Fast Running Blog 5 Miler

[Sasha Pachev]

Date: May 09, 2009
Time: 08:00 AM
Location: About 350 N Geneva Road in Provo, Utah. GPS coordinates: 40.238234,-111.69565.
Directions: Take I-15 to Provo, exit 265 (Center Street), go west to Geneva Road,  turn right, go about a quarter mile, make a left into the parking lot as soon as you cross the Provo River Bridge. Google Maps Directions.

Registration: http://fastrunningblog.com/reg/race_reg.php?race_id=138 . Registration only online. We strongly encourage you to pre-register. If you come on the day of the race we will give you a bib. However, we will ask you to go online ASAP after you finish the race, post-register, and enter the bib you've run with. This will guarantee that your time will appear in the race results.


Our Cause: In the spirit of the problems our country is facing today  - for frugality and against obesity. In that spirit, this is the most economical race in the state. There is no entry fee.

Course: Starts and finishes at the Provo River Bridge on Geneva Road. The race course is flat out and back along the Provo River Trail. We will run to the end of the Provo River Trail by the Utah Lake and back.
 Course Map with Elevation Profile.

Benefits: This is a simple race. We have no food, no raffle, no trophies, and no band, but we do have the essentials - an accurate race course, good competition, and timing. Additionally, Sasha Pachev, two-time Top of Utah Marathon champion, and Jeff McClellan , the winner of this year's Provo City Half-Marathon, will be at the race to answer questions about training.


Prizes: Prize money for men and women:

1st place $50, 2nd pace $30, 3rd place $20

Prize money will be rewarded only if the performance standards are met. 27:30 or faster for men, 32:30 for women. No age division awards. However, we will subtract 1:10 from the time of the masters (40+) for the purpose of awarding prize money. So the young bucks would have to run scared.

Very Important: If you think you are too slow for the race stop thinking that right now, and sign up immediately no matter how slow you are, even if 12:00 per mile is all you can do, or even slower. Racing faster people helps you get faster, do not be afraid to do it.

Payment: Free. You may donate to Fast Running Blog if you so desire.

[maryannsc]

This is AWESOME!!  I'm excited to come!  What a nice service to offer the community!

[Maurine Lee]

Thanks for hosting this, Sasha!  It is a great concept.

[jeff]

Wonderful idea.  Maybe a model for other communities as well!

[Seth Wold]

Who is footing the bill for prizes?
What benefits do they recieve? 
Does putting on free races encourage a better atmosphere for developing and strengthening the running community if Utah Valley?
Who do you think the majority of the winnings will go to?
Will there be course safety/ police support?
Does it require any permits from the city?
I was just wondering about this.  I don't understand the real intentions behind this idea.  But I hope that it is to help the running community, not just a few members of the community.

[maryannsc]

Seth, I'm sure you'll get a reply shortly from Sasha, since he is authorized to make the final reply.  But my guess is that the money generated by this website as well as from Sasha's own pocket is footing the bill.  By putting on these fun runs, it brings publicity to the blog, which in turn helps the blog to grow, generating more income as well as giving them an opportunity to trade their widely-used advertising for benefits from other businesses, which funds the time Sasha puts into creating and maintaining the blog as well as their racing team.  But I can't say that it has any money motive.  It may be solely a service and/or a hobby.  But even if it is partially money-motivated, this money will be put into the blog and their racing team, as I've said, which benefits the whole running community.  The blog especially is very helpful to many runners because it helps them to log their running as well as encourage each other in their running pursuits.  Since the blog is free to the community, it is a great service.

This free race definitely will strengthen people like me for instance, part of the running community, because I may get a cash prize.  In turn, I can use that money to make more flyers and otherwise fund my next fun run I'm putting on, which will benefit many more runners in UV.

The winnings will go to the top 6 local elites, as do most cash prizes in other races.  Those who don't normally win cash prizes probably won't win one, but they will still come if they go to races just to run with lots of people that will push them as well as to be social.  The only difference is, they get a free bib and can buy refreshments of their own choice rather than paying someone else to provide them.

The course is very safe because it has no traffic since it's on the river trail.  There is no need for police support.

Free races and very small ones don't require permits.  I've already asked the Parks and they said it's not worth their time if there aren't many people.

I think they want to first help those who are trying to become national elites, which in turn helps the rest of the running community.  The local elites provide competition to push each other to faster times, as well as pull everyone else behind them.  They also provide inspiration for everyone else as well as share their tips to those who are less experienced or knowledgeable about running so that others can follow in their footsteps.  They are like pioneers, blazing trails for others.  These leaders get others excited about running and get them out the door training and racing.  You are one of these people, and you are one of the people who will be strengthened by running it, hopefully, and will then be able to fund your own running better and thus be able help others, as you have done for me.

Thanks Seth for all your free expert advice to many of us and I hope to see you at the race!

[Sasha Pachev]

Fast Running Blog is footing the bill. We can afford $200 + pocket change to promote the idea of running fast, being fit, and not going into debt to do it. The course requires no police support. I do not expect a whole lot more than 50 people in the first race - my understanding is that I do not need permits for that. If Provo City tells me different, we'll deal with it. If it is only $100 per race, we can still handle that with no entry fees.

The idea is to have a race. We have a lot of parties around races, but not a whole lot of events where the party aspect is not being put ahead of racing. I thought for a difference we could once have a pure race. True competition is fostered when there is a low barrier to entry. For a poor college student an entry fee of any amount can serve as a barrier to entry. So I figured I'd remove it for as long as I can afford it. Part of my intent is also to demonstrate that most of the expenses in road "races" are party-related, that it does not cost that much to have a true race even when it has cash prizes. I realize that stirs the pot in some circles, and that is intentional. I like to stir the pot, it is good for it to be stirred, or else the food gets stuck to the walls.

If the race ever grows to 500 people or more, we might have another source of revenue from sponsors. If that ever takes place the cash prizes will be increased. We might also be able to take the course somewhere else to generate more publicity. But for now I want to know how many people will come to run a competitive bare bones race for free, and I am willing to pay $200 + pocket change to find out.

Seth, click on the link above and sign up. Tell your friends. Let's have a race.

[Sasha Pachev]

Regarding the benefits to the community. Here at Fast Running Blog we primarily benefit the community by teaching a man to fish. This approach has resulted in numerous running breakthroughs which incidentally have been happen primarily among rank and file. Just go to the Race Reports page and read the Boston stories. Most of those runners could not run a Boston Qualifier before they joined the Blog, and many have publicly acknowledged that it was the Blog's help that got them to Boston. When a runner asks for advice on the forum I personally make sure that no such request is ignored and that adequate advice is given regardless of the level. We have seen greater family involvement with spouses and children starting to run, the families developing a culture that values work and adopting a healthier life style. Even those some have inferred from our name that the site caters to the elite, the fruits of our work testify that we mean what we say on the front page that this site is really for everybody who wants to be a better runner.

The race promotes not only our name, but also our core values. We believe in hard work. We believe in excellence. We believe in honoring and nurturing the gifts that God gave us. We do not believe in gimmicks, short cuts, and other forms of fluff that generate revenue but fail to produce excellence. 

At most six people will receive cash. However everyone will have a chance to push himself to the limit, find out where he stands, and learn what he needs to do to improve.  I hope this is enough of a benefit to the community. I have a suspicion that a good portion of the community may not want that benefit, they'd rather jog, eat, have a raffle, and then say to their friends that beat them by an hour that it is not fair. If so, then let those few who come learn how to beat their friends by an hour.

[James Moore]

Sasha what goes into putting something like this on? I mean I could map out a 5-10K course going along the Jordan River trail. I could also put up some prize money for it. Hmm...

[Josse]

I like this idea but I don't see the harm in charging 5 bucks to cover your costs of doing this.  That is still promoting frugality, it is a lot of work and time away from your family to do this.  Kind of like Maryann's races, but this one starts earlier and that works better for me.   I personally don't see this getting very big, unless you decide to do a different coarse once in a while.  But maybe I am wrong   Hope this works out for you Sasha.

[Sasha Pachev]

James:

Not a whole lot if you are willing to keep it simple. You do need a registration and a timing system, though. Probably not a big deal, you can do things manually if you have only 20 people, but at around 50 it is nice to have some sort of automation. I would strongly encourage you to pursue the idea. We need more simple races.

The problem is that everybody thinks they  need to put on a huge show to have a race, and then people begin to expect a huge show as well. Or maybe the other way around, chicken and egg problem. At least here in Utah. I've read about a racing series in London on Maria's blog where you pay something like $1 for the entry fee, and just run the race. I thought it would be a good idea to have something like this in Provo.

[Marion McClellan]

Yes- this is our idea with the Red Hot Pink Chicks 1/2 down Provo canyon.  We all love to run together, train together and race together.  It's fun and gets to be expensive.  This running community we have is really a cool thing and why shouldn't our races be too.  I am all for more races like this.
How are you going to do the timing.  That is the one thing I can't quite figure out how to do for our 1/2.
Oh BTW- the RHPC 1/2 is for BOYS too

[Dallen]

I like this idea. I would much rather do a free accurately measured 5 miler than another poorly organized 3.02 mile 5K. Make it free and that's even better. After a couple free races gather publicity I'm sure charging a minimal fee ($3-$5) to cover the expenses would not significantly lower the turnout.

[Marion McClellan]

There was an article in RunnersWorld last month about these type of "Green" races, they were calling them.

[Sasha Pachev]

I am going to use my Palm pilot + a bar-code scanner at the race. Possibly a laptop instead depending on the type of scanner I am able to find. Then use my own set of hacks to load the results. This is another reason I am able to do the race free.