Race Director’s Summit brings together top events and ideas

In conjunction with the Calgary Marathon and Canadian half-marathon championships, Athletics Canada hosted its second annual National Race Director’s Summit last week, bringing together key organizers, community partners and stakeholders within the realm of road racing in Canada.

Taking place at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the event began in fine form with honourary guest and keynote speaker Mary Wittenberg. The former president and CEO of the New York Road Runners recently took the top job with Virgin Sport, a new venture aiming to encourage sustainable, active lifestyles through the expansion of mass participation events.

In her keynote address, Wittenberg highlighted many of the key lessons and skills she had learned from her years with NYRR, overseeing the organization of the New York City Marathon, the largest event of its kind. Among them, she stressed the importance of forging lasting community partnerships, working closely with cities and allowing time for an event to establish roots, grow and flourish.

Wittenberg then spoke to the values that road racing and running events aim to espouse including promoting healthy active lifestyles, improving physical and mental health and bringing people and their communities together. She reiterated the purpose of running events is to act as a catalyst for getting people moving and encouraged event organizers and participants to amplify and fuel the running movement beyond its current scope.

Following the keynote, the summit welcomed a number of panelists to discuss key issues affecting event organization and execution, including branding and marketing; community relations and engagement; socially responsible and sustainable event management and volunteer recruitment and retention.

Later, a dedicated session and discussion was held on creating fair and equitable standards which would hold all events accountable and provide participants with a safe and enjoyable experience. Consideration was also made for how to support and enhance the elite athlete experience and grow the sport of running within Canada.

Ultimately, the event was deemed a success and plans for the next editions were announced for Victoria 2016 and Ottawa in 2017.