5km Event - Advice

BoysNoize · 27-11-2014 4:50pm #1

Hey all

To cut to the chase I'm in my final year of a Business & Management degree and for my Small Business module I've been tasked with running an event after our Christmas exams this year any time between Jan 1st and Feb 1st. This counts as 50% of my overall grade so is quite a big deal.

I'm a keen runner, having completed a few 5km's and the Dublin half marathon in 2014 I'm hoping to complete my first marathon next year. With this in mind and a passion for events instead of going down the usual route of a night out, a soccer blitz or a cake sale etc. like many of my year are doing my group and I would really like to aim a little higher with a 5km fun-run for the student market who may not usually sign up for a 5km. There's areas we already have or will be able to cover in no time such as volunteers, website build etc. but I'm hoping someone might be able to help out with the three questions below . I'm aware running an event like this is a massive operation but with all of the holidays and January to work on this and a group of four dilligent, hard-workers I'm hoping we'll be able to proceed with it.

1. We would be looking at Phoenix Park as the venue as it's so central, we're conscious two months might not be enough of a lead time for the OPW, would anyone have any comments on that or history of working with them to say it might still be an option?
2. Regards a traffic management plan the OPW might require, neither the group or I have ever organized a run that might need road closures so aside from the obvious route and where we would have marshals (volunteers) I'm not quite sure what this would entail?
3. And finally, our ultimate goal would be to have around 500-750 participants all raising money for the Simon Community, if anyone had any information on how easy / where to / or the cost of obtaining 750 bib numbers with chip timing for the event it would be much appreciated.

As mentioned this is a really important project for us, so any advice at all would be appreciated and I hope you all have a great day!

ECOLII · 27-11-2014 5:20pm

I don't have any dealings with OPW however few points I will make hopefully will help in some way

- 500-750 participants in a 1st time race is always going to be very difficult but in terms of advertising race after you get permissions, insurance etc sorted is going to be compound the ambitiousness of the task. You are leaving yourself with a very short window especially amongst many runners who plan their races more than 1 month in advance

- January tends to be a busy race period in the park so make sure there is actually availability

- Bear in mind that there is already a Simon 5k in the park during the year (october) so this will most likely negatively impact the numbers simply due to the fact you are offering the same product in the same venue with non of the experience 3 months later. Also take into account you have a number of 5ks in the park over the coming weeks - Donore Jingle Bells on 6th, Tom Brennan 5k on New Years day. These are your competition and both are long established with a good reputation.

-Precision timing/Champion Chip/Red tag timing are probably your best bet regards chip timing bibs

If you are to manage to pull this off however my advice would be a)get more people with experience in race organisation on board and b) have most of the work done in December not January.

Also 1st time events run properly tend to not be as profitable as you might think, it takes a few years to build the reputation of a race to the point where the cost are offset by the numbers especially these days with the saturation in the market meaning that people expect the following;

- Goodie bags
- Chip Timing
- Race T shirts

These tend to be a given for many runners who also expect the cost to be low relative to other distances.

This post is in no way trying to discourage you but more to make you aware of the realities of race organisation and the amount of work put in to holding a successful race

BoysNoize · 27-11-2014 6:08pm

Thanks, ECOLII.

Really appreciate the info. Some really great input and advice there which will we will definitely take on board as we look into this as we will need a definitive decision by early next week at the latest. I am aware the numbers are probably ambitious, given our primary target market will be college students primarily in DIT, UCD, Trinity, family and friends who may not usually run your average 5km we're hopeful through a network of our friends and a good marketing plan we can go somehow to achieving near the projected numbers, although we're all well aware safety and enjoyment levels over high numbers is our first priority.

I will definitely check out the chip timing places you recommended - that was a great help, thanks again!

ECOLII · 27-11-2014 6:15pm

BoysNoize wrote: »

Thanks, ECOLII.
Really appreciate the info. Some really great input and advice there which will we will definitely take on board as we look into this as we will need a definitive decision by early next week at the latest. I am aware the numbers are probably ambitious, given our primary target market will be college students primarily in DIT, UCD, Trinity, family and friends who may not usually run your average 5km we're hopeful through a network of our friends and a good marketing plan we can go somehow to achieving near the projected numbers, although we're all well aware safety and enjoyment levels over high numbers is our first priority.

I will definitely check out the chip timing places you recommended - that was a great help, thanks again!

To give you some context I was part of a Race Organisation Commitee in one of the colleges listed above in it's first year of organizing a 5k road race. The team was roughly 10-12 people over about 4 months with a large sponsorship fund which covered alot of the cost and managed to exceed expectation by getting 400 runners (initial target was 250)

RayCun · 27-11-2014 7:23pm

think you're very unlikely to get permission from the OPW, at that notice, for those numbers, and without club backing/AAI licence or race organisation experience

Timmaay · 28-11-2014 1:09am

ECOLII wrote: »

To give you some context I was part of a Race Organisation Commitee in one of the colleges listed above in it's first year of organizing a 5k road race. The team was roughly 10-12 people over about 4 months with a large sponsorship fund which covered alot of the cost and managed to exceed expectation by getting 400 runners (initial target was 250)

I was just going to post up something very similar! Ecoli we were stone mad back then ha, everyone told us it would fail ha, but we ignored them, and now its going into its 5th year and going from strength to strength, but it has been a long road!

Anyways ok 500-750 in your 1st race to be quite exceptional without a serious marketing budget, but aiming alot more modest like 100/200 is a better bet, stick to a shoestring budget, for marketing small races as such I'm a firm believer in word of mouth, alongside some strategically placed posters and fliers, which can be basic b&w photocopies. Keep your race costs low also, no need for chip timing for less than 200 people, it can be done manually just as accurately once you got two experienced people (usually club officials!). For charity events as such prizes tend to be fairly minimal, however I would advice trying to get as many prizes donated as you can, this involves you being a good salesperson, selling your race and doing lots of begging to local businesses. You might get lucky and get a local sports business involved also who see the race as an opportunity to get some marketing for theirown business.

In terms of getting the OPW to agree I don't know, your timeframe is just too short. However as an alternative I'd suggest you look at some of the college grounds!! I will admit you got almost zero chance in UCD. However maybe another one of the college.

5km Event - Advice

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