Thankful for Race Directors
Lets be honest, being a race director is tough, being a race director during a pandemic darn near impossible. I know that being a race director is a difficult job, just putting together super low key free runs is super stressful, I can’t imagine if someone actually paid me! These folks go through a lot and I’ve worked with some of the best local race directors, and I’ll be honest I didn’t know exactly how hard their job is, police details, road closures, permits, payment, registration, results and so much more! I thought I’d take a minute and write down a story from three of our local race directors that proves just how awesome they are.
Charlie and the St. Pats 5k Kids Medal
We had a good customer of ours reach out because after the St. Pats 5k kids race they had to head home quickly. They forgot to pick up their kiddos medal. Charlie Breagy the race director has always told me he wants to give out awards as quickly as possible so everyone gets theirs and they don’t have to worry. However, on this occasion the kiddo simply wasn’t around to pick it up. They reached out to the shop in hopes of getting their sons medal and Charlie was more than happy to bring it by the shop to make sure the wee one got his reward for his hard effort. I’d also like to note that Charlie and his daughter Siobhan are always super helpful during packet pickup and while not encourage they are always happy to hand out a bib a few minutes early if ya show up. They’ll even let me set them aside for folks to pick up out side of packet pickups. OH! And because of last years craziness he allowed all the runners to run in this years race and they could pick up their t-shirts from last year at the shop. Anyhow that’s enough tooting of Charlie’s horn. You can check out his races via the link below.
Rhode Races and My Best Half Ever
The folks over at Rhode Races know how to put together a solid event. This particular story is all about my fastest half marathon ever. I firmly believe it was so fast because of just how well the event was put together. Things were just down so smoothly. First the packet pickup was at Rhode Runner and went super smooth. Race day parking was phenomenal because they were able to use the parking lot for Narragansett Town Beaches. Like most runners going to the bathroom pre-race is of utmost importance and this was a spot where the race directors excelled! So many Porto-Johns! And organized in the proper manner, a U. Trust me a U is the best way to organize Porto-Johns. Anyhow, that situation was handled fantastic. Then the race started ON TIM which is huge when you plan your warmup around a certain time. The course was super well marked and I didn’t even need to think about where I was going. The course was challenging but fast and afterward the post-race setup was super fun. Like I said earlier the folks over at Rhode Races know how to put together a great event!
Gray Matter | Ocean Road 10k
There is no gray area here the folks who work for Gray Matter Marketing are top-notch good people. Starting with the man himself Matt Gray, their events are local and he supports his community. I wanted to focus this story on the Ocean Road 10k which has to be one of the more difficult races to put together given that it is point to point. Shuttling thousands of people from one end of Narragansett to the other is not easy to coordinate and nearly impossible to execute, but these folks get it done every year. I have run this race, my wife has run this wife and I guess technically my son has run this race (my wife was pregnant). We all had a blast, though Myles hasn’t really articulated that…anyway, the point to point aspect of this race is what makes it cool but not having to worry about where to go is so helpful when racing. The run is super scenic and the organizers do a great job of making it all about that. I find the best race directors are the ones you don’t think about, if they’ve done their job correctly you just have a great time! The folks at Gray Matter Marketing do just that, they put on a great event and always allow their runners to focus on what matters, the run!