Growing a Digital-First Race

At the tender age of 24, with no prior experience or any interest in running, Matt Trevett decided to take a gamble and launch a new 10K in his hometown of Weybridge in Surrey, UK.Matt promised local business groups and the local council he’ll bring 1,000 people to the race in its first year. As you can imagine, everyone was very supportive of the idea - in between thinking Matt was crazy.Fast-forward a few months, and Matt delivered his 1,000 people inaugural Weybridge 10K, as promised, and went on to produce more award-winning races in his hometown, putting the former through-town firmly on the regional running map.Beyond the amazing story of Matt and the Weybridge 10K, today’s episode is not about Matt or the Weybridge 10K. It is an episode about attitude, persistence and - more importantly - taking a lean approach to putting on races that focuses on building community, forging partnerships with local businesses, and marketing smart online, often with little more than a bunch of pictures of empty roads to go on. If you’re starting out as a race director you’re going to love this episode, and, if you’re a more seasoned race director, getting the perspective of a young millennial colleague will hopefully help trigger a lightbulb moment or two for you. In this episode:The Weybridge 10K storyPlanning a new race in the town you grew up inComing into race-directing with the perspective of a non-runnerPicking your race distance: the merits of a 10K for a new local eventNot cutting corners on health & safetyPitching your vision for your event to town officials Being bold, making mistakes and learning from themFocusing on race experience, rather than profits in your first couple of yearsBeing transparent and genuine with the content that you share with your audienceCanvassing residents and local businesses before the launch of the raceMaking advocates of your biggest local criticsThe digital-first approach: launching lean, launching onlineDo organic promotion first (Facebook groups, running clubs), paid laterThe importance of remarketing to "warm" audiencesUsing Facebook Events as part of your race promotion strategyMarketing your race on InstagramGiving away free race photos and using event photos to market your race onlineManaging a participant death in Weybridge 10K's inaugural raceEmail marketing: less is moreThe future of content marketing: switching from long-from written to short, sharp video contentThanks to GiveSignup|RunSignup for supporting quality content for race directors by sponsoring this episode. More than 22,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use GiveSignup|RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. If you'd like to learn more about GiveSignup|RunSignup's all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events visit runsignup.com.You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.You can also share your questions about launching and growing your race or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.Send us Fan Mail