Why race organisers should never make assumptions about reviews

As race organisers, it’s nice to believe that we know our customers.

Perhaps we assume that we already know what our customers will say about their race experience.

When we think we know it all, it can be tempting to dismiss the importance of direct race participant feedback. “What can they say that I don’t already know?”

Let’s consider what you might do with new information.

In reviews, there’s always the low-hanging fruit. The improvements to feed stations, the parking provision, the communication, the medal, the route signage. Things that are the bread and butter of reasonable event management and organisation. It’s the stuff you should probably already be doing. Toilets are another review favourite. Usually, reviews will state inadequate facilities for the number of competitors. You might read a number of reviews that make an issue of there not being enough toilets, of long queues in the cold, toilets too far away or of nearly missing the start. And you might think, “it doesn’t really matter, at least there were toilets and nobody actually missed the start”.

But what if one of the reviews stated that there were insufficient toilet facilities close to the event so the participant had to change her tampon in the transition area, near everyone else. How would you feel about your planned provision of toilets then? Would it make you think differently about something that you previously only considered on a basic level? This is a situation that could impact 50% of your target audience, so surely it’s something worth thinking about. Furthermore, you’ve provided toilets but do they have sanitary bins? You see, in the eyes of your paying customer, if something needs doing, then it needs to be done properly. This is why reviews matter. They make you think beyond the normal thought process for planning an event. There are more than two reasons to need a toilet.

This isn’t a hypothetical situation. This is an actual review, albeit anonymised for this article.

Let’s consider another situation — feed stations. Common issues include a lack of water, feed stations packing up before the last runner has passed or unhelpful marshals. The basics, right? Your feed stations feel well stocked and evenly spaced, with a good mix of sweets, flapjacks and maybe some nut mixes. People help themselves as they pass, dipping back and forth between various tubs and snacks. If the option to have nuts wasn’t made available, would the people without nut allergies miss them? Probably not. Would you get reviews complaining that there weren’t any nuts? Unlikely. People with a nut allergy will almost certainly leave negative feedback if having them available means they won’t be able to use the help of feed stations. Nut allergies are common. Communicate that your feed stations are nut free and it’ll help people to feel safer at the event without impacting those without an allergy.

Do you hear what we’re saying here?

Doing a pre-race briefing might be necessary. You’re ticking a communication box and trying to ensure that everyone knows where they need to go and what they need to do. Tick. But can everyone actually hear you? Shouts of “we can’t hear you at the back” are common and it’s seen regularly in reviews. But what about participants who might not hear you because of hearing loss? It doesn’t matter to them if you have a loudspeaker or not. Do you know someone who could be available to translate your briefing into sign language while you talk?

Reviews are constructive

These examples have been given to help you think differently about seemingly ordinary race situations. To go beyond. And they shouldn’t cost much, if anything, to implement. They are just savvy adaptations brought about by listening to what people are saying about your race. To help you to be more inclusive. These are the missing race elements, delivered from reviews, that you don’t always see when you are so close to the planning. They help you refine and improve. In a saturated market, these are the finer points that help you to stand apart from the rest. Star ratings are important, but make sure you read exactly what people are saying and implement the right changes to boost your race.

Racecheck is a quick and easy way to collect reviews & participant feedback. The platform then helps race organisers to use feedback as a tool for increasing sales and traffic. To learn more about how to use race reviews, visit the Racecheck Organiser Dashboard.