Hello Fellow Race Directors, In this edition we are going to tell you what we think runners want you to do with the results of your race and how we can help you. We also have a story on "Designer" or "Hand Crafted Races" growing in popularity across the country. Also Cool Running is offering a special deal to any race directors who have never used our fee based promotional services before. Race Results - put them on the web for all to see! How many of us race directors start celebrating as soon as the awards ceremony is over and the equipment is packed away. We all want to do that but please resist the temptation for a few minutes and get the results out to where they need to go and in the right format. Put someone in charge of determining how you want your results to look and where they need to go. If you have a good timer, they might even do it for you. Basically you need to do two things: 1) Post the results on Cool Running using our results loader tool. 2) Email a subset of the results to the newspapers in the right format or tell them to get them of the web. Cool Running allows you to post the full results directly onto the web from your own PC in less than a few minutes using your own special account, user name and password. It takes just a few minutes to setup your own account at http://www.coolrunning.com/results/resload.shtml. You can have a header graphic and links as well. What results should you publish? As well as any number of results files, the Cool Running tool allows you to include a race report and a race photo as well as a link to as a photo album or other reference. Take advantage of this tool as it is the best service you can offer your runners. Hand Crafted Race Gain Popularity Fran L. Gatehouse It was not long ago that if you wanted a cold brew it most likely came from a company named Budweiser, Miller or Coors. Then along came a small brewery out of the Boston area that promised a "hand crafted" beer with a unique taste. With the introduction of Samuel Adams Ale the micro-brewed beer was born. Today thousands of micro breweries exist across the United States, producing their own brands of "hand crafted" brews. The "hand crafted" analogy fits a trend that has been developing in our sport in the Greater Boston area over the past few years. "Today's runner is searching for something beyond the generic five kilometer road race," says Dave Camire the director of the popular Good Times Running Series held in Lowell, Massachusetts during the spring and summer. "Adding a unique twist to your event will make it more appealing. I like to call them designer races," he adds. Camire's series features an array of weekly twists ranging from age, gender and weight graded races to predict your time events. According to Camire, "Of all the events we do, the favorite seems to be our Rose Maguire Great Women Chase." At this event women get a 5-minute head start. Any man who can catch one of the top 3 women wins. Any woman who can stay ahead of the top 3 men will win. "Our goal is to keep people entertained on a weekly basis through running." Based on the success of this year's series, that goal is being met. Another popular summer series promoted in the Boston area by BAEvents and dubbed the "Let's Run, Have Some Fun and Be Fit" series brings the theme, or designer, race to another level. Each Thursday evening event offers a nice course along the Charles River, food, music and plenty of adult beverages. The first event in the series is the Reggae Ramble and Music Festival. Keeping with the theme the event features an authentic Caribbean BBQ along with a live Reggae band. Other events include the Jerry Garcia Memorial River Run and Music fest that features a deadhead tribute band and enough tie-die shirts to make you feel that it is 1969 all over again. The final event in the series is the Brie Burger in Paradise Run and Tailgate Party that features a Jimmy Buffet tribute band and lots of fun for runners and parrot heads alike. Designer races may not be for everyone, but for the runners participating in these series they seem to fit the bill. Do you have a unique race idea or know of an unusual event? If so, let us know and we will publish your comments in an upcoming issue. Email your information to flgatehouse@middies.com. Special Cool Running offer for First Time Users Special Cool Running promotional offer to any Cool Running advertisers who have never used our fee-based services before. This offer starts from now until the end of September 2003. We are offering a huge discount for any new Cool Running advertiser to sign up by the end of September for a silver button promotion or silver button/event builder combination promotion and mini-web site. The silver button promotion is normally $359 per month and is being offered for $279 The event builder, if chosen in combination with the silver promotion, will be discounted from $189 to $149. For a total cost of only $428 you will receive:
If interested please visit us at our contact page at http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/5/5_3/index.shtml, fill in the form and select the advertising department and mention the phrase silver promotion. Advertisement
A Road Race specialty of ours is our "Course Clock/splits" service. Our technicians do it all from start to finish with up to 25 clocks for complete marathon coverage. Many of the best-known races in New England have used this service for years. Take a look at our Reference page on our web site www.starsystemsco.com. Bob Gibb & Family, owners Parting Words Free calendar listing. Include your event in the Web's most respected and comprehensive calendar of running events. Submit your race now. Free race results listing. Post your race results on Cool Running. Submit your race results now. Online advertising. Promote your event with one of our event advertising packages, each carefully tailored for events of specific sizes and needs. Review our event promotion packages. Paid link. Include your website or race application page on our race applications page for a modest fee. Contact us for rates and information. Your own mini- website. Build your own web page and registration form in minutes with Cool Running's easy-to-use, automated event builder. Your site gets linked in the event calendar and on our race applications page. Try this affordable service now. Online race registration. Along with our partners at Sign Me Up Sports, we can help you manage your race registration more easily and more efficiently by moving the process online. Contact us for rates and information. Custom Web design. Engage our designers to build your page from scratch, tapping our years of experience with effective online event promotion. Contact us for rates and information. Consulting. Our management team has lots of experience with successful race management. Let us help you navigate everything from scoring to insurance to promotion to merchandise. Contact us for rates and information. To subscribe to the newsletter: Copyright 2003, Cool Sports, Inc. All rights reserved. |
For more details on the silver button and event builder see: 