On Sunday, February 25, 2018
GET IT DONE!
Writing a newspaper column about running means that I am
often approached by race organizers asking me to promote their event. When I ask for details I am faced with a
disappointing decision. Is this a race I
should tell my readers about?
Is your race sanctioned?
Is your course certified? Will it
be in the New Balance grand prix? If the
answer is no, then I have to wonder if the organizers really want to put on a
quality race that will please and attract the runners. I don’t want to send them to an unorganized,
uncertified, unsanctioned event with no grand prix points.
Sanctioning with USATF, the national governing body of the
sport, has a cost. That sanction though
covers the event’s host location, such as a school, or church, and the town in
which it will be held. This sanction
insurance is very inexpensive as compared to the prices of most event insurance
policies.
Any athlete who is a USATF member and is injured while
participating in a sanctioned event will be eligible for secondary medical insurance
coverage for the injury. Think that is
not important? A New Jersey USATF member
was injured at a non-sanctioned event last year. Her medical costs were not covered.
Sanctioning a race in New Jersey means that the local USATF
association will have the race listed in its race calendar. This is important if the race is using a race
timing system that is not well known in the area. Runners in New Jersey know to check the
CompuScore and Best race timing website for races. A start-up timing site will go unnoticed, but
if the race is sanctioned the runner can see it at the USATF calendar.
By far the most compelling reason to not only sanction a race,
and to get the course certified is to place it in the New Balance grand
prix. Yes, that costs money. A course certifier will charge for certifying
the course and it might be several hundred dollars and the longer the course,
the larger the fee. But the certification
remains valid for ten years, so a good accountant will pro-rate the cost over
ten years. If the fee is $300.00 then
the cost per year is $30.00.
Now here’s where it gets tricky. You pay the sanction fee based on the number
of runners you attract. The New Balance
grand prix is $ 75.00 if you are holding just one race, $ 100.00 for two.
How many more runners do you need to attract in order to
benefit from putting the race in the grand prix? Let’s just say that your pre-entry fee is $
25.00 and you give the USATF member a discount on the pre-entry, so let’s say
that the average fee – adding together pre and post entries and dividing by the
number of runners is $26.00. I said it
was tricky but let’s go with it.
So, your costs are $ 30.00 for the certification, $ 220.00
for the sanction and $ 75.00 for the grand prix for a total new cost of $
325.00. Now divide $ 325.00 by $ 26.00
and you know that you need to attract 12.5 runners. Go ahead and say the
average entry fee comes out to $24.00, so you need to attract 13.5 runners. In this area where local runners won’t waste
their energies on non-grand prix races, it’s a no brainer. In fact, here’s another tip - there are
runners who won’t go to a race unless it is timed by CompuScore or Best.
If the race is in the late winter, or early spring it’s a
double no-brainer. Runners want to get to
the grand prix races early and often.
They may have better races later in the year, but there is no guarantee
that injuries won’t pop up. The early
races are insurance against injury lay-offs.
If you know someone who is talking about putting on a race
in the state, share this column with them.
Tell them, “It costs money to make money.” It is sure true in New Jersey road racing.
For info go to www.usatfnj.org
##
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Race Results can often be
found at www.compuscore.com or at www.bestrace.com
A calendar of USATF
sanctioned events can be found at www.usatfnj.org
or at www.raceforum.com for running and
tri and biathlon events.
Contact Madeline Bost at madelinebost@verizon.net
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