Andrea Herrmann's Blog, page 4

10 Things I Wish Every Race Director Would Do

I've been asked by race directors what they can do to make their events better, attract more participants, and keep people coming back year after year.   I've come up with my list of the top ten things I wish every race director would do.  Many great race directors do these things already, and it's appreciated.  For those who don't- I hope you'll consider implementing these ideas.

1) Make sure your race website has all the information athletes need about your event without askin...

Creating a Free Online Directory of Walker Friendly/ Back of the Pack Friendly Half Marathons

Fellow regular runners and race walkers- we need your help.  We're building a FREE online directory of all half marathons with time limits that support race walkers or the "back of the pack." 

The goal is help athletes with half marathon finish times above three hours have a place where they can easily find a list of events that welcome and support them.

Please submit races you know of that have a course cutoff of 3:30 hours or more, or offer an early start to walkers so they can mak...

50+ Half Marathons Under $50.00 (United States)

Road races don't have to be expensive.  If you don't need big-city races, lines of spectators, live bands, cheerleaders, or a shirt or medal from every race, the odds are you can find affordable races either near you or in other states.

Below is a list of half marathons across the United States with registration fees of $50.00 or less.  I put together this list both from my own research and race participation, and by asking other runners and race walkers to suggest events.  Som...

I Won! I Won! (And why you should enter every contest)

Strength Running's "Dream Race Weekend Giveaway"
In February 2015, Jason Fitzgerald from Strength Running offered The Dream Race Weekend Giveaway.  He held this sweepstakes to give one lucky winner the chance to go to his/her dream race by winning a $500.00 gift card-- enough to cover the registration fee, hotel and flight/travel costs.




Over 6,200 people entered in this giveaway, and the winner was randomly selected.




That winner was-- me!  WOO!!  I'm so glad I entered. 

I tell...

Your road race was canceled. Now what?

I believe there are three inevitable situations in endurance sports. At some point, the odds are one of these will happen to you:
your race or event will be canceled.you will not start a race.you will not finish a race.2015 could be subtitled "The Year of the Canceled Race." Severe repeated winter storms in New England have left streets covered with three to six-foot tall mounds of snow. Many side streets are still down to one lane. In many areas, it's simply not safe to run outside as the roa...

Respect Local Communities on the Race Course

Three friends of mine who are race directors have been put in a situation they never expected. They had to go to city or town council meetings to fight to retain the permits for their races. These were not new events; they were long-standing, well-attended races held in the same community and on the same course for years. So why the sudden extra strictness from the permit approvers?

Some cities and towns have become stringent in approving race permits in their areas. Communities are controllin...