I\u2019m a new race director in the sport of ultrarunning.\u00a0\u00a0 I never envisioned that I would be a race director and never really sought after doing it, but as I wanted to share the experience of ultrarunning with others, I eventually took the plunge and started to direct a race.\u00a0 However, I did not just jump into it, I did it after serving several years in an \u201cinternship\u201d helping and watching a race director who I think is one of the best in our sport.\u00a0 Still, I feel like a rookie race director and I\u2019m still learning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sport of ultrarunning is unique in that it has no governing body looking over it.\u00a0 Some may believe the USA Track and Field organization (USATF) does, but in reality this body doesn\u2019t even understand the sport and in recent years seems to get in the way more than help.\u00a0 They try to anoint national championships that are largely just ignored by the mainstream competitors of the sport.<\/p>\n
So without a true governing body, race directors can have an enormous impact on the sport.\u00a0 In recent years, there has been an explosive growth in the number of ultramarathons and thus an explosion of the number of race directors who are impacting the sport.\u00a0 Thankfully, the vast majority of these race directors are ultrarunners or have experienced ultrarunners on their committees and are being careful to provide what is expected and maintain a level of uniformity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, I have been noticing exceptions.\u00a0 Biases of individual race directors can easily creep in. \u00a0New rules or bans can be introduced, and at times if they aren\u2019t careful, race directors can start making themselves \u201cbigger\u201d than the sport.\u00a0\u00a0 Race directors can also try to make their own race bigger than the sport.\u00a0 Without a governing body, extreme care must be taken and the sport as a whole needs to speak up and not be afraid to confront issues.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a simple example outside of ultrarunning, but related to race directing.\u00a0 Recently there has been an explosion of road races across the country, especially 5Ks and 10Ks.\u00a0 People have discovered that these events can be easy ways to race funds for various causes.\u00a0 Locally, I have noticed that the race directors are not being careful to maintain the integrity of the sport.\u00a0 They are more interested in having lots of people sign up and hand over money.\u00a0 We have had several cases recently in big races where the courses were not even close to the distance being advertized, usually much shorter than the required distance.\u00a0 At one huge 10K last year, that was really a 9K, the RD brushed aside the complaints with a statement of, \u201cEveryone should be happy today because they get a PR.\u201d\u00a0 A simple example how without care, an RD can have a negative impact on the sport.<\/p>\n
The vast majority of race directors work tirelessly, doing a true labor of love, and people have no idea what pains they have to go through to pull off a race.\u00a0 And then they still have to put up with grief.\u00a0 One example.\u00a0 In my race, I tried to implement a rule that is pretty standard across ultras.\u00a0\u00a0 If you enter a race with one distance (100 miles) but do not complete that distance, it is a DNF.\u00a0 You cannot get credit or an award for a shorter distance (50 miles).\u00a0 Despite trying to make that rule perfectly clear, one runner who quit after 50 miles, sent me several angry emails after that race, demanding that I list him as a 50-mile finisher even though he DNFed the 100-mile race.\u00a0 He explained that he didn\u2019t want to have a DNF on his ultrarunning resume and to this day I know he blames me for that.\u00a0 Race Directors need to have very thick skins and must understand that they have a role to protect the integrity of the sport.<\/p>\n
One polarizing issue that race directors have recently been faced with is the use of headphones and music during races.\u00a0 Ultramarathons are very long running events and many, many runners enjoy passing some of the time listening to music. \u00a0However, many runners have a clear bias against running with music, citing reasons such as: runners not yielding, runners not appreciating nature, runners not being alert, etc.\u00a0 I run both with and without headphones.\u00a0 In this article, I won\u2019t try to breakdown this endless debate.\u00a0\u00a0 I do observe that certain runners seem to bring their \u201croad rage\u201d tendencies to the trail.\u00a0 Similar to seeing a driver going a little slow in the fast lane, a runner can get into a rage if they come upon a runner going slower than them who can\u2019t hear them coming and doesn\u2019t immediately pull to the side.\u00a0 Trail rage builds up.\u00a0\u00a0 I see very little of this, but apparently it happens because reports are given to race directors.\u00a0\u00a0 The Across the Years race directors solve this very simply.\u00a0 Each runner is trying their best to achieve a goal and each have that right to the inside lane (fast lane) if they want.\u00a0 Respect is given to all runners, fast and slow.\u00a0 No trail rage occurs, in fact the opposite happens, kind, helpful remarks are given from those who pass, even to those with headphones on.<\/p>\n
But, in some isolated cases, race directors are listening to the complaints and instead of preaching trail etiquette and kindness, they are overstepping their bounds and instituting rules and bans to change the sport.\u00a0 Ban headphones, any music.\u00a0 One RD goes so far to explain that headphones are the cause for so many runners to go off course during races.\u00a0 I\u2019ve gone off course so many times I can\u2019t count, but almost every time it has been because of fatigue, chatting with another runner, or a poorly marked course.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen a study that shows people who listen to music as they run go off course more than others.\u00a0 Should we also ban talking to other runners because that is a distraction?\u00a0 \u00a0Nevertheless, an RD can impose a ban if they choose.<\/p>\n
Race Directors should give careful consideration as they implement non-standard rules within the sport.\u00a0 They must carefully examine within themselves if they are allowing their own bias to influence such decisions.\u00a0 Are they making their race bigger than the sport?\u00a0 In another case, a well-known one, a race director moved to a different state.\u00a0 He actually took the name of his race with him!\u00a0\u00a0 His race was named after the local park the race was run in.\u00a0\u00a0 Now we have two races by the same name, one still in the park, one by the same name, nowhere near the park.\u00a0 \u00a0To me, it certainly looks like a case where a race director is trying to become bigger than the sport.\u00a0 Perhaps not, but in this case there seems to be more attention put on the race director than the race.\u00a0 Sadly, I and surely others, avoid this race because of the controversy and nonsensically name.<\/p>\n
Back to the headphone ban.\u00a0 Whether or not you are in favor of it, such bans are currently way out of line with the majority of the ultrarunning sport.\u00a0 Some try to claim that for a race to be USATF sanctioned, they must be banned.\u00a0 This is totally misinformation, false to the core.\u00a0 What are the impacts of such a ban?\u00a0 They need to be carefully considered. It seems clear to me that the races that may impose such a ban, especially 100-mile races, will be heavily impacted.\u00a0\u00a0 Certain runners, both elite and otherwise, will find other races to run.\u00a0 For race directors who have a bias against runners who enjoy running with music, this may be totally fine.\u00a0 But, they must also understand that they are alienating a huge percentage of the sport and implementing a non-standard rule for their individual race.\u00a0 They will live with the consequences.\u00a0 Other, more mainstream races are bound to attract a wider cross-section of runners from the sport, both elite and otherwise.<\/p>\n
My plea to other ultrarunning race directors is to be especially careful about imposing non-standard bans and rules for their individual races.\u00a0\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t only affect your race, it affects the sport.\u00a0\u00a0 This might sound silly, but I could see a minimalist-biased RD impose a ban on Hokas.\u00a0 I could see an RD impose a ban on anyone taking Ibuprofen.\u00a0 I could see an RD ban the use of Garmins,\u00a0 etc. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Race Directors of successful races are bound to receive praise and accolades.\u00a0 Seek to work in the background, not on the pedestal.\u00a0 Seek to support the sport as a whole, not just your race.\u00a0 But also, RDs, thank you for your wonderful work and service.\u00a0 It is thankless, tiresome work, but much appreciated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m a new race director in the sport of ultrarunning.\u00a0\u00a0 I never envisioned that I would be a race director and never really sought after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":611,"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions\/611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crockettclan.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}