My Perfect Race

There is no rest for the Sinister, and we are in the thick of planning for 2024. I follow a lot of race director forums to keep tabs on what's happening around the world, and there are always a lot of questions, both profound and basic. There is one common strain of questions asked by new RDs: can you plan a perfect race? And then I laugh and laugh because I love the naive optimism. 😂 I need to tell someone to get off my lawn now.

So I'm pondering what would make a perfect race for me, from an organizer's standpoint... 

My perfect race would have flawless registration and it would fill up really early so that we can plan our expenses for the year, and know how much swag to buy. Everyone would fill out their shirt sizes and not make any swaps last minute. All of it would be within our budget and vendors wouldn't increase our prices at the last minute.

The permits would be a breeze and everyone would welcome us with open arms. There would be no course changes due to logging, mining exploration, or other industrial activity. Nobody would tear down our flagging or steal our signs. 

Check-in would go smoothly and nobody would be missing from the racer list due to user or technical issues (let's be real - it's usually user error 😉). Everyone would love the swag that we give them and nobody gets the wrong shirt size. All of the supplies show up on time. I sound like a rock star at the racer meeting and everyone goes away feeling jazzed up. Nobody would ask for a refund after the race is over because they couldn't make it.

The whole crew would show up on schedule with all of the tools and we would have the start line set up in record time so that we can focus on the festive atmosphere. Nothing is broken or missing. We would have enough safety pins for those who forget them and end up tugging on my pant leg as I'm trying to start the race. No drivers would try and go around our barricades to end up trapped like a rabid weasel as hundreds of people flow around them. 

Our aid stations would be immaculate and have every manner of goodness under the sun. The hot food would stay hot, the cold food would stay cold, and we wouldn't run out of power or gas to operate all of that equipment in the woods. Nobody would go into anaphylactic shock from hidden allergens. Our logistic people would hit all of their checkpoint deliveries on time, and we would always have enough water, no matter how hot it gets. 

Our medics and SAR team would be able to sit around all day with almost nothing to do. The injuries are minor and we wouldn't have to extract anyone out of really hard-to-reach places. There would be no heat exhaustion because the weather would be perfect. Support crews wouldn't get lost and they would have a great time cheering on all of the racers. All of the racers finish on time, although not all of the racers finish. Just enough to keep it interesting for next year. 

The awards. Let me tell you, the awards would be magical. There would be no timing chip errors and everyone would be registered in the correct categories. We would get to celebrate all of the competitors and everyone would get something fun from our sponsors. The caterers have enough food for everyone and nobody goes without. I would have slept long enough that my jokes are not just funny to me personally, and everyone has a laugh. Everyone would go home feeling full of fire for the next race. 

We try hard but I know there will never be a perfect race; events like ours are organic and no matter how hard you try, there is always an element of unpredictability. Even when we have a great year, which we did in 2023 (thank you very much), I know we will still find ways to improve. While we don't have perfection, what we do have is a great crew of dedicated people, passionate volunteers, and a vibrant, supportive community of racers who forgive us for the little things and embrace the experience for what it is... and that's why we keep on doing these little runs in the woods.