September 6, 2009 Good organization is the key to a successful run event With the Country Roads 10K race coming up next Saturday out at Country Estates - and almost a race every weekend in the month of October - I started thinking why some races keep coming back, and others sort of disappear in a few years. One of the most obvious is the organization that is putting on the race, and the person in that organization in charge of the event. We have had several races here in San Marcos that have had as many as 500 runners show up for a race, and then in a few short years disappear from the running calendar. There has to be a certain amount of continuity in sponsorship from an organization of a race, and a person from that organization has to know what it takes to put on a race. The Country Roads 10K has had David Alexander as a race director since its inception, and the support of the San Marcos Runners Club. This is a run “for runners, put on by runners,” so most of the small things that make a race a success are taken care of, because the volunteers in charge know what they like to see in a race. This is not always the case when the race director of a race is a new person every year and has to reinvent the wheel each time. That is one of the good things that the San Marcos Runners Club does for organizations that want to put on a race, in that a new race director can contact them; and the club (basically it is David Alexander, president of the SMRC) guides them through the necessary steps for a successful event. One of the small items that helps keep a race around is designing the shirt that runners usually get for their entry fee. I used to have a system of race shirt category placement in my closet. A nice one you would wear out at a social gathering, as the comfort of the shirt and the design were something a runner was glad to wear. Then you dropped down to shirts that you wore when you went to races to let runners know you ran a certain race, but you did not mind getting it sweaty and soiled week after week. Dropping down a few steps had you wearing the shirt while you did yard work or washed the car; and then down near the bottom was the shirt you wore to wash the car with or wipe the dirt off the lawnmower with. Race shirts range from 100% cotton that is thin, and after the first wash it no longer resembles a well-fitting shirt. Some designs are such that they are better left in the closet. Others are 100% cotton and pre-shrunk and heavy duty that will last for several years and retain color and shape. Colors are from popular colors like white, dark blue, black and some shades of red. Others fall in almost every color of the paint chart and do not seem to go with any of the rest of your wardrobe. Lately, the texture of the shirt is becoming important to runners. At one time, T-shirts were almost always the 50-50 cotton/polyester blend that retained the shape, and for a race organization were low in cost. The design on these race shirts was more important, as the shirt itself would last for several years. Today you see on the flyers for entry to the race the mention of a “hi-tech” shirt as the official shirt for the race. These shirts are designed to wick sweat away from the body and keep the runner cool during a run; but even wearing them at a social gathering, the main thing is they are very comfortable. There are several types of “hi-tech” fabrics, and some are more comfortable than others. Some have a tight weave, and others seem to have an open weave to allow greater cooling properties. Then you also have short-sleeve versus long-sleeve shirts to consider. Runs in the fall and winter tend toward long sleeves, while summer runs favor short sleeves. Some shirts win contests for best design for a race, and others never make it out of the closet. All in all, the shirt is one of the items that often helps in keeping a race coming back year after year after a well-organized race. Whether the design is something thought up by a committee in the organization or the creative work of an artist in the group, it is something that the runners will remember after the race, and may or may not advertise the race for future years while they wear it around week after week. Dr. Maurice Johnson - better known around San Marcos as “Moe” - is a professor in the Department of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance at Texas State University - San Marcos. Moe has been a fixture in the San Marcos running community - both as a runner and race organizer - since way back when Moby Dick was a minnow. His column on running and fitness appears each Sunday in the Sports section of the San Marcos Daily Record. • Recent “Running With Moe” Columns • Home • About the Club • Current News • Club Runs • Places To Run • TX Running Clubs • Running Links • Useful Stuff Upcoming Races • Race Results • Country Roads 10K & Kids Run • ARA-Moe’s Better Half Marathon • “Running With Moe” Contact Us!