Trevor and I have participated in organized events for about 8 years now. We have owned our Max Muscle stores since August of 2008 (August of 2009 for our east side store) and we have been sponsors/vendors at many events. This was our first shot at being Race Directors and putting on our own event. We wanted to take all the good things we have seen and experienced at other events and incorporate them into ours.
We had talked about putting together a half marathon for a while. Finally, in December, we decided to go for and picked February because there really isn't any other half marathon around that time. We planned this event in less than three months.
We limited the event to 250 participants and held back a bit on the promotion at the beginning. We did this because I did not have the permits when we opened up registartion and I didn't know if that was an issue or not. I figured I could refund 250 people's entry fee and not have a total disaster on my hands. We had 155 people sign up for the event and I felt that was an awesome turn out for our first shot. I felt like it was managable and it was.
As a race particpant in the past, I had no idea what was actually involved in putting on an event like this. I wanted to do most of the planning myself so that I actually knew what was involved. That way I can assign duties to helpers as we grow and know what they need to do. Plus, I am a bit of a control freak, so I really wanted my hands on every part of the event.
It seemed like things fell into place at just the right times. For example, I kept thinking that I needed to talk to the Fire department and see if they would come over and provide some medical help. I kept putting it off. Then, one day, a woman walked into our east side store, she had gotten out of her car that said "Fire District 6". It was a fluke that I was even in the store that day. We started talking and it turns out that she was the public information officer for the Fire District and she said to me "do you want us to provide medical?" And that was all there was to it.
So we made it through all the preparations with few bumps. It was pretty smooth. My biggest issue was the route - getting it just right. You have no idea how hard it is to measure exactly 13.1 miles. I ran the route about 4 times. 12.92 miles, 13.5 miles, 12.95 miles. Ack! Finally, the week before the event, I got it right on. Trevor and I ran the route the day before the event with our friend Jim West and put down markers so we could cone it the morning of the event.
Trevor built the start/finish line the week before the event in our garage. That is a whole story in and of itself. All I can say is this - my husband is a very patient man and I don't know what I did to deserve him. I know he must wonder what he did to deserve me.
Packet pickup was a marathon for me - two days of new and familiar faces. It was great because I got to meet just about everyone and hear their stories. It helped me on race day.
It was non-stop for a few days around our house. Finally race morning came and we were blessed with great weather. We were up at 4 am and I was feeling very cranky. I was SO tired and wasn't sure how the day would go. We got to the store and I started marking the route. I had planned to tape directional signs to lamp posts. I tried to put up the first one and the post was wet with dew. Tape wouldn't stick. Plan B? Didn't have one for that. I decided we'd use cones provided by Nutter construction. That was just going to double the amount of time it took to mark the route.
I got done marking the route just at the time our volunteers were showing up to start day of registration and packet pick up. From there, it was like riding a wave. I am usually a stressed out, high strung person and I didn't feel any of that. Which was a treat for those around me, I am sure!!
Our vendors all showed up on time. We had no issues with products. There were enough goodie bags, only 4 people didn't get the shirt size they wanted and we are taking care of that. Every single one of my volunteers showed up. On time. With few questions. Amazing.
I had my meeting with the volunteers and then it was time for a race briefing and the start.
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