Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST
When A Race Director Does Not Care
I’ve been running races for decades. I have literally been to hundreds of races from small 5K’s to Ironman triathlons. As in any event, mistakes can happen and people adjust. However, when the mistakes are brought to the attention of the race director year after year and the same mistakes and bigger mistakes are made, it’s time for the race director to be removed before someone gets hurt.
This weekend was the Trenton Half Marathon. This is an annual event where founder Chris Seiler and Race Director Jennifer Levine have again proven their inability to coordinate the basics for a race.
The inaugural event of this race was in 2011, right after Hurricane Sandy. Where many races were cancelled (including the NYC marathon) the Trenton Half Marathon prevailed that year…or did it. As a participant in the race, here is what I saw. No Gatorade at all, the race started 45 minutes late, the volunteers were not properly trained because they could not answer the simplest of questions, there was no food or water for the runners at the end of the race because the food was put in an area where the general public could feast on the pizza, pretzels and water., there was one shuttle bus for thousands of people, people were forced to walk back to Lafayette street at the end of the marathon….which is several miles away, etc. This is basic planning for a race.
Jennifer Levine, race director, claims she has ran 26 marathons. As the Trenton Marathon race director, she is a failure. I think she has ran them in her sleep. Just because someone can race a car does not make them a mechanic. Jennifer clearly is not a mechanic. I am not sure she is even a marathoner. There is no way she could have ever ran 26 marathons and have so poorly orchestrated this marathon three years running. She is creating an unsafe experience for runners. At a cost of $100 for the race, we deserve better. This has got to change.
The mistakes of an incompetent Race Director such as Ms. Levine come in all shapes and sizes.
Inaccurate Course
I’ve run and timed numerous races that were +/- a tenth of a mile off. The difference is that 10-20 years ago, races were put on by runners, now they are often put on by non-profits, people who don’t run and have never been to a race. Now that’s fine, but if you want to raise money for your charity/non-profit you also have to be respectful to the guy who pays $30 to run your 5K, but does not care about the cause or charity. It’s even more important if you want your race to grow, your reputation is on the line.
If you put on a race, I’d guess that at least 10% of the runners will have a Garmin (gps watch), thus they will know if the course is short or long. You’ll also have serious runners, who can simply tell by their time if the course is short or long. It’s my pet peeve so get it right. It’s 2014 and it’s easier than ever to have an accurate course. The other side of the coin is if you utilize a USATF certified course, know the course inside and out, just because the course you are using is certified doesn’t mean that you will lay it out correctly or executed properly by the race director.
A marathoner, Tom Garvey said,”Wouldn't mind if you forgot about the 10k results since the lead pack was directed up an on-ramp and into traffic! We had a solid 11k race.” This is quite ridiculous. An entire 1k off. Come on Jennifer, get it together. Meagan Elly, another marathoner today said, ”That was not cool at all! I was pissed!!” Tom Garvey continued to say, There should be an 11k refund award. And just to pile on it was straight up a hill right into oncoming traffic!
Today’s Trenton Marathon started 25 minutes late. They even closed the streets a whole 30 minutes earlier so they could get their acts together and they still failed to get the race started on time.
This is inexcusable. To ever put runners in a position where they could possibly get hurt is unacceptable. I would venture to guess Jennifer Lavine could care less.
This race is supposed to bring in revenue to the city of Trenton, it’s a race for the city. The VIP dinner the night before the race was not even in Trenton it was in Lawrenceville. So no revenue to the city of Trenton. When Jennifer was asked why she did this she was perplexed, no idea why people were annoyed, her response was ,”Really?” The Mayor of Trenton who should have been at that event could not go because it was not in his town.
Let’s talk about the parking for the runners the day of the event. We were asked to park in Pennsylvania and near the city Capital and walk several miles to the start line. This is unheard of. There are always shuttles that take runners to the start line if it’s far away. There was a single shuttle that went from one hotel in Trenton that held 20 people. There were 3500 runners at the race.
When I went to get pick up my bib for the marathon, I quickly noticed something that I have never seen at any race. The race director posted all of the names, addresses and ages of all 3500 attendees at the exit of the hotel. Anyone from the street (which is in Trenton, NJ) could just walk in and see all of the information, there are children , 6 , 7, 9 and 11 years of age and older on the list. I found this disturbing. I have never seen this at any marathon or race I have ran. I asked the race director to remove it she refused. I spoke to the hotel management and hotel security and they could not make her remove it but they were equally as alarmed. The hotel recommended that we call the Trenton police. The police came arrived and asked Jennifer to remove it and she still refused. Her comment to me was," it's not your kid, why do you care. If their parents have no issue why should you care" She did not realize or even ask if any of the kids I was concerned about were related to me or mine. I asked her to place it in the expo and not next to the exit by the street, she refused. Many years ago there was a small child that was kidnapped and murdered in my town. Her parents allowed her and her brother to run the streets to all hours of the night, unsupervised. My Father used to walk her and her brother home constantly into the wee hours of the night. My Father would have strong discussions with the parents, who seemed annoyed that my Father cared that their kids were roaming the streets unattended into the dark night. The young girl was murdered one day because no one was watching her. It was horrible for the town and became an internationally known event.
I also learned from the hotel staff that Jennifer and her staff were graphically rude to everyone. They treated the very nice staff at the hotel like garbage. This is inexcusable. This is not the type of people you want running your race. They truly do not care. Just in it for the money.
This marathon has been lacking safety, no Gatorade, no food at the end because they do not keep the general public away from it or the runners, you have to walk miles to get back to your car because there are no shuttles, today, runners were sent directly into oncoming traffic.
What Jennifer Lavine did this year, with posting all the addresses, ages and personal information of every runner was beyond outrageous. Her egregious lack of safety and care for the runners is alarming. It is a criminals wet dream to see a list like she posted, it could cause break in’s, a child getting kidnapped and god knows what else. I reached out to Hal Higdon (an internationally known marathoner who is very well respected in the world of running) to get a pulse check on the situation. He said,” Obviously she has an attitude. Not sure what I would advise other than staying away from that race in the future.” I highly advise everyone take Hal’s advise.
Since this marathon started a few years ago it has horrifically decreased in safety. Against my better judgment I signed up for it again this year. A friend guilt tripped me into signing up, to support the city. I told him, it’s a logistical mess and do not enjoy paying $100 to get annoyed. They were not even collecting waivers. I did not give one and no one asked for one from me when I picked up my bib. Another huge problem. So what happened this year. Well, another late start, 25 minutes, no Gatorade until mile 6, the incorrect course distances, sending runners into oncoming traffic, having racers walk miles pre and post race to parking areas, is a small list of what happened today, if you finished early you could not leave until the last runner was in. They closed all the streets around the race exit so no one could leave. I gathered up other runners and gave them rides back to the hotel because there were no shuttles available to do so.
At the end of the race there was food, a stale pretzel and a banana, and a bottle of water. I would think $100 would get me a sandwich. It does at all the other marathons and half marathons I have done where I paid $100 to run. Shame on you Jennifer. It’s all about the money for you and not the well being of the runners. Several of us over the years have given the race director, Jennifer Lavine input to make the race safe and better for all of us. She continues to ignore everyone’s input.
This race is supposed to help the local Trenton businesses. I learned about a pasta dinner being held at the hotel from another runner. There was no notification sent out from Jennifer to the entire 3500 participants.” This I lost revenue to the city. This is not what is supposed to happen.
Logistics…Logistics…Logistics
I would grade the event today in this category a D-. There was a 5K, 10K and the half marathon and all the runners started at the same time. I have already explained above all of the other things that happened today. It was also noted that right before all the runners started through the gate, the gate collapsed. The blow up deflated and this also delayed the race. They had to blow it back up.
Awards
Be respectful of runners time, especially faster runners who finish the race often times an hour before the awards presentation. If it’s a 5K, have awards about an hour to 1:10 after the race. When you get the awards posting from the timer, get to it, it’s not the time to talk for 10-15 minutes about the cause or organization. I understand that many races are for a charity, but if you want to grow the event, you need to attract runners and by putting on a professional event, that’s what makes runners come back to your race. At a minimum, get a decent prize for the overall male/female winners. Generally you can ask a running store and they will be happy to donate a gift card. The awards ceremony did not happen at the 10:30am time. We waited until 11:00AM and still nothing. We left.
Race directors need to be careful about offering up multiple distances in one race, unless they are an experienced race director; I’d wait a few years and learn how to put on one event flawlessly before adding more to it. There was a lot of advertising done to discount the runner’s fee to the event. Even with the discount it was still $90 to run today.
Directing a race can be a rewarding event. It is a great way to get runners or walkers together to do something they enjoy. It’s a great opportunity to raise money for your or a chosen charity or cause. It’s also a great way to raise awareness for a cause. Directing a race entails a lot of aspect and can be time consuming as much as rewarding. When a race director loses sight of the basics and safety, its time to share that experience and make sure other runners never experience it either.
I will take the very wise advice of Internationally known and respected, Hal Higdon, “I would advise staying away from that race in the future.” Very wise advice.
