A quick guide to organising a run.
The first thing to remember when organising a run is don't set your sights too high. Sometimes the best runs are the ones with just a handful of cars. Managing 20+ MINIs is never easy, it takes a lot of planning and when you have a lot of cars you increase your chance of something going wrong. Keep it short, epic runs put people off attending and 100miles is a good day out when you add in stops.
Where possible avoid single track roads, 20 odd MINIs charging down a small lane can upset people coming the other way, and the risk of an accident is far greater on these types of roads. Mix it up a bit some straight quiet A road stretches will allow people to get past slow traffic. Avoid busy junctions and roundabouts, town centres junctions that involve a right turn into busy traffic.
When planning a run you should, first plan it out on a map and get a rough idea of how long it will take to travel the route. Factor in toilet, meal and photo stops. Travel the route yourself, make notes of potential hazards and be aware organising a run properly is time consuming and will cost you money.
Always print run notes for attendees to enable them to follow the route if separated from the main pack and make this available on the site in plenty of time prior to the event to taking place. Email the site admin if you have problems loading this up to the site.
Provide as much detail as possible on the pace notes, signage, landmarks etc. Photos of the junctions and satnav routes are great but they add to the work you need to do.
As the organiser, introduce yourself to new faces, and help them feel part of the group. Ask for feedback at the breakpoints, sometimes people have a problem keeping up, its better to slow the pace slightly than spend time helping lost runners find the group.
Organisers should aim to arrive at the meeting point at least 30 minutes before the start time.
Pick a start point thats easy to find, near a petrol station to ensure all runners can fill their tanks, especially important for those that have travelled a long distance to get to the start point
If the event is attended by large numbers split the runners into smaller groups. More than 20 cars in one group is impossible to keep together so aim for groups no bigger than this.
People will get lost and if you have a large number of runners it will always happen. Provide a mobile number for emergencies and lost runners and use a handsfree kit.
Get helpers and ask for volunteers to help on the day, have them in the middle of groups as well as the front and back to make sure people are not getting lost
Include mileages between each turn/change of direction on the pace notes.
Provide frequent re-group points along the route so if someone is lost or the group gets split they can arrange to meet the rest again at the re-group point. When you stop make sure you do it in a place thats safe to hold the number of cars attending. Dont keep stopping, only do it at the regroup points.
Make it clear within the Run thread and pace notes that people are expected to drive courteously, legally and safely ,persistent irresponsible behaviour will not be tolerated and offenders should be asked to leave the run.make sure people are aware of site rules on runs.
Allow people to go at their own pace, factor this into your driving style.
Expect both negative and positive feedback from the event and don't be offended and use this information to learn how to improve things the next time round.
This is not a definative list, if you've got any other points you wish to see added post them up and I'll add them to the list. Feel free to ask for help if you're thinking of organising a run.
Most of the people who attend a lot of runs have walkie talkies and use channel 4/17
this helps people know of any problems ahead or behind.
