How to Help and be Helped During a Race
I have ran one marathon, a lot of half marathons and tons of shorter races. I really love the race experience. I love training and working hard because I keep striving to get that elusive PR. There are races that keep popping up all over the place. I want to tell about my good experience and bad experiences to hopefully pass a long to race directors so they get some feedback. As well, I want to pass along some advice to fellow runners so they may have a better experience.
Let’s talk about registration: Registration fees have shot up in the last few years. It used to be pretty common to be able to run a marathon (or half) for under $70. Now it seems the average cost is between $100-$130. I don’t mind paying the $115 most cost as long as I’m paying for good amenities and a good course. What really makes my blood boil is that a lot of races are sending out emails within the week after the race has completed asking people to sign up for the following year and the incentive to do so? Every 3 months registration costs will continue to go up. I really do understand that the race directors do this to get people to sign up early. However, I feel it’s a bit too much for the participants. A price increase should not happen earlier than 6 months from race day and late registration should be 60 days prior to race day. Let me finish paying for the first marathon before I have to sign up for next year. This is doubly important for fall races because then you have the holidays right around the corner after you finish the race. Participants shouldn’t have to choose between paying for a race or putting money towards the holiday festivities. I also feel that if spouses are doing a race together and sign up together, maybe a little discount would help ease the cost burden.
Packet Pick-up: I don’t think we’ve really had a purposefully bad experience. We showed up at our last race to pick up packets and somehow my registration wasn’t there. We were able to get help quickly and straighten it out. Packet pick-up can equally be just as an important of an affair for some racers as the race itself. It’s nice to have booths that runners can walk around and pick things that may help them along the way. One of my favorite things I’ve seen at packet pick up was at the Boston Marathon. They had a video that showed the course from a biker’s perspective that people could sit down and watch. The video had interviews on it from runners giving course advice or telling their stories. This is great for first timers or out of towners.
Race Day: For me, I appreciate an early start time for most races. 7:00am seems to be the best time. The later it gets for the warmer month races, the hotter the start time is. When I line up behind the start line, I really like seeing pace markers. That way it encourages people to start where they should be. Nothing is worse than starting where you should and still have to end up weaving around groups of walkers or people that are running twice as slow as you. Walkers, PLEASE START IN THE BACK. We don’t like having to expend extra energy trying to get around you. Most courses are chip timed now so you’re not getting ahead in any way. For this reason also, I hate out and back courses. My husband, a marathoner, hates having to weave around half marathoners. One race that I did had an out and back course for the full marathoners and shuttled the half marathoners to the marathon halfway point. They had an excellent plan of starting the full marathoners 2 hours before the half marathon so when they dropped off the half marathoners, almost all the full marathoners had already been through the half-way point.
My biggest pet peeve is chaos at water stations. Most are run by volunteers and not properly given instructions. I really appreciate the volunteers. They are our support team. However, if you choose to volunteer, please realize all my energy is spent on running. I need the volunteer to do some simple things to keep the water stations a pleasant experience. Please don’t set up a water station on the furthest curve of the road. If I have to go several more steps to get to you, I’ll probably just skip the water. Every step and second counts; I don’t want to waste them if I don’t have to. Also, I need volunteers to shout what they have. If I think I grabbed water only to throw back a sports drink, I’m going to be pretty shocked. Most people have preferences to what they want and when we’re running and seeing a volunteer just holding out a cup to us, we have no idea what we’re getting unless you tell us. Runners- when you approach a water station and want to walk, please get your drink and move QUICKLY to the side. A person that wants to chug while running should not have to come to an almost complete stop behind you. Also, to ease the process, every person that uses an aid station should point to whoever they would like to receive a drink from. This eliminates a lot of fumbling and confusion for the volunteers. Also, I really appreciate the workers that know the sign language “water”. I admit it, I’m too exhausted to speak during the second half of a race. If I hold up a W shape with my fingers in front of my mouth, this means “water”. Or if I hold up 2 fingers right before I get to you, that means I need two cups.
Post race: I really appreciate races that have a good variety of food post race. Candies, fruit, soup, marinated meat on a stick. Wow, some races go all out. It makes me love you that much more. I feel like the amenities make a race go from good to amazing. I really like the races that make the finish line chute a memorable experience. Free post race photos are a neat perk that I’ve seen at some races.
Other: One thing stands out for me that I remembered from the Washington Newport Marathon this year. They had free childcare in a theatre. I didn’t know they had that until I got there to pick up my packet. If I would’ve known about that, I would have signed up my husband too. However, he wasn’t signed up because he watched the kids so I could run. I was thoroughly impressed with the idea of the childcare though.
Also, never forget to fill out your personal and medical information on the back of your bib. You never know what’s going to happen in a race. You want to be prepared.
If you have anything you would like to add, please let me know in the comment section. Thank you to all the people that put on races!
