If there is one thing I have learned after fourteen
years in the road race industry and a decade teaching sports management
and marketing, it is to pay very close attention to the market and never lose sight of your customer's needs.
If there is one thing I have learned after fourteen years in the road race industry and a decade teaching sports management and marketing, it is to pay very close attention to the market and never lose sight of your customer's needs. As the director of the Keybank Vermont City Marathon, I have always tried to keep that in mind.
The KBVCM has been an interesting case study for me, from its inception as a small race to its evolution as a cutting-edge event. In 1989 it was the first marathon event in the United States to implement a marathon relay. The concept was to divide the marathon's 26.2 miles into smaller segments that included distances of three to seven miles. That first marathon relay had 125 teams and a total of 1,000 runners.
Relay teams became increasingly popular as entry-level recreational runners and non-marathon runners wanted to participate in the marathon event, even if they couldn't run a full 26.2 miles. By 1999, the marathon event had grown to 2,100 marathoners and 650 relay teams. Race organizers put a cap on the number of relay teams because they felt a limit should be mandated to ensure a quality experience for everyone.
In 2003, many relay teams had only two runners per team, rather than the typical four or five. Two-person relay teams were "unofficially" exchanging their relay band in Oakledge Park, the race's half-way point (but not an official relay exchange zone). At the same time, a new trend was emerging in the U.S. running market to include the half-marathon distance as a separate event at a marathon.
Running a half-marathon is no small feat. Like the marathon, it also requires hours of training and commitment. In today's society, time is a coveted commodity. Part of the reason the half-marathon distance has become increasingly popular in the past five years is because runners can achieve a significant goal in less time than is needed to train for the full marathon distance.
In 2004, KBVCM initiated another new event - the two-person relay. Race officials limited the number of teams to 50 the first year. Nearly 200 teams sought one of the slots. In answer to the demand, we increased the number of two-person teams to 150 in 2005, and 300 teams in 2006. Although the cap was increasing, the demand was growing greater than the allotted number of teams. Race organizers considered adding a half-marathon event onto the existing VCM, but decided not to due to logistic challenges.
This year, RunVermont has answered the demand for this popular distance in two ways. The two-person relay has been increased to 450 teams, and, each of these teams now receives improved services such as chip timing, a half-marathon medal, and a runner's tech-wear shirt. We now consider the two-person relay a unique way to achieve running 13.1 miles in a relay format.
In addition, this year, on April 7, RunVermont launched a new event called the 13.1 Half-Marathon Unplugged, which featured a point-to-point course from Colchester to South Burlington, all along the bike path. A total of 260 local runners participated in the inaugural run, proving yet again that the half-marathon is indeed a popular distance!
