Good luck, and thank you for keeping a local race going.

how important is the quality of the shirt to you? 8
how important is the quality of the finisher medal to you? 5
how important is the quality of the awards to you? 7

I think the most important thing about sprints is that they are the gateway drug for many. So its all about the smilage; about taking a few seconds to show an ideal transition setup; and minimising the stress. Rolling swim starts are a great way to minimise race stress, but the tech to make it happen may be a bit out of your budget? Or not necessary if you're using a pool?

Good luck again! Let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the input! We are doing the swim snake-style in a pool (10 lengths of 50m), so we'll be starting in a time trial format every 3-5 seconds. We're planning to self-seed (when you register, you input an estimated swim time) to cut down on congestion as much as possible.

Good points about first-timers...I think we're focused more on the average triathlete who (around here, at least) does a few of these races a year. But I do remember my first tri and how lost I was, so we definitely need to put some more thought into what we can do to make it enjoyable for our first-timers to keep them coming back to the sport.
Thanks!

Quality of the shirt - 8 (and use those soft cotton shirts that feel like sex on your torso... so much better than cheap tech shirts)
Quality of the finisher's medal - 6
Quality of the awards - 5 (I've only won 1 age group award and they had homemade wooden sailboats for a trophy. It's something different and fit the area we were racing so that was cool).

I agree with the earlier comment on some sort of class about transition. 3D was supposed to have one for my first triathlon but it was canceled. I was pretty disappointed about that.

Raffle prizes seem to help encourage people to stick around after the race for the awards ceremony if you can find some local sponsors.

I don't care about medals or shirts.

I hate sharing a lane. I want a pool swim where I get my own lane...

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

We're leaning toward the super-soft cotton shirts, but it's nice to have you reinforce that.

We always do hand-made, custom awards for the overall winners, and try to think outside the box when it comes to age group awards as well. When it comes to an age group award-- would you prefer a gift card to a local running/bike shop (probably small--$10 to $20), or a more material award that you can put on your shelf, like a mug or a plaque?

Thanks for the transition class idea...we're going to try to incorporate something like that on race morning, and potentially the night before at packet pickup as well.

If we self-seed the swim start, meaning the fastest swimmers start first (based on your estimated pace), what's the right start frequency to make sure you have enough space? Can we start someone every 3 seconds? Every 5?

Those intervals are way too close. Set Up Events does 15 seconds and seems to work well (as long as people self seed appropriately).

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

IMO, race morning wouldn't be ideal. The day before at packet pickup would be better.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

Thanks for keeping the local race scene alive.

I think that Olmec's point about sprints being a gateway drug is a good one. My first race experience was great, but I had one the next year that was horrible. If that had been my first one, I never would have raced again. The big issue with it being horrible was that it was unsafe, especially the bike course. It was on a crowded MUP and then turned onto a somewhat busy road, so it was dangerous for us and people who simply wanted to go for a walk and had nothing to do with the race. I race to have fun, but an unsafe race will leave me angry for days.

Something that I loved about my first race was that they had the dual timing mats set up at the finish line so I could hear my name called as I crossed it. If you are used to it, it might not be a big deal, but for someone new to racing, that was thrilling and completely set the race apart from the 5ks that I had been doing. As a matter of fact, I don't think I have done a 5k since.

Although I think everyone here would agree that you don't need more than a quick cup of water, if that, for a sprint, many first timers might think otherwise. More importantly, it makes them feel like real endurance racers to have a couple aid stations with Gatorade and pretzels or m&ms (I noticed this at 5ks, which sometimes have water every mile).

As far as things going on time, I am obsessively punctual in real life, but fairly forgiving of races starting a bit late. Maybe it is because I have had to wait for trail races to start while someone gets a chainsaw to clear the road, or maybe it is because I understand that it could be dangerous for people to swim in the fog if they aren't used to open water.

I have kind of stopped paying attention to the shirts and the medals, unless it was a really hard race. I admit, I wear the race shirts with pride if it was a hard race, and a couple of them have resulted in conversations with strangers in some really out of the way places.

I can't speak will much experience from an overall podium, but the best AG awards I have gotten have not been medals or plaques. Baked goods, local wine, a coffee mug, a pint glass from a local brewpub--those are my favorites. They actually get consumed or used instead of put in a drawer, although there is a race near here that gives etched, lacquered lumps of coal as awards, and I kind of want one.

Good luck with the race.

There's a sprint I do each year with a 350 snake swim. Each lane is one direction (either down or back, not both). One thing I like is that for the first and last length the lane is actually two lanes wide. It gives room for new folks that panic to no worry about being trampled if they need to really get over and settled down for that first length. Then the're plenty of room to really work on the last one if you feel like it. Just a suggestion if you have enough lanes to work with.

If you're doing a pool swim there's no need for carpet to transition unless there is the potential that athletes will be running through mud at some point.

A nice tech shirt is great (and more advertising for you). I've also enjoyed running caps. For a sprint my expectations for a medal would not be too high.

Good luck.

Here's my perspective, from a relative newcomer to the sport, MOP age grouper.



The worst races have:
* Insufficient or poorly stocked aid stations: I like to see 2 stations per 5k on the run. And have a backup source of water if you think you might run short!
* Thorns or sharp gravel on the Swim-->T1 run
* Poor volunteer support: misinformed and/or unhelpful volunteers at checkin & transition can make things very confusing.
* Poor course marking/protection: Wrong turns and unguarded intersections & turnarounds can make a real mess
* Bad course measurements: If the run course is long/short, don't tell me it's a 5k/10k/HM. Tell me the real distance, so I can adjust my expectations & strategy accordingly.
* Insufficient porta-potties: If there are still more than a dozen people lined up at start time, you need more.


Nice perks that I've appreciated at other races include:
* Free (good) beer for finishers!
* Good finisher food--sandwiches, pizza, and scrambled eggs/bacon have been nice touches at other races
* Free or cheap course & finish photos
* Useful gear (e.g. quality bottles or socks) in the swag bag or as giveaways
* Calling names out at the finish line

On a scale of 1-10, how important is the quality of the shirt to you? 8
On a scale of 1-10, how important is the quality of the finisher medal to you? 3
On a scale of 1-10, how important is the quality of the awards to you? 5 (this might be higher if I thought I would make the podium)

Good luck with the race--local events like yours are important!

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"Test everything, cling to what is good." - St. Paul

I'd probably also suggest:

• Don't do medals/t-shirts. See if you can get a sunglass sponsor or something and give them out instead. Maybe put the event name on the bag for the glasses. Baseball cap also works if it's something nice. Basically, give me something I will use and not feel less bad about using earth's resources.
• A random prize that is not announced ahead of time. Best sprint finish or most inspirational performance or something. Make someone feel really special that day. They'll tell everyone about the event for ages.
• Get FinisherPix to film everyone on the run course.

1. It's OK if you need to change the start time a little, but announce the time and PLEASE don't move it earlier, or say "we'll start sometime in the next 10 minutes"! Don't force people to line up early and wait at the start when they had planned to be enjoying one last potty stop or a stretch routine. This is especially important when it's cold.

2. If the course is short, announce it before the start. One recent sprint I ran had a 500m actual for a 750m posted swim, AND a 2.8 mile 5K run. It really screwed up the sprint at the end of the run.

3. Finisher medals, aid stations (in a sprint), and door prizes have no importance to me. Non-medal awards are more interesting to me than medals.

4. Gatorade and a little food at the end is nice.

5. If there's a beach (or loose dirt) after the swim, a kiddie pool is nice to run through.

6. A t-shirt is important. It's especially irritating when there are not enough Mediums.

7. I prefer (although I may be a minority) not to have loud music blaring all the time before the race.

8. Always allow race-day packet pickup

9. Make sure there are plenty of toilets.

10. A few extra inches per bike in the transition area is very nice.

The more time in between pool starts the better. 10-15 seconds is good. It's a real pain to pass in the pool, and it costs quite a bit of time. And like TigerChk said, a full lane is much better than 2-way traffic.

10 sec.

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

I really appreciate all the advice and suggestions. You guys have been a huge help. To clarify on the swim, we're using a 10-lane, 50m pool for a 500m swim-- so you'll swim down in one lane, back in the next, etc. So each lane will only have swimmers going in one direction.

I just did a 400m pool swim tri and they sent us off every 10 seconds. Also the first lane was extra wide, as some others have mentioned (which was good, since the couple, including the dude wearing board shorts and a snorkel mask) who seeded themselves ahead of me at 9:00 did the swim in 16 and 20 minutes, respectively). It was a snake with each lane a single direction.

I've never been a big fan of finisher medals as they tend to end up in a box in the closet, and it sounds like many of you agree. Would you prefer something like a hat, pair of sunglasses, or something like that?

1. If it's truly beginner-oriented, a 500 meter swim might scare a few away. Super sprints around here are in the 300-400 meter range.

2. I like the idea of unique awards. There's a somewhat local race that gives hand-made pottery bowls to podium finishers in each age group...I want one of those.

3. Personally, I like a nice tech short/long sleeve t-shirt. I use them for my run workouts.

4. Aide stations. The number needs to be sufficient for the race day temperatures. We have a July sprint tri here in Nashville and 1 aide station is barely enough for the 5k when it's 80-90 degrees with lots of humidity. A nice touch, especially for hot races, is to have wet towels at the aide station and/or finish.

5. Another nice touch done by one of the local races...a beer truck and a nice food spread.

6. Quick results. Nothing more annoying than waiting an inordinate amount of time to see how you did vs your competition

The plan is to have at least two aid stations, since our run course is out-and-back (1 station that pass twice).

Good call on the wet towels...you don't see that too often, but that's a really nice touch if it's hot. And in August, it likely will be. Thanks!

Yes, definitely, as long as it's not chintzy. Maybe something like a Endurance Conspiracy hat with the race name or logo subtly printed/embroidered on it somewhere? You might make the economics work out if you partner with another company. Sunglasses work too although probably more difficult to market your race on them, which is presumably something you'd want to do.

Sometimes I'll get something like a pair of sunglasses or goggles, and even if it's not something that fits me, I'll keep it and find someone that likes it (and mention where I got them from). However if I get a shit cap with '<YOUR RACE NAME> FINISHER' emblazoned on it, you can be assured it's going to end up in landfill.

I always thought it would be neat to have a couple of locally-owned food trucks be on-site at a race. Give vouchers to each participant to redeem for their post-race food, and then obviously spectators can purchase their own. It supports local business owners the food is going to be infinitely better than the stale bagels and sad bananas I see at 99% of races.

Important.

Try to enforce no-drafting
Make packet pick-up easy. Race morning option is important if people are coming from over 45 minutes or so.
The race should start very shortly after transition closes.
"Big" transition so people have enough room
Well marked course (volunteers where a racer would need to make a decision on which way to go - important on the bike where you could miss a sign going relatively fast)
Start on-time or if you delay - let people know early.
Enough porta-johns
If you are doing awards - do them timely or give them out "on the side" if an award winner needs to leave
Post results with splits timely
Submit results to USAT timely.

Not-important
Free entry is nice, but doesn't add a lot to the event except for the winner.
finisher medals
t-shirts
awards
food - some is good, but not critical to go "overboard"
beer is also nice if its an afternoon/evening event. For a 7:00 AM race - not sure it adds much.

Nice surprises -
Free race pictures.