Looking Forward Guidelines

We are happy to share a rough draft of our Looking Forward Guidelines: https://runsignup.com/lookingforward. With input from dozens of race directors, timers, governing bodies, and other industry partners, this living document is intended to provide ideas for a suggested path forward for races in the post-coronavirus environment that different groups in the endurance industry can tailor for their specific location and needs.

We expect that different individuals, companies, and groups will create official industry policies and guidelines, and we hope that this living document with crowd-sourced information can help to inform that. We will continue to update and evolve the living document as new information and ideas become available.

There is growing conversation among race directors about how to safely start putting on races again. Our customers are asking us for guidance, it is being discussed in online forums, and various industry coalitions are starting to form. Despite bad news like the cancellation of the Berlin Marathon, we expect small races will begin to happen in the coming months. This week, several governors announced plans to ease restrictions on businesses, and others are forming coalitions to strategize lifting stay-at-home orders. If the endurance industry can develop sound practices based on local health guidelines, we have a chance to be one of the early ways that communities can regather – at safe social distances. The Looking Forward Guidelines living document provides a starting point.

The endurance community is made up of tens of thousands of micro communities – races, clubs, stores, timers, nonprofits, race organizations, sponsors, volunteers and more. This diversity brings strength to our community because passion drives much of the efforts to put on races. These communities are spread across this huge country and have access to amazing resources. The diversity will result in creative ideas. Our industry’s sense of community will help spread ideas that make sense and work. Just as races have rapidly adapted to virtual events over the past weeks, races will learn how to put on safe events and allow the micro communities putting on those races to regain momentum.

You can download the Looking Forward Guidelines as a Word document and make it your own. The document is open under the Creative Commons License. You can download, modify, and redistribute the content under your name and brand. We hope that this aggregate source of best practices, creative ideas, and considerations from individuals and organizations that have been in the industry for decades can provide valuable guidance for everyone as we define our industry’s new and healthy normal. Please keep in mind that the guidelines in this document are suggestions and ideas to consider as you look towards putting on your races after coronavirus, and that every event should consult and comply with national, state, and local governmental orders as well as national and local health officials’ guidelines. We welcome all feedback, and please let us know if you have additional content to add to this document by emailing allison@runsignup.com and/or johanna@runsignup.com.