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Author: Adam Bratton Read Time: 5 mins  Tell me if you’ve heard this one before … You pull a pair of random cotton socks from the drawer and lace up your worn-out gym shoes to line up for your first 5K. You’re gasping for air halfway through the race, a wave of emotions swirl through your head, and you cross the finish line where a stranger drapes a medal around your neck and hands you a banana. Your body is nauseated but your mind is addicted. That first 5K launches you into a whole new world of running events and although it nearly killed you, you can’t wait for the next one. Most runners can relate to this feeling. But not all runners know that this roller coaster feeling is the same for Race Directors (RDs) as well. We recently buckled in for another roller coaster ride with our Perennial Endurance Run and I want to give you a sneak peek of what happens behind the scenes when you’re forced to make changes on the fly. If you’ve been following HPM semi-closely over the past 3-4 weeks you’re aware that we had to reschedule our inaugural Perennial Endurance Run from the original date of 1/13/24 to 1/27/24 and then had to flip the event to a weeklong Virtual format that ended this past week. What you likely don’t know is all of the effort, coordination, conversations, planning, replanning, logistics, and sleepless nights that went into pulling off what ended up being a massively successful event. Here is a quick overview.  Potential Swimrun course? I received a call on Wed, Jan 10th from Senior Leadership at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden that the storms of the previous 2 days had completely waterlogged and ravaged the trail system of the Garden. 50+ MPH winds had felled trees throughout the grounds and 2.5” inches of rain had swept full sections of trail completely away. It was obvious that it simply wouldn’t be possible or responsible to host a 3Hr, 6Hr, and 10Hr ultra marathon event just 3 days later. The next few hours involved a very intense balancing act of focusing on full-time job obligations and calling/texting/emailing sponsors, staff members, and other friends and RD’s in the industry to figure out what options might be remotely available and reasonable. I knew the longstanding Charlotte Running Co Trail Race, which routinely attracts 1000+ registrants (along with a hefty number of Perennial registrants, including myself!), was scheduled for the following weekend on 1/20/24, so our next viable rescheduling option would be 1/27/24. This was also after multiple convos with family and extended family members for additional childcare coverage.
After the kids went to bed, it was time to start hammering out a plan. Endless adjustments to the event webpage and the UltraSignUp.com registration platform needed to be made. A clear, direct, and very transparent email to all participants, staff, brand partners and volunteers needed to be drafted. “How do you want to handle your registration?” options and a questionnaire form must be created. Updated website banners, social posts, emails and everything digital needed to be modified with the new date. Participants finally got an email in the wee blurry-eyed morning of Thursday, Jan 11 with social posts on all our channels first thing the next AM.  Nightly routine Over the next 2 days I tracked the responses of our Registration Option form, began initiating refunds, answered ongoing questions via text, email, and social about what to expect, what it meant for participants, and I had to completely reset an event that had been planned over an entire year. For those already planning on traveling from out of town (Perennial proudly featured registrants from 10 different states throughout the east coast), we would set up an impromptu packet pick up at our close friends, Around the Crown 10K Launch Party, also scheduled for January 13. The following week began with more responses trickling in and my soon-to-be-familiar post-kiddo bedtime routine of pulling swag, shirts (depending on if they signed up before/after the shirt cutoff of course), sponsors goodies, creating individual mailing labels, and hand stuffing swag boxes for 30+ individuals. All of this was manually tracked accurately (hopefully) on a spreadsheet built on reports that changed daily based on everyone’s responses and unique situations/requests. To be honest, I was emotionally drained by the first loop of this coaster cruise. Little did I know that there were more twists and turns a bit further down the tracks. Add in the fact that our videographer (Patrick McGrady) would be camping at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, our photographer (Wesley Maxwell) would be skiing in Montana, and our friends at Athlos Media would not be able to man the Aid Station on the reschedule date it was already less than ideal for the typical HPM vibe. BUT the show must go on! I was able to set aside the mental drain of being a RD to experience my own race during the aforementioned CRC Trail Race. It was great to get away from the screen, breathe some fresh 30 degree crisp air and have the feeling of a participant to refresh my desire to deliver another amazing HPM experience for those that have put their trust in us. After the race, I went to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden to check out the trails for the first time on my own. The 2nd corkscrew of the roller coaster ride started to sink in. Even after 7-day days, the trails were still completely saturated. The winter “Freeze/Thaw Cycle” where moisture freezes at night, thaws during the day, then re-freezes at night was in full effect which meant the trails were still just as saturated as when the storms rolled in. The week leading into our rescheduled date was also forecasted to receive 2”+ of rain over 4 straight days of steady precipitation. Another obvious and jarring loop. With over 15 years of experience in the event management world, I’ve learned not to put too much faith in weather forecasts more than a day or two out. I've also learned to have a plan B in your back pocket at all times.  Yikes ... I also felt a strong desire to have some sort of in-person gathering as those community get togethers are so important to HPM. Ironically, one of the Perennial registrants who could not make the reschedule date was one of my good buddies, and a steadfast member of the Charlotte running community, Matt King. Matt also owns Mattie’s Diner, a classic and bad ass style Diner which would make the perfect setting for a party. I shot him a vague concept of gathering at Mattie’s for a “Prize Pickup Party” in the event that we couldn’t host an in-person race, and he was super supportive. We started putting some of the Plan B puzzle pieces together. It was simply a waiting game on the weather at this stage. A few days passed as I watched the unwavering weather forecast like a hawk while staying consistent on my evening process of hand pulling, packing, labeling, and mailing more swag bags for those that couldn’t make the reschedule date. With the weeklong forecast of rain holding excruciatingly strong, and in communication with the Garden leadership, I made the very difficulty decision to flip the event to a VIRTUAL format on Tues, Jan 23 to allow people a full week to run their own race on their own time. At the very least, we wanted people to #GetUpGetOutGetMoving (a hashtag we use on all social posts) and have a chance to collect a share of over $7500 in prizes that we had amassed for the event! This would also allow out of towners, some driving as far as Michigan, time to salvage their travel plans.  Assembly line-ish As you can guess from the first time around, this meant I had to replicate the entire “update everything” process. Webpage, UltraSignUp.com, questionnaire forms, event graphics, social posts, and another detailed email drafted for all participants, staff, volunteers, brand partners and event venue employees … The entire processes needed to be reworked, again. Another super late night was ahead of me while I mentally wrestled with the decision. The communication went out in the AM on Tues, Jan 23 which allowed a full week of Virtual Running action until we had our Prize Pickup Party the night of Tues, Jan 30. Another wave of responses came in, some wanted a partial refund, some wanted to donate to the Garden or HPM, some wanted to test themselves virtually and snag more prizes, and some just didn’t respond. Trying to keep track of everyone’s separate and unique scenarios was a nightmare but something that is required of a RD. By midweek, I started hearing side conversations about small groups that were planning to gather to complete the Virtual runs together. This was amazing! Our mission of “inspiring more activity in people’s lives” was still happening and more amazing stories, like Zach Karmel’s, would inevitably pop up.  A few of the 70+ packages that we stuffed and mailed out After 4 more full nights of pulling, packing, and labeling goodie bags to send in the mail, I joined a huge group at Brian and Chelsea Mister's house (Co-Founders of Around the Crown 10K) for an amazing day of running, laughing, splashing in the rain, and experiencing the HPM vibe first hand. There was about 20 Perennial participants and HPM friends that showed up throughout the day as Chelsea crushed a casual 40 miles and many others eclipsed their own 50K mark. Towards the end of the day, I saw another amazing story pop up as Rebecca Green, who just got into running a year ago and had only completed a Half before, posted that she had run 35 miles and could officially call herself an ultramarathon runner! Tears started to form. All of these stress-filled evenings and sleepless nights might actually be worth it!  Gathering #1 at Brian/Chelsea Mister's House The following day, I joined another group at Latta Nature Preserve for their own gathering and more incredible comradery, efforts and stories unfolded including Paul Geist knocking out his own steady 40 miler and Kasey Penrod crushing a cool 16 miles after not running for 4 years!  Gathering #2 at Latta Nature Preserve The peak of this roller coaster ride came at the Prize Pickup Party where 50+ friends packed Mattie’s Diner to celebrate each other’s amazing efforts, collect thousands in prizes, and most importantly gather as a community … something that weather could not take away from us this time. I'm still in shock by the resilience that this community showed. Naturally there were a few that we upset with our decision, but the understanding, support and compassion of the vast majority quickly eased the 3 straight weeks of constant stress that I and the entire HPM team endured.  Perennial Prize Pickup Party at Mattie's Diner If you feel like you are riding the roller coaster during your training and gearing up for future races, know that there are incredibly hard working RDs out there that are sitting right next to you ready to take on the next gut wrenching but incredible feeling of the upcoming dips, loops, and corkscrews that lay ahead. Buckle up, and enjoy the ride!  Journal - Race Director Roller CoasterComments are closed.
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