 101 crash course on using microinfluencers to extend your brand reach.

In this episode:

• The evolution of Instagram audience demographics over the years
• Instagram vs Facebook from a user perspective
• Easy-win content ideas for starting out on Instagram
• Including (or excluding) Instagram placements on ad manager
• The most efficient way to pick copy/images for your Instagram ad
• Writing copy that works and picking the right creatives
• Picking images that work: leveraging contrast, choosing happy faces, hero images
• Thinking through your Instagram ad funnel, CTAs
• Working with freelancers and contract graphic designers
• Planning your growth path and spending money on marketing
• The importance of using Instagram filters consistently and aligning your style with your brand
• Driving engagement through humor
• Sharing user-generated content
• Microinfluencers: what are they, where to find them, and what to offer them
• Using microinfluencers to generate authentic, engaging content for your race
• Assessing ROI for your microinfluencer spend

Thanks to RunSignup for supporting quality content for race directors by sponsoring this episode. More than 28,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. If you'd like to learn more about RunSignup's all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events visit runsignup.com.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about some of the things discussed in today’s episode or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.

As a race director, few things in the race planning lifecycle can be as exciting and enjoyable as designing a brand new race course. From picking a start area to mapping out race distances and figuring out where to place amenities, such as aid stations, race course design constitutes an important first step in shaping your race’s identity - one that will likely affect all aspects of your race experience, safety planning and logistics for years to come.

So, how do you nail this critical first step in making your race a reality? How do you design a course that is as enjoyable for participants on the main stage, as it is safe, practical and easily accessible for you, your team and emergency services behind the scenes?

That’s what we’ll be discussing today with my guest, DMSE Sports’ Director of Events, Meryl Leventon. As industry people go, Meryl’s a Swiss army knife when it comes to race planning and race day ops, and with tons of experience and a plethora of events under her belt, Meryl will help lay out for us the most important principles of effective race course design, from designing for speed and a great race experience to delivering a course that respects host communities and works well in emergencies, should things happen to go wrong around the race.

In this episode:

• Deciding on a type of course: know your town, know your market
• Working with local authorities on approving your course
• Picking and planning out your start/finish areas
• Designing your course for a specific distance
• When you should (and needn't) certify your course
• How to combine different race distances on the same course (and how to think about start times)
• Fixing course bottlenecks with a good wave start plan
• Responsible course planning: communicating with and minimizing disruption for local communities
• Publishing race day road closures through Google Maps, TomTom and other popular mapping sources
• Incorporating spectator zones in your course plan
• Designing for safety: emergency planning, access lanes and coordinating with emergency services
• Laying out alternate course contingencies in case of weather disruption
• Designing your course on Google Maps

Meryl's lululemon 10K Scottsdale Google Map:

• Public version: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Ousob6UVaQdHUBuUDL6tByBZfwdPx_A&usp=sharing
• City, police and internal team version: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1M9T2BNTHaEo-6JIMmRZkgjuXlXfwx6g&usp=sharing

Thanks to RunSignup for supporting quality content for race directors by sponsoring this episode. More than 28,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. If you'd like to learn more about RunSignup's all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events visit runsignup.com.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about some of the things discussed in today’s episode or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.