As we all stare at the calendar longing for the weekends to once again be filled with the events that have brought us all together, it is hard not to wonder what they may look like once we can safely gather again. COVID-19 certainly will have a lasting impact.
Runners Gonna Run
We are all eager to get back to what we love. Runners want to run our events again. And as badly as we all want to jump right back , depending upon where you are located, the likelihood of larger events getting the green light is fairly low. Consider the concerns about social distancing; for a 1000 person race the staging area for the start is about the size of a football field...and to get them safely through the start line could take about an hour or more. (For more on this, look at this blog post)
Other Impacts
Packet pickup, on site registration, hydration stations, finish lines and the sponsor / vendor areas will all be impacted just as much as the start line. So, as health and government officials continue to work on ways that we can move forward, our industry has already been developing ways that we can slowly and safely host events again.
Engineering Solutions
Several companies, including Race Day Professionals, have successfully tested several strategies and technologies that can lead the way towards safe in person events. The idea of what is called a "rolling start" or an "open start" is particularly interesting. This is a variation on what typically happens at obstacle course events and mud runs. Essentially, you have a start line area set up and functioning over an extended period of time; hours or even days. Participant could be offered the option to start at any time or, corrals could be assigned where a specified number of participant could start in a pre-determined period of time (for example, between 6:00AM and 6:20AM, 30 people could start. Then from 6:30 u til 7:00, another 30 could start...and so on). This would allow a race director to ensure proper social distancing for attendees while still offering an in person race experience.
Organization And Technology For The Win
In order to manage the assignment of bibs and any swag distribution, again technology gives us some great solutions. Dynamic bib assignment (the process of assigning bibs as participants show up instead of pre-assigning them and sorted them into bins) could be set up to allow the participant themselves to self-assign a bib. T-shirts could be organized into different tents to minimize crowds and streamline distribution (volunteers and other staff would wear the proper protective gear such as masks and gloves) and finisher medals could be placed on a "self-serve" style rack attended by a staff member or volunteer.
How To Hydrate
There are several ideas around hydration. One of the more popular ideas is to encourage participants to bring their own fluids for their run. This could lead to several great swag ideas too. For longer events, we have seen some interesting foot-pedal operated dispenser that may be used to refill certain portable containers.
We’ve Got Options!
In short, there are options. We can do this safely. And while the earliest events will likely be the sub-500 person events, it is these events that will lead the way to the larger events happening sooner. If you would like to discuss what options may be available for your events, please reach out to us. We would love to help you lead the way towards a healthy re-starting of our industry.
