By Ron Harrison

As I become more comfortable with the sport of triathlon, I am opening my eyes, lifting my head, and looking around a bit more. (Yes, I have been swimming, biking, and running with my head down and my eyes closed, generally and otherwise terrified!) While I have always recognized the value of good volunteers and support, I am now starting to think more about who is responsible for those volunteers being there and the rest of the race’s logistics, the Race Director.

Race Directors have a lot they have to keep in mind, but there are three that usually matter most:

1. Put on a SAFE race.
2. Put on a FUN race.
3. Do not lose MONEY!

This reminds me of that wonderful sign you will often see posted at your local auto-repair shop, “We offer three kinds of service, Good – Cheap – Fast. You can pick any TWO!” I feel that something similar applies to putting on a race, too! Choosing any two of the three (Safe, Fun, Financially Sustainable) might be the easy option, but most Race Directors work hard to deliver all three!

Interested to learn more about these challenges, I asked some questions of Race Director, Kathy McDaris, and received answers that were quite surprising. They might not be as shocking to some of the athletes who have been in the sport for awhile, but for those just starting out, I felt this was good information to share.

Kathy is the Race Director of the “toughest triathlon sprint in Florida”, the Red Hills Triathlon. She has directed this race for 14 years. The Red Hills Triathlon, which last took place on April 5, 2014, featured a ⅓-mile swim in Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park’s chilly, spring-fed Lake Hall. This was followed by a 16-mile bike course that rolls along scenic canopy roads and some of Tallahassee’s most challenging hills. The event finished with a 3.1-mile run along mostly trails featuring a challenging mix of gravel, sand, tree roots, and sharp turns. One thing that makes this race challenging for a Race Director is that it begins and ends in a State Park, located in a mostly urban area. Another, that impacts the potential registration dollars available, is that the State Park caps the number of participants at 300.

Let us take a look at just some of the costs and how they are sometimes mandated by involved entities or otherwise necessary to ensure numbers 1 and 2, a SAFE and FUN race. While I do not wish to bore you with the minutia of a Race Director’s responsibilities and concerns, I do hope you will find some of this interesting, it will strengthen your respect for those who step up to put on races for us, and that it will help you better understand exactly what you are getting for your registration dollars! Remember, these are only some of the costs!

First, we can talk about the minimum just to do the “race”:

• USAT Sanctioning, Insurance, and Licenses – $270.
• 2 USAT Officials – $600.
• Timing and Results – $3,105 (Includes setup of transition, timing chips, timing mats, and results with splits.)
• Race Numbers – $355.
• Swim Caps – $531.

Now, we can talk about what made it SAFE:

• Ambulance On-Site – $576. (USAT only requires a medical professional “on-site” for paperwork. Major emergencies are most likely during the swim, so a dedicated, on-site ambulance is best.)
• Lifeguards – $150.
• Leon County Sheriff’s Office – $2,205. (USAT only requires law enforcement at major intersections. LCSO, however, requires additional resources in order to have the race in this urban setting.)
• Tallahassee Police Department – $1,077. (USAT only requires law enforcement at major intersections. TPD, however, requires additional resources in order to have the race in this urban setting.)
• Police Cadets – $500. (The State Park is very particular about cars and parking within the park. They require Police Cadets on-hand to assist with parking.)
• Light Towers and Fuel – $500. (Necessary to ensure safety in the parking lot and on the walk from parking to transition.)
• Signage – $55. (Required by the State Park.)
• 10 Miles of Safety Cones, Placement and 2 Message Boards – $3,150. (This race used to rent the cones and do the placement themselves, but it was ultimately deemed necessary to pay for this service, due to safety/liability. It is strongly believed that the cones and message boards are necessary to ensure safety, especially on Bannerman and Thomasville Roads.)
• Safety Vests for Volunteers – $215. (Necessary for the safety of volunteers, but continue to “disappear” and must be replaced periodically.)

Finally, what about those little touches we have come to expect and help define our favorite races. These are some of the things that made it FUN:

• Cost of Utilizing Maclay Gardens State Park – $2,000 – $3,000. (This covers our use of the park and gate entrance fees. It also includes a goodwill donation to Friends of Maclay for the upkeep of the park.)
• T-Shirts – $4,100. (The race received an incredible deal on the shirts this year!)
• Finishers Medals – $750.
• Awards – $1,000.
• Music and Announcing – $500.
• Tents – $500. (For Registration and Massage.)
• Food, Drinks, Paper Goods, etc. – $1,300. (Technically, this also includes the on-course drinks as well as the Finish Line and Awards Celebration food/drinks.)
• Gels – $250.
• Miscellaneous Costs (Graphic Design, Printing, Office Supplies, PO Box, etc.) – $1,500.
• Swim Clinic – $215. (Held at Maclay Gardens State Park, weeks before the race. You could probably add a couple of zeroes to the end of this and those with open water anxieties or doing their first race would still think the relative value of this AMAZING opportunity was well worth the cost!)

No need to reach for your calculator, the above listed costs… and remember, these are just some of the costs… came to ~$25,000. When I think about this race being capped at 300 participants (Kathy reported only 270 paid registrations for 2014.), I can easily see the challenges associated with concern number 3, keeping the race financially solvent. When you consider the amount of money needed on-hand to begin the process of starting up the next year’s race, it must be quite daunting for a Race Director. There are sizable up-front costs associated with T-Shirts, Awards, Finishers Medals, Timing, etc.

When I think back to the three Red Hills Triathlons I have participated in, I have always felt like I got back so much more than I paid for! When I think of most races I have done, that is generally how I have felt. Have I just lucked out with good races and good Race Directors? Is it an attitude thing?

I have to believe that it is a combination. Many of those races that I thought were great have had their naysayers. I have seen and heard more than my share of griping about the T-Shirt, the award, the food, the number of port-o-potties, the… well… you name it! While not everything is always perfect or to my exact pleasing, the totality of most races tend to exceed my expectations.

Knowing, now, just how much some of these things we have come to expect cost… I think I appreciate what is provided just a little more! At the next Red Hills Triathlon, when I’m screaming down Thomasville Road at 30 mph* and I see that car being kept one lane away thanks to “$3,100 worth of cones”, I will certainly be appreciative of every penny spent and the Race Director looking out for my safety!

* – Or maybe like 19 mph… going down that big hill past Walmart… with a tailwind… drafting someone in front of me as I pass… within 15 seconds, of course.