Monday, November 8, 2010

FOR RACE DIRECTORS AND EVENT ORGANIZERS: EVENT WEBSITES IN OUR CHANGING WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL MEDIA & ACCOMODATING THE EVER-GROWING TRAVELING ATHLETE

As new Marathons, Half Marathons, Triathlons and many other events continue to pop up all over like a spreading fire, the importance of knowing your audience is key. As Founder and President of Fifty States HALF Marathon club and being a key contributor to endurance runners and Half Marathon race calendars on the web, I myself couldn’t be more frustrated with an event website when I land on the webpage and can’t even find the city and state on the homepage of the event. Sometimes even the date of the event is missing from the homepage and you have to dig for it buried in other sub-pages.
Race organizers and Race Directors creating a website sometimes seem to create their website catering to believing that most participants are local and already know where the race is. The growing popularity of the traveling athlete, desire to travel to various states or countries to participate in events, makes information on the event website valuable to attain market share to the traveling athlete.

TIPS FOR RACE DIRECTORS AND EVENT ORGANIZERS TO CREATE INFORMATIVE TOP NOTCH EVENT WEBSITES
CHECKLIST FOR THE “MUST HAVES” ON HOMEPAGE

1) City & State (You’d be surprised how many event sites do not have this. Very frustrating for non-local participants and maintaining national race calendar sites)

2) Date of event (believe it or not there are a lot of sites that do not have this on their home page and participants have to dig for it)

3) The DAY of the event is also very helpful (ie: Saturday or Sunday).

4) ALL Race distances (Marathon, half marathon, 5k, etc) listed on “home page”, not buried in other links to figure out if there are various other distances in addition to the main event distance.

5) A CLEAR and CONCISE “Link” to “EXACT LOCATION” with FULL ADDRESS

Most participants that are not local have to do a lot of extra work to find the location because event organizers do not put the address of the event location anywhere in the website. Participants like to use online maps or utilize GPS in their car or rental car when traveling, to locate the event, so I can’t emphasize enough how important a “full address” is of the event location.

6) And finally, having a “race date” planned well in advance, ideally one year ahead. Many traveling athletes plan their race calendar one year in advance. The sooner you have the date published on your website, the sooner it is updated on sites like our Fifty States HALF Marathon Race Calender , and the sooner athletes can add that race to their race calendar for their travel plans. We start looking for new race dates a year in advance when updating our website.

NICE TO HAVES

In addition to the “must haves,” social media and various websites definitely follow as “nice to haves” on an event website. Connecting with the running community, triathlon community, and other athletic event communities on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Running Clubs or Goal Achieving Clubs like Fifty States HALF Marathon Club , etc. (where participants can read about feedback about the course, connect with others about their experience of the event in past years, and join the community of others who will be participating in the upcoming event and share the excitement of the anticipation), and partnering with Race Calendar sites (advertising your event where the community looks for the best race to attend), can all go a long way in increasing participants and giving visibility to your event.

INEXPENSIVE OPTIONS TO HAVING A WEB PRESENCE OR WEBSITE FOR YOUR EVENT

For smaller local community events who do not keep an all year round web page for the specific event, like some of the YMCA’s, YWCA’s I’ve noticed, or events just starting out, this ALL can be accomplished at NO COST or very little cost. Race Organizers can create a one page Blog in Google Blogger to appear almost exactly like a website (kind of like our official blog http://halfmarathonclub.blogspot.com/ but “without the ongoing content added”, and leave this posted with all the above mentioned “must have” checklist” posted on the BLOG. This is FREE, and at least gives your event its own identity and a place for the public to look for the details of the event. You can then share your blog link via facebook or twitter, and with race calendar sites like ours. This can be a valuable tool to at least avoid your participants having to click on an expired Active event listing from previous years, with no event site to go to for future details. Another very inexpensive means for an ongoing event site is Yahoo business. It is inexpensive and you can create your own website within an hour with their easy to use templates, walking you through step by step how to set up your website, allowing your event to have its own domain you choose.

In summary, the number of events popping up will continue to grow and the market will remain competitive. Even though the trends show there is no shortage of participants in the ever-growing events such as marathons, half marathons, or triathlons, it is still important to be aware of the “user experience” you are providing your participants, starting from the very first step of when that individual visits your website and decides if it is an event they would like to add to their calendar for the year.

© copyright 2010 Nicole Blomgren & Fifty States Half Marathon Club LLC

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Check these Great Marathon and Half Marathon events out in California!

Check out these great Charlie Alewin races in California!  Our Fifty State HALF Marathon Club members receive a 10% discount off all of these races http://www.charliealewineracing.com/

Monday, March 22, 2010

Since we are working on changes to our website and are behind on updating the Half Marathon Calendar Pages, we thought we'd post the APRIL 2010 and MAY 2010 HALF MARATHONS in the United States on our Blog:

ARIZONA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr 10 Havasu Half Marathon Lake Havasu City, AZ


Saturday, Apr. 24 Desert Dash Half Marathon & 5K Tucson, AZ

Saturday, May 1 Whiskey Row Marathon & Half Marathon Prescott, AZ

CALIFORNIA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 Golden Gate Headlands Marathon, Half Marathon San Francisco, CA

Sunday, Apr. 11 US Half Marathon 2 - "The Other Half" San Francisco, CA

Sunday, Apr. 11 Marina's Long Beach Marina Marathon, Half Marathon Long Beach, CA

Sunday, Apr. 11 Artichoke Half Marathon & 10K Pescadero, CA

Sunday, Apr. 11 Santa Cruz Half Marathon & 10K Santa Cruz, CA

Sunday, Apr. 18 River City Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Sacramento, CA

Sunday, Apr. 18 Run-Through-Redlands Half Marathon Redlands, CA

Sunday, Apr. 18 Lake Casitas Half Marathon & 5K Run/Walk Ojai, CA

Sunday, Apr. 25 La Jolla Half Marathon & La Jolla Shores 5K La Jolla, CA

Sunday, Apr. 25 Marin County Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay San Rafael, CA

Saturday, May 1 May Day Trail Marathon & Half Marathon Las Flores, CA

Saturday, May 1 American River Parkway Half Marathon & 5K Sacramento, CA

Sunday, May 2 Orange County Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Newport Beach, CA

Sunday, May 2 Avenue of the Giants Marathon, Half Marathon Weott, CA

Saturday, May 8 Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon Solvang, CA

Saturday, May 8 Ayala Park Marathon, Half Marathon & 50-Mile Chino, CA

Saturday, May 15 Palos Verdes Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K San Pedro, CA

Sunday, May 16 Going Bananas Marathon & Half Marathon South El Monte, CA

Sunday, May 16 Avenue of the Vines Half Marathon & 5K Lodi, CA

COLORADO HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, Apr. 11 Platte River Half Marathon & Relay Littleton, CO

Sunday, Apr. 18 Horsetooth Half Marathon Fort Collins, CO

Sunday, May 9 Colorado Marathon, Half Marathon, 5K & 10K Fort Collins, CO

Sunday, May 16 Colfax Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay Aurora, CO

CONNECTICUT HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, Apr. 25 Nutmeg State Half Marathon & 10K Washington Depot, CT

DELAWARE HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 24 Trail Triple Crown Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K Newark, DE

Sunday, May 16 Delaware Running Festival Marathon, Half Marathon Wilmington, DE

FLORIDA HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, Apr. 11 Gulf Coast Half Marathon Pensacola, FL

GEORGIA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, May 15 Twisted Ankle Trail Marathon & Half Marathon Summerville, GA

IOWA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 24 Drake Relays On-the-Roads Half Marathon & 8K Des Moines, IA

Sunday, May 23 Council Bluffs Half Marathon, 5K Run/Walk & Fun Run Council Bluffs, IA

IDAHO HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 Dry Creek Half Marathon Boise, ID

Saturday, Apr. 17 Race to Robie Creek Half Marathon Boise, ID

Saturday, May 15 Famous Idaho Potato Marathon & Half Marathon Boise, ID

ILLINOIS HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon Springfield, IL

Saturday, May 1 Illinois Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay & 5K Champaign, IL

Sunday, May 2 Palos Bank Southwest Half Marathon Palos Heights, IL

Sunday, May 2 Great Western Half Marathon St. Charles, IL

Saturday, May 8 Bridge the Gap to Health Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Quincy, IL

Saturday, May 8 Literacy Run Half Marathon Rockford, IL

Sunday, May 9 Quad Cities Distance Classic Half Marathon & 5K Moline, IL

Sunday, May 16 Rockford Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay Rockford, IL

Sunday, May 16 Chicago Spring Half Marathon & 10K Chicago, IL

INDIANA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 Planet Adventure Heritage Trail Marathon, Half Marathon Battle Ground, IN

Saturday, Apr. 3 Indiana University Mini Marathon & 5K Bloomington, IN

Sunday, Apr. 11 Southern Indiana Classic Marathon, Half Marathon Evansville, IN

Saturday, May 1 Zionsville Anti-Mini Marathon Zionsville, IN

Saturday, May 8 500 Festival Mini-Marathon & 5K Indianapolis, IN

Saturday, May 15 Dances With Dirt Gnaw Bone Marathon, Half Marathon Gnaw Bone, IN

Saturday, May 22 Geist Half Marathon & 5K Geist, IN

KANSAS HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 10 Eisenhower Marathon & Half Marathon Abilene, KS

Saturday, Apr. 10 Olathe Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Olathe, KS

Sunday, Apr. 18 Kansas Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Lawrence, KS

Sunday, May 16 Five Trails Half Marathon Leavenworth, KS

KENTUCKY HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 24 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon & Half Marathon Louisville, KY

MASSACHUSETTES HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, May 16 Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon Newton, MA

Sunday, May 30 Boston’s Run To Remember Half Marathon Boston, MA

Sunday, May 30 Great Hyannis Road Races Half Marathon Hyannis, MA

MARYLAND HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 10 Dorchester YMCA Crab Run Half Marathon & Relay Cambridge, MD

Sunday, Apr. 18 Mountain Maryland Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Cumberland, MD

Sunday, Apr. 18 St. Charles Half Marathon, 5K & Fun Run St. Charles, MD

Saturday, Apr. 24 Ocean City Half Marathon & 5K Ocean City, MD

Sunday, Apr. 25 Blossoms of Hope Half Marathon, Relay & LIFEfest 5K Columbia, MD

Saturday, May 1 LEAD Strong Half Marathon Freeland, MD

Sunday, May 2 Frederick Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay & 5K Frederick, MD

Sunday, May 23 Maryland Half Marathon Timonium, MD

MICHIGAN HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 10 The Martian Marathon & Half Marathon Dearborn Heights, MI

Saturday, Apr. 24 Borgess Run For The Health Of It Half Marathon & 5K Kalamazoo, MI

Sunday, Apr. 25 Running Fit Trail Marathon & Half Marathon Pinckney, MI

Saturday, May 29 Bayshore Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K Traverse City, MI

MINNESOTA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 17 Earth Day Half Marathon St. Cloud, MN

Saturday, Apr. 24 Run for the Lakes Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Nisswa, MN

Saturday, Apr. 24 Get It In Gear Half Marathon, 10K, 5K & 2K Minneapolis, MN

Saturday, May 1 From The Heart Half Marathon & 5K Walk/Run Owatonna, MN

Sunday, May 2 Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon Wayzata, MN

Sunday, May 2 Ham Run Half Marathon Grand Marais, MN

Saturday, May 8 New Prague Half Marathon & 5K New Prague, MN

Sunday, May 16 Apple Blossom Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Hastings, MN

Saturday, May 22 Maple Grove Half Marathon, Relay & 5K Maple Grove, MN

Sunday, May 30 Med-City Marathon & Half Marathon Rochester, MN

Sunday, May 30 Stillwater Marathon, Half Marathon, 20-Miler & 12K Stillwater, MN

MISSOURI HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, Apr. 11 GO! St. Louis Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay St. Louis, MO

Saturday, Apr. 17 Spring Fling Half Marathon, 10K & 5K St. Joseph, MO

NORTH CAROLINA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 10 Charlotte RaceFest Half Marathon & 10K Charlotte, NC

Sunday, May 16 Inside-Out Sports Classic Half Marathon & 10K Cary, NC

NORTH DAKOTA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 24 Minot Family YMCA Marathon, Half Marathon Minot, ND

Saturday, May 22 Fargo Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Fargo, ND

NEBRASKA HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, May 2 Lincoln Marathon & Half Marathon Lincoln, NE

Sunday, May 16 Papillion Half Marathon, 10K & Fun Walk Papillion, NE

NEW HAMPSHIRE HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, Apr. 11 Great Bay Half Marathon Newmarket, NH

Saturday, May 8 Big Lake Half Marathon Alton, NH

NEW JERSEY HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, Apr. 18 Unite Half Marathon at Rutgers New Brunswick, NJ

Sunday, May 2 New Jersey Marathon & Long Branch Half Marathon Long Branch, NJ

NEW MEXICO HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 17 Albuquerque "Unser" Half Marathon Albuquerque, NM

Saturday, May 1 Shiprock Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay & 10K Shiprock, NM

Sunday, May 16 Kirtland Air Force Base Armed Forces Day Run Albuquerque, NM

Saturday, May 22 Jemez Mountain Trail Runs Half Marathon Los Alamos, NM

NEVADA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 10 Labor of Love 50K, Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K Las Vegas, NV

Saturday, Apr. 24 Escape from Prison Hill Trail Half Marathon Carson City, NV

Saturday, May 15 Silver State 50K, 50-Miler & Trail Half Marathon Reno, NV

NEW YORK HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 13.1 Marathon New York New York, NY

Sunday, Apr. 11 Skunk Cabbage Classic Half Marathon & 10K Ithaca, NY

Sunday, Apr. 18 George Wodicka Hook Mountain Half Marathon Congers, NY

Sunday, Apr. 25 Flower City Half Marathon & 5K Rochester, NY

Sunday, Apr. 25 More Magazine & Fitness Magazine Half Marathon New York, NY

Saturday, May 1 Grand Island Half Marathon Grand Island, NY

Sunday, May 2 Long Island Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K East Meadow, NY

Sunday, May 30 Buffalo Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay Buffalo, NY

OHIO HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, Apr. 11 Athens Marathon & Half Marathon Athens, OH

Sunday, Apr. 11 Ohio River Road Runners Marathon, Half Marathon Xenia, OH

Sunday, Apr. 25 Glass City Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay & 5K Toledo, OH

Sunday, Apr. 25 Earth Day Challenge Marathon & Half Marathon Gambier, OH

Saturday, May 1 Capital City Half Marathon & 5K Columbus, OH

Sunday, May 2 Flying Pig Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Cincinnati, OH

Sunday, May 16 Cleveland Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K Cleveland, OH

OKLAHOMA HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, Apr. 25 Oklahoma City Marathon & Half Marathon Oklahoma City, OK

Saturday, May 15 Aquarium Run Half Marathon, 5K & Fun Run Jenks, OK

Sunday, May 30 Andy Payne Memorial Races Marathon & Half Marathon Oklahoma City, OK

OREGON HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 Vernonia Half Marathon Vernonia, OR

Sunday, Apr. 11 Race For The Roses Half Marathon & 5K Portland, OR

Sunday, May 2 Cinco de Mayo Half Marathon, 5K & 10K Run/Walk Portland, OR

Sunday, May 2 Eugene Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Eugene, OR

Saturday, May 8 Hippie Chick Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon Portland, OR

PENNSYLVANIA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 Prep for Pittsburgh Half Marathon Sandy Lake, PA

Saturday, Apr. 10 Garden Spot Village Marathon & Half Marathon New Holland, PA

Sunday, Apr. 25 Lehigh Valley Half Marathon & 5K Allentown, PA

Saturday, May 1 River Towns Marathon & Half Marathon Danville, PA

Sunday, May 2 Pittsburgh Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay Pittsburgh, PA

Saturday, May 29 ODDyssey Half Marathon Philadelphia, PA

RHODE ISLAND HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, May 2 Willow Tree Half Marathon Providence, RI

SOUTH CAROLINA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 Clemson Easter Bunny Run Half Marathon & 5K Clemson, SC

Saturday, Apr. 10 Palmetto Half Marathon, 5K Run/Walk & Fun Run Columbia, SC

SOUTH DAKOTA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, May 15 Brookings Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay & 5K Brookings, SD

TENNESSEE HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 3 Oak Barrel Half Marathon Lynchburg, TN

Saturday, Apr. 17 Andrew Jackson Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Jackson, TN

Saturday, Apr. 24 Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon Nashville, TN

TEXAS HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 10 Davy Crockett Bear Chase Marathon, Half Marathon Groveton, TX

Sunday, Apr. 11 Big "D" Texas Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Dallas, TX

Sunday, Apr. 11 Angie's Half Crazy Half Marathon Houston, TX

Sunday, Apr. 11 America's Run Half Marathon & 5K Run/Walk Arlington, TX

Saturday, May 1 The Gusher Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Beaumont, TX

Sunday, May 2 Heels and Hills Half Marathon, Relay, 5K Irving, TX

UTAH HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 17 Salt Lake City Marathon & Half Marathon Salt Lake City, UT

Saturday, Apr. 24 Gunnison Valley Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Gunnison, UT

Saturday, May 1 Provo City Half Marathon, Relay & 5K Provo, UT

Saturday, May 15 Ogden Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay Ogden, UT

Monday, May 31 State Capitol Half Marathon Salt Lake City, UT

VIRGINIA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 17 Charlottesville Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K Charlottesville, VA

Saturday, Apr. 17 Dismal Swamp Stomp Half Marathon Chesapeake, VA

Sunday, Apr. 18 LAWS Run For The Shelter Half Marathon & 5K Leesburg, VA

Saturday, Apr. 24 Blue Ridge Parkway Marathon & Half Marathon Roanoke, VA

Saturday, May 1 XtremeFest Park to Park Half Marathon Waynesboro, VA

Sunday, May 2 Potomac River Run Marathon & Half Marathon Alexandria, VA

Sunday, May 9 Pacers Running Festival Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon Arlington, VA

Sunday, May 16 Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon Fredericksburg, VA

VERMONT HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 10 RunVermont 13.1 Run Half Marathon Unplugged Burlington, VT

Saturday, Apr. 24 GMAA Rollin Irish Half Marathon Essex, VT

Sunday, Apr. 25 Middlebury Maple Run Half Marathon & Relay Middlebury, VT

Sunday, Apr. 25 Middlebury Maple Run Half Marathon & Relay Middlebury, VT

Saturday, May 8 RaceVermont.com Half Marathon Charlotte, VT

Saturday, May 22 Dandelion Run Half Marathon Relay Derby, VT

WASHINGTON HALF MARATHONS
Saturday, Apr. 10 Trout Lake Run Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Trout Lake, WA

Sunday, Apr. 11 Whidbey Island Marathon & Half Marathon Whidbey Island, WA

Saturday, Apr. 17 Wenatchee Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay Wenatchee, WA

Sunday, May 2 Tacoma City Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Tacoma, WA

Sunday, May 9 Kirkland Half Marathon & 5k Run & Walk Kirkland, WA

Saturday, May 15 Windermere Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay Spokane, WA

Sunday, May 16 Capital City Marathon, Half Marathon Olympia, WA

WISCONSIN HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 10 South Shore Half Marathon Milwaukee, WI

Saturday, Apr. 10 Mount Pleasant Half Marathon, 5K & Fun Run Mount Pleasant, WI

Saturday, April 17 Navarino Eco-Marathon & Half Marathon Shiocton, WI

Saturday, Apr. 17 Reedsburg Medical Center Vet Fest Half Marathon Reedsburg, WI

Sunday, Apr. 18 Oshkosh Half Marathon & 5K Oshkosh, WI

Saturday, Apr. 24 Jailbreak Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Wautoma, WI

Saturday, Apr. 24 Pine Line Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Medford, WI

Saturday, Apr. 24 Jailbreak Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Wautoma, WI

Saturday, May 1 Wisconsin Marathon, Half Marathon & Fitness Walk Kenosha, WI

Saturday, May 1 Door County Half Marathon & Nicolet Bay 5K Fish Creek, WI

Saturday, May 1 Prairie du Chien Half Marathon Prairie du Chien, WI

Sunday, May 2 La Crosse Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K La Crosse, WI

Sunday, May 2 Eau Claire Marathon, Half Marathon & Fun Run Eau Claire, WI

Saturday, May 8 Journeys Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Eagle River, WI

Saturday, May 8 Lake Geneva Marathon & Half Marathon Lake Geneva, WI

Sunday, May 16 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Green Bay, WI

Sunday, May 30 Madison Marathon, Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon Madison, WI

Sunday, May 30 Great Midwest Marathon & Half Marathon Run Elkhart Lake, WI

WEST VIRGINIA HALF MARATHONS

Saturday, Apr. 17 Babcock Gristmill Grinder Trail Half Marathon Clifftop, WV

WYOMING HALF MARATHONS

Sunday, May 30 Wyoming Marathon Races Half Marathon Laramie, WY

For links, we are working to update our site Fifty States HALF Marathon Club. Feel free to check the state on our site to see if it is updated yet which has links to all the races http://www.halfmarathonclub.com/