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Here in Florida, we’ve had the opportunity since early December to successfully produce six in-person events. We have shared our learnings on many platforms throughout the industry. The following is the most important thing our team believes events can do to help the industry get back to business. Ultimately, producing successful in-person events will help our running industry get back to business but first we must create and implement protocols to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This will ensure the safety of our participants, our staff and volunteers. A safe environment will encourage our runners to participate and financially support our industry once again. Lastly, we must continue to share best practices and the ever-changing protocols with our industry peers.
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Jon Hughes Co Owner, Track Shack Orlando, Florida
As the endurance industry began to react to the pandemic, the huge disparity in our business types and models really stood out. As an industry we have much in common: the desire to create great events, inspire health and performance, and to do something positive through our efforts every day. However, this industry is incredibly diverse. There is no one-size- fits-all solution when it comes to the return of events — and this is our greatest challenge. That said, we can learn from the industry at large. NYCRUNS DASH plan, the plan developed by the Colorado Running & Walking Event Alliance, and others made publicly available are invaluable resources that can help events return safely. The key is diving deep and adapting these templates for your own needs. NYCRUNS iterated more event plans for our first relatively small pandemic-era event than we did for our largest events in 2019. When we went to the City of New York, we wanted something bulletproof; we wanted to demonstrate how thoroughly we were thinking through all the new factors. While we have developed a great working relationship with permitting authorities throughout the years, we realized this was a completely different set of
circumstances and as such, our event plans had to withstand scrutiny from everyone at any level of government. As the NYCRUNS Lousy T-Shirt Race would be one of the first significant events of any kind in NYC, on event day, there would be press and public attention. I’m happy to say we nailed it. Ultimately it comes down to research and development. We all did this when we were starting out, and we can all do it again.
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Steve Lastoe CEO, NYCRuns New York, NY
The most important thing we can do to get back to business is work together. This is going to be transition year for our events, our participants, our workforce and our industry. While we’re all facing unique challenges in our individual markets, we can’t lose sight of the power we have when we work together. Over the last year our organization has led in-depth conversations with industry leaders through our Race Management Program. These conversations are an opportunity to share best practices and challenge each other to find creative solutions that will benefit our events and the industry as a whole. All that said, working together reaches beyond event organizers and industry leaders, it’s also continued engagement with our participants, volunteers, event staff and community leaders. As we work to bring our events back online, we can’t lose sight of the unique perspectives represented by our participants and workforce and how we can work together to make our events more inclusive. The road ahead of us is long and it’s going to take patience and participation from all of us to return our races to roadways across the country and around the world.
Michael Nishi Chief Operating Officer, Chicago Event Management Chicago, Illinois
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