Race Management Checklist for Marathons, 5Ks, Half Marathons, & More

Organizing a race has a lot of moving pieces:

• Permits
• Barricades
• Port-a-Potties
• Shirts & Medals

The list goes on. Whatever kind of race you’re organizing – marathon, half marathon, 5K, or bike race – you need to have a solid plan to ensure that you’re getting everything done and getting it done on time.

When you’re working with a team to get everything done, you need to ensure that communication is clear and that everyone knows who’s responsible for what.

Race Entry makes it easy to keep track of all of your deadlines and communicate responsibilities clearly with its Checklist project manager:

1. Note Task Details
2. Assign Team Members
3. Create Automatic Reminders
4. Identify What’s Overdue

1. Note Task Details

Record all the details of what needs to be done for each task you create from permitting and ordering shirts to important marketing initiatives.

Adding the details to each task helps you remember the details and communicate them to your team. And, you can copy old tasks, so you don’t have to remember or rewrite all of the details you need for each task every year.

Below are a few examples of common race director tasks and what details you might include:

Race Permit Task Details

When you’re creating a task about permitting, you’ll want to include:

• Who you need to get permits from – Depending on your race course, you may need permits from the city and the county.
• What kind of permits you need – You’ll need a mass gathering permit. Depending on your area, you may be required to obtain a few more.
• When are the deadlines – Start the permitting process early so you have plenty of time to get all of the details and don’t miss the deadline.
• What information do you need to provide – Understand what details you need to provide to get your permit approved so you can submit all of the documentation required.

Check out our race permitting guide for helpful tips.

Race Barricade & Port-a-Potties Task Details

For a task about barricades and port-a-potties, consider the following details:

• Price quotes – Make note of which companies to request quotes from and add pricing details once you’ve done outreach.
• Current contract information – Note if you’re in a current contract, what the rates are, and when the contract ends.
• Placement along course – Include information to give your barricade and port-a-potty company about where to place barricades.
• Set up and clean up – Include details about when barricades and porta-potties need to be in place and when they need to be picked up.

Race Shirts & Medals Task Details

You may have several tasks for your race shirts and medals that may include:

• Design options – Whether you’re organizing a contest for your shirt design or working with a designer, you’ll need to coordinate your communication, feedback, and voting.
• Prices & turnaround time – Reach out to suppliers for their pricing and turnaround time.
• Production information – Gather your quantities, design specs, and place your order.

Race Sponsor Conversations & Deals Task Details

Sometimes a company wants to sponsor your race, but they want you to reach out later. Rather than forgetting to follow up in a timely manner, create a task for yourself to reach out. Include:

• Date and time to reach out
• Who you’re talking to
• What level of sponsorship they’re interested in

Learn more about Race Entry's sponsor sales and management tools.

Race Marketing Efforts Task Details

You have all kinds of marketing initiatives to manage as you're growing your race. Customize your to do list for your marketing projects:

• Race expos
• Ad campaigns
• Posters & yard signs

See "11 Ways to Grow Your Race."

2. Assign Team Members

Be clear about who’s responsible for getting each task done by assigning team members to each task. Creating clear expectations also helps with accountability on your team.

You can specify priority level on tasks and set deadlines to help your team members know where to focus. When your team members know what to do and what’s most important, they can use their time more effectively to help you organize a successful race.

3. Create Automatic Reminders

Turn on automated email reminders for each task to help you and your team remember what needs to be done and ensure that it gets done on time.

Specify when reminders hit inboxes – choose dates that give enough time for the task to get done. If a 24-hour notice is enough, you can set reminders for the day before. If you need a week’s notice, then set the reminder for a week before the deadline.

4. Identify What’s Overdue

You can see all of the open tasks and clearly see which ones are overdue, which makes it easy to follow up with your team.

Use your Checklist to help you with regular team meetings – when you follow up on important tasks and see what questions or help your team needs from you.

With an organized Checklist accessible from your account, it’s easy to stay organized and get everything done for a successful race day.