YouTube & Facebook& Blogs; Oh My!

treed — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:25:42 +0000

Any race that is looking to grow its participation and not using social media is going down the wrong road.
The Boilermaker has been committed to social media for many years and has recently hired a person to support this powerful tool from a marketing perspective (see Adam, I told you I was going to give you a shout out!).
Why social media?
Social Media folks are your folks!
Look at your race demographics by age, if you haven’t been tracking that (as well as where your participants come from) we need to talk.
In general the ‘sweet spot’ you will see is most of your runners range in age from around 17 to their mid-30’s. Guess what, these are the heavy users of social media tools. In fact some of them don’t even remember that there was life prior to the internet (which became a usable medium around twenty years ago). I still remember when we had a black and white TV in my house that could get three channels (two of them well, three if the rooftop antenna was aligned correctly).
Races by their very nature are a kaleidoscope of great photographic moments; share what you have. With the omnipresent nature of smart phones with video capabilities you have the chance to empower hundreds of first person reporters to showcase your race.
It’s cheap- in fact it’s free!
Assuming the majority of your participants come from your community could you afford to pay the print, TV or radio to get the word out in a meaningful way?
If you are an event that is dependent on sponsor dollars to help defray costs (and who doesn’t) a strong digital presence promotes them 24/7 365 (actually 366 this year as 2012 is a leap year). They know that runners are a desired group boasting a high education/ net income and can be a loyal bunch.
A big caution
Remember I told you it was free, well that was a bit of an exaggeration. The cost is your time to keep up with the care and feeding of your website/ social media.
Keep it fresh; nothing is worse than a stale website (except perhaps stale cereal). One you decide to jump into the digital pool you need to jump in the deep end!
One thing you will quickly learn is that if you have a popular event you will quickly build a circle of Facebook ‘friends’. You will also as quickly learn if you have 100 friends they may have 150 opinions about any subject!
Don’t have thin skin, not everyone will love your event as much as you do. If complaints on Facebook are legitimate consider then a chance to ‘make right’ and show you are a good listener. Should the writer be unreasonable and appears to be complaining for the sake of complaining frequently others who have ‘befriended’ you will act as your ally.
Regarding blogs, the first one is very easy to write; the twentieth not so much so. I use a simple test when I begin composing a blog “does anyone besides me even care about this subject”? Many an article has ended right there.
How ironic that perhaps the oldest of human sports born from the flight vs. fight syndrome Let me run from something/ someone that wants to eat/kill me or let run after something/ someone I want to eat/ kill has transformed into a 21st century endeavor where we barcode our runners, instantly send text messages on course conditions and digitally send them their results.
I better tweet someone about all this!

What A Weekend!

treed — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:29:01 +0000

On Saturday, January 7th at 12:01 am the 2012 Boilermaker began, or rather, Boilermaker Registration began; boy did it take off fast!
In 2011 at the end of the first weekend of registration we had 856 people registered for the 15k, 85 for the 5k. By the end of Sunday (January 8th) over 2,100 registered for the 15k, 164 for the 5k. Looks like we’re going to sell out waaaay earlier than last year! Facebook has caught on fire with runners exuding Boilermaker spirit.
On Saturday morning we did a paper registration at our local Planet Fitness. My favorite part of these events is getting the chance to interact with our customer; the runner. From the veterans of multiple Boilermakers to the ‘I’m going to run this race once before I die first-timers’ I get a charge out of just listening to them. It helps remind me the importance of this race to our community and our responsibility to deliver a first class event.
The night ended with a fireworks display near our offices to celebrate the halfway point until the Boilermaker. I ran into volunteers that support the race who came downtown to catch the pyrotechnic display. Clear skies, temperatures in the 40’s (I’m sort of loving climate change) as the first rocket took to the sky.
Today the race became real!

New Year, New Me

treed — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:26:40 +0000

New Years is one of those holidays that have never been high on my hit parade. I have a tendency to thing about those things undone rather than those things achieved.
Yet saying that I am frankly very happy this year is coming to a close. The last two months have been marked with a series of deaths of people that I know, including the passing of my Aunt Elaine the last survivor of my parents, their brothers and sisters and their spouses. My sister said to me; “Tim, we have now officially become the old people”. I have been recently been listening to John Meyer (definitely buy his Where the Light is CD) and his song ‘Stop this Train’ which reminds me of my own mortality. But my plan for this blog was not to ramble on about life or death but the idea of resolutions.
Often we decide that January 1st is the day to tackle the whole enchilada of traits we believe need to be changed. Let’s simply throw all those bad habits in a bag and toss them off the pier; hey how easy was that! Behavioral change is very, very difficult, just try putting on a shirt inserting the opposite arm you usually do; sort of feels weird.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of promises we make to ourselves the first day of the year come undone pretty quickly. It’s tough to ‘rewire’ our brains to do something that might bring us immediate gratification even though it is, long-term, a bad thing for us.
Saying all these things I am the firm believer that one of the strongest powers we posses is the power of hope. So if your if you want to lose that extra weight, eat healthier, or perhaps run your first Boilermaker.
Remember what I said earlier about the challenges of changing many bad habits in our lives? Decide to run the Boilermaker and do all the right things to prepare yourself for 9.3 miles and you’ve headed a ways down the road to become ‘the brand new you’!
So for me it’s a simple resolution (yeah, right Tim); the resolution to be a better listener. You know there’s something funny about being the person in charge; frequently your hearing somehow gets diminished. Perhaps it’s pride, ego, or maybe it’s just being simply hard-headed. It is coming to the understanding that not only do I not have all the answers; sometimes I don’t even know what the questions are!
Have a great New Year!

Your First Boilermaker

treed — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:26:07 +0000

In 2012 the Boilermaker will be thirty five years old. This will be a big race. In general big anniversaries add that extra luster that create demand to be a part of it.
I’m assuming that there will be many potential first time runners who are saying to themselves “if I don’t run the race now will I ever do it?” No doubt, this is one fun race to participate in. If you are serious about achieving this goal in 2012 I have some advice.
Straight up, I’m not a doctor, physical fitness trainer or nutritional guru; just a guy who has run this race a number of times
Be realistic
Are you ready to run 9.3 miles in the middle of July on a challenging course? Have a conversation with someone whose opinion you respect and really knows you. Perhaps it’s someone who has run the Boilermaker before. Should you decide to do it use this person/ people as part of your support group.
Get a physical
Would you drive from New York to L.A. without having your car checked out? Leaking oil, bad tires and soft brakes are scary, heart problems, muscle/ joint issues much worse. Some people simply are not made for running. Do not take that to mean that there is not an exercise program appropriate for nearly everyone.
Assuming you have no underlying medical problems running is a great way to lose weight, get your blood pressure down.
What will become clear to you early is that the discipline of running may have some great crossover benefits in breaking bad habits like smoking ( do you think!) and watching what (and how much) food you intake.
Sign up early!
There are two reasons to sign up early.
One, this race will sell out; what a shame if you are in shape but the door closed on you. Secondly, when you make a financial commitment you now have some skin in the game. It has now become more than just bold talk.
Where are we going?
Establish a running course by distance and topography (hilliness). Obviously a track is the easiest to start with; the measurement is precise and is flat. Unfortunately, running a track (in my opinion) is very boring. The other problem is tracks usually are not plowed during the Winter.
If you are a running newbie you may find your first runs to be less than pleasant; let’s be honest they will probably be terrible!
Focus on how long you were running/ walking (and it’s OK to run, walk, and run) not necessarily the distance. That will come over time.
One of the real challenges in committing to this race in January is the sad reality that your first few months of training will be when we are in the grips of Winter. If you are cold averse (I hate running in the cold) remember that a treadmill is a great compromise. However, in saying that there is no better way to train for a road race than running. Sort of sounds like common sense!
Find a friend
One of the horrible truths of life is it’s easy for us to quit on ourselves. “Oh, the weather is bad; too hot, too cold, raining, snowing, oh, it’s too early, it’s too dark” on and on.
When you have a running partner the old ‘guilt gremlin’ reminds us that when we decide not to run we have let down someone else (who also is hot/ cold wet..).
Try and find a running partner(s) who is either around your same level of athletic ability or someone who is more proficient but patient. Did I add that you should really get along with them?
Local running clubs also offer an opportunity to not only find running support but to create a social network as well.
Track your progress
What gets measured gets better.
While there are a number of great running logs available on-line a simple pocket note book will do.
Keep track of day you race, how far you went/ amount of time, weather conditions maybe even something unusual you saw (one time I had a coyote, or coy-dog, run in front of me while running a back road in Old Forge).
You will begin to impress yourself, “Wow, look how far I’ve progressed”!
Stepping out
On any given weekend leading up to the Boilermaker there are a number of races throughout the community. When you feel comfortable try out a 5k (3.1 miles) race. The goal is not to win but to get feeling comfortable with the preparation prior to a race, handling the start line, and learning to pace yourself. If you are local to Utica the weekly Developmental Runs are a nice option (with a hilly environment).
In early January we will be opening registration for the Boilermaker, maybe we’ll see you there!

Tim’s Sunday Shopping

treed — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:13:43 +0000

This is the time of year when there is little to write about the Boilermaker. While a number of very important administrative tasks are getting done they probably don’t rise to the occasion of writing up on my blog.
Yet the ‘deal’ if you will is once you start a blog you need to feed the beast.
So this blog has nothing to do with road racing in general or the Boilermaker specifically, if that’s what your looking for you might want to stop reading now.
I’m going to write about grocery shopping and the occasionally goofy things that happen to me and that I think about.
Sunday is traditionally the shopping day for the Reed family.
The deal is my wife makes the list and I get the chance to do the shopping and pay for it. It appears the distribution of labor is not to my benefit, but I digress.
First off need cash so on to the drive-through ATM.
Is it only me that finds it interesting that when you go to the drive-through ATM that there are Braille symbols under the keys? I have nothing against the sight impaired but I’m not sure they should be driving.
Secondly, have you ever thought about the amount of people that use the ATM? It’s sort of like getting a chance to shake hands with thousands of people with just a few punches of the keypad. Might be a great place to provide the customer a hand sanitizer device.
As I enter the store I encounter the shopping cart ‘corral’. I review which one of these ‘ponies’ seem to be the cleanest and attempt (underline the word attempt) to navigate the cart out of the corral. Well, invariably the cart I have chosen is involved in some sort of mad metal and wheels mating ritual. Out come no less than three carts that refuse to disengage. You feel the eyes of the citizens dropping nickel deposit bottles in the machines located close by resting on you thinking “Ok tough guy, let’s see what you’re made of!”
Rather than getting in a wrestling match I usually just give up on that group of carts, leaving them for some unsuspecting poor soul coming later, and snag a single cart close by.
While the deal is that my wife makes the list and I shop the list invariably my cell phone will ring with addition(s) to the list. While the call is not a problem where the dilemma occurs is 90% of the time as I’m speaking another call is trying to come in. Now this is the same phone that may not get an incoming call in days yet suddenly it’s like some sort of weird instant message goes out to everyone I know saying ‘Hey Tim’s on the phone, call him now, it really frustrates him!”
Where the frustration comes in is attempting to answer the other call usually results in me pushing the wrong button and hanging up on both my wife and the other person calling in.
My philosophy about this is if it’s really important they’ll call back.
As an aside, is it me or does it seem like the strangest people in the store are in the pet food aisle?
Finally I’m done, the cart groans under the weight from the tonnage of stuff piled in.
Time to check out.
The checkout lines are marked as follows:
Quick Express Line, 10 items or less
Express Line, 25 items or less
You’re Going to Stay Here a Long Time Aisle (OK, I made that up).

As I unload my cart the bagger has a different cart at the ready to load up. Why does it seem that the cart I get was a homeless guy’s cart that besides not being the most clean sometimes has that one wobbly wheel making it act like a possessed creature?
Get to the car, try not to crush the fragile items (I usually bat about.500) and we are homeward bound!
Promise next blog will be more Boilermaker-centric.
Run safely!

Tough Decisions Are Tough To Make!

treed — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:24:35 +0000

By now you may have heard that the Boilermaker Expo will be leaving the Masonic Care Community to relocate to Mohawk Valley Community College. Breaking up is never easy; the race and Masonic had a fifteen year relationship putting on the Expo. Few remember the old pre-Masonic Days when the Expo was held in the Riverside Mall prior to the mall being broken up into a series of big box stores. At that time we had around 3,000 runners, no 5k, no Walk and the Kid’s Run was held race day on the last mile of the course. The Post Race was small enough to hold in the front of the brewery and you picked up your own beer cups!
When I met with Masonic I said this was the toughest decision I’ve had to make in my four years as Executive Director; I meant it.
Change is tough; we now need to lay out new courses for the Walk, the Kid’s Run, new venue for the Induction Ceremony, Volunteer Party, and Pasta Dinner.
More importantly we now leave a dedicated Masonic staff who have over the course of time have become good friends to an unknown group in a new neighborhood.
Saying all these things, the move ultimately is a good thing for the Race, or should I say for the runners, primarily because of weather and parking.
Conducting an Expo using tents makes one susceptible to the quirks of upstate New York weather and we have had some ‘dandy’ quirks. This years thunder and lightning spectacular on Friday afternoon of the Expo was pretty interesting.
What few realized was we need not only two good days of weather for the Expo but roughly four good days prior for setup.
On to parking…
Some wags claimed that the walk to and through the Expo was longer than the 15k. No doubt we were victims of our success as we offered more and more with parking that was less and less. Whenever I would see a runner at the Expo carrying multiple goody bags I’d think “did that guy draw the short straw and have to pick up his friends stuff?”
Clearly parking should be (hopefully) a bit easier for our visitors; some might even be able to walk to the Expo from their house.
So the Expo returns to its roots of an in-door venue. We have some brand new logistical hurdles to deal with. Am I worried; I always worry a little. Fortunately, I have a group of incredible Boilermaker volunteers and workmates that will help make me look smart!

The Flight Of The Interns

treed — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:40:20 +0000

By the end of the week the last of our three interns will have left for college. These young people serve an important function to bolster a small staff. They get to experience the ‘Boilermaker high’ as well as the mundane nitty gritty work that happens to support the race. These young people bring with them social media skills that they literally have grown up with. The importance of this cannot be understated; these are tools that are essential for any major road race.
They act as a great sounding board to reach the 20-somethings, an important constituency. Also it helps that they have strong backs!
Some are majoring in sports management, events planning or just a good old-fashioned liberal arts education.
Perhaps you spoke to one if you called our office. Maybe they sent you a training shirt you purchased on-line or helped process your race application.
This year my middle child Jack was one of the interns; always an interesting experience when you get the chance to be ‘the boss’ of one of your children. The real challenge is not ‘inviting’ that relationship into your home after business hours.
One of Jack’s comments to me was “Gee, I didn’t realize how much has to be done to put on this race”!
I smirked and replied “Yeah, it’s a little more than a weekend in July isn’t it”?
This was a nice Summer for the two of us to interact.
It was a chance to work together towards a common goal.
A chance to talk together as two adults about serious issues.
Finally, a chance to laugh together at the crazy things that always happen!

It’s Over; It Begins

treed — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:24:09 +0000

My brain is slowly reorienting itself to a steadier pace. The days of little sleep boosted by a morning coffee jolt(s) have passed.
My family, fortunately, understand that any conversations with me the week of the race are probably meaningless as my head is clearly elsewhere.
The day of the race is frankly a huge adrenalin rush followed, predictably, by a bit of depression with its passing.
The Boilermaker was run a little more than a week ago yet it feels like it was so much longer ago.
The buildup for the race with volunteer coordination, endless meetings, telephone ringing incessantly and invariable snafus makes it a survival race for staff; can we hold out until the end of the race?
Now comes the time of feedback from Committee members, runners, and sponsors as well as personal reflection on the event that has just passed.
Bills need to be paid, thank you notes need to be mailed, and in general we need to put the office back together after hurricane Boilermaker blew through.
Finally, a time to take a few days off and recharge the batteries before plowing into the planning of the 2012 race.

Start Your Engines!

treed — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 12:35:17 +0000

This will probably be my last blog posting before the running of this year’s running/ walking events. It’s interesting that for my perspective the race is already over. The months of preparation now come down to a series of events encompassed in four days. I can now merely react to the events as they roll out be they good or bad.
So now runners it’s up to you. Hopefully you have gotten your training in; a little late if you haven’t. Have you started increasing your water intake? Be prepared for lines at the Expo; please be patient. Get to the Start Line early! Remember the 5k is starting at 7:15 this year. Say thank you to a volunteer.
Hey people of Utica; come out and cheer our neighbors and visitors as they pound the pavement. This race is heralded throughout the U.S. for its incredible spectator support. As a veteran of many Boilermakers I can tell you it offers a huge lift to the participants, especially our first-time runners.
Sorry if I sound like your Mom; I guess for Boilermaker Weekend I sort of am.
Have a great run; see you at the Finish Line!

The All Consuming Race

treed — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:04:37 +0000

While the preparations for the Boilermaker are a year-round event, the final thirty days are when race activities hit light speed. Some of it is structured, some is the unplanned but predicable and some; well some sort of comes out of nowhere and bonks you on the side of the head!
Time formerly our friend has become a cruel, cruel enemy.
The Structured:
All told we will be hosting nearly twenty one thousand participants in six separate events over a roughly one week period.
The support structures to make this happen, hopefully seamlessly, is where the real time is expended. Venue planning, in particular the Expo and the Post Race Party, are huge logistical endeavors involving hundreds of separate companies and thousands of individuals. The race itself with twenty some water stations, over forty forms of entertainment, coordination with medical, police, fire, National Guard, media and timing systems need to be kept in-synch. The mere change of the 5k start time from 7:30 to 7:15 am has implications that ripple throughout the system.
Even the smaller activities such as, the National Anthem Contest, Road Runner Mile, VIP Reception and sponsor golf outing require significant ‘hand-holding’ by volunteers and staff.
Unplanned but Predictable:
Not five minutes after the 15k cap was hit the frantic e-mails and phone calls began to hit. I think we did a good job either through transfers, waitlist, deferrals to get as many of the post-cap people in the race. What I did not gauge well was the volume of these calls/ e-mails and the demand on our small staff to handle them.
At this point I have to give a huge ‘atta-boy’ to Jim Stasaitis, the race director, who personally dealt with most of these issues.
Bonk on the Head:
Finally, I came home on Friday and saw a card sent wishing my wife and I a Happy Anniversary; I suddenly remembered that our Anniversary was on Saturday. The focus on that darn Boilermaker countdown clock I see every morning can blind one to other important things!