Six tips for race directors to increase their race atmosphere

Six tips for race directors to increase race atmosphere

There are so many 5k races out there nowadays. With the 5k market being saturated and runners having multiple races to choose from each weekend, it is important for the race director to create a fun and exciting race atmosphere for their event. Your goal as a race director should be to create a fun event, bring your runners back, and have your runners spread the word about how great their experience was at your race.

Tip #1: Invite vendors to setup at your race. You don’t want runners picking up their race bib and standing around for 30-45 minutes doing nothing. Invite running clubs, chiropractors, boy/girl scouts, sporting stores, and other organizations to make your race look official. This also gives your race the appearance that it is larger than it might actually be. If you have a smaller race your goal should be 3-5 vendors

Tip #2: Provide a coffee table. Having a coffee table setup for your runners, volunteers, and spectators is a small thing that goes a long way. A fresh cup of coffee in the morning will put people in a good mood to start their day. Try finding a local coffee shop to provide the coffee as a sponsor. If you can’t find a coffee shop to sponsor this service usually runs between $100-$200 depending on the race size.

Tip #3: Have music playing at your race and have it playing at least one hour before the race starts if not earlier. Playing music before, during, and after your race is key to pumping up the race atmosphere. Races that don’t have music are quite and boring. Runners are looking to have a good time and if you want your runners to come back music is a must have. I recommend getting a DJ or renting a speaker box that you can plug in an iPod or phone.

Tip #4: Don’t forget about the kids! You will have kids at your race and if kids are happy their parents are going to be happy and will want to come back next year. Think about having a balloon or face painting table at your race. If you have a bigger race budget a bounce house is a huge hit with children.

Tip #5: Display a hashtag for your event and announce it on the PA system. The concept of the hashtag (example #stockton5k) is to have all runners, volunteers, spectators to post their videos/pictures with your hashtag. This will allow everyone and the race director to search Facebook/Twitter to view all of the videos/pictures that were taken at the event.

Tip #6: Provide a photo booth. I would recommend having a photo booth with your races logo. This is an opportunity for people to take pictures with groups or by themselves and then they will share those photos. I mean who doesn’t like to pose for a good photo?

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