How Many Participants Can Your Venue Handle?
When planning your first event, the focus is usually on getting as many participants as possible. We never know just how many to expect especially if the event falls on a day when other races are taking place nearby. It’s easy to estimate from one year to the next, but when it is your premier event you are often left to fend for yourself.
When you choose your venue you have to keep numbers in mind, especially if you are not planning to put a cap on registrations. Considering the fact that you are likely trying to get as many participants as possible to raise funds for your organization, capping it isn’t ideal, specifically for the first year. If your event grows in popularity you can consider capping it if necessary in later years.
However, your venue must be large enough to host the number of participants you allow to register. For example, I was part of creating a race for a university-based worksite wellness program several years ago. Our first year, we decided to have this event at a local park which had a paved running trail. Many groups had held races here before and it was easy to gain use of the area as well as being convenient for parking, etc.
We ended up having around 100 participants for this first event and while things worked out okay, that running trail couldn’t have handled many more. It wasn’t wide enough to accommodate a large group of runners or walkers. The next year we moved to a larger city park with a roadway allowing much more space. This was ideal because our participant numbers climbed to about 200 that year.
The same issues should be considered if you are choosing to hold your event at a school track. Is there enough space for runners to pass each other without things getting confusing and congested?
If you are certain your numbers will be low, this isn’t a problem, but if you want your participants to have a pleasant experience and return in later years, too much space can be better than too little, even if it is your first event.
Talk with some other organizations of similar size and public visibility from your area and find out how many participants they have had in recent years. This will help you to choose your venue during the planning process.
Consider providing a steep discount for pre-registration or incorporate some other type of incentive to encourage people to sign up ahead of time and give you a better idea of how many to expect. While you may not be able to change the venue at this point you can at least be prepared for any issues that may arise.
Be sure to ask a question in your participant survey about how your participants felt about the venue. This will allow you to judge if the location should be an option for the event in later years.
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