Mull of Kintyre Half Marathon and 10k race - May 06

[John S]

Look forward to reading it Rob............. must be a stoinker!

I think this happens when someone else gets a post up on the same thread before you, happens to me all the time, just have to get the typing rate up a bit

[DMS Graphics]

WARNING!
I've just spent ages composing a message, then clicked "Preview" and it @@**## vanished into thin air (because I was offline).

The moral is -
If you're writing anything more than a brief note, type it in Word or Wordpad, save it, and THEN copy and paste it into this message board.

Rob

That has happened to me, but if you click the back button in your internet browser your original message should still be there. Use copy and paste it in to the new message window once you are back online.

[Ross]

spent hours on a report once and went to send it to the printer when my computer crashed, totally crapped it as thought i'd lost all the work and would have to stay up will into the morning to finsish the work again..luckily it was held in the printers buffer, so when i tuned eveything back on it asked if i wanted to print...oh yes and a deep sigh of relied

so like was said above save your work as you go along or you might regret it later

[jackiefulton]

re funding
mentioned banks as agree re local business should not be "hit" for donations
best to target corporate bodies who normally use sponsorship as part of marketing or perhaps related local businesses eg sports

[Rob Reid]

Re Funding. I really wonder why so much MONEY has to be involved, as opposed to sponsorship-in-kind. It’ll be interesting to see what other event-organisers have to say about their costs. Obviously a FEW things do need money, e.g. insurance and proper running nos. (from Running Imp etc).

But I do feel strongly that for anything where money is needed (in life generally as well as sporting events), it’s useful to ask 2 questions –
1) can it be provided directly, without money (provided quality is not compromised), and
2) if not, was it really needed anyway?

As an example, you might want to provide a worthwhile after-race snack as well as the obligatory orange squash and choccy bar - say, filled rolls. The usual way is to buy these in, at, say, £1 each. But what does a filled roll consist of? Roll + filling + labour. We have a local bakery, a local creamery producing excellent cheese, the Co-op could provide a few jars of pickle etc, a fruit shop could provide tomatoes, and surely lots of people would be happy to make up the rolls on the actual race day, ending up with probably a BETTER quality product than the bought-in kind. One objection is that this takes a lot of organising, which is a valid point IF all the organising is done by only one or two people, but - hey - let’s involve as many people as possible!

OK, you might NOT want filled rolls; I’m only using this as an example.

Tom said “…trying to obligate local businesses to contribute is not the way to go…” and I totally agree if it’s money you’re talking about: they’re always being pestered for money and/or raffle prizes. Bit surely it’s different if it’s their own product or service?

As an example of the “not-really needed” approach, what about medals? Ask anyone who’s ever done a 10k or half-marathon if they wore or displayed their medal beyond the day of the event.

Likewise bottled water - I trust we’ll be using plain tap-water? (Apart from the cost of the bottled stuff, think of all the empty plastic bottles to be disposed of!)

Re “Main Sponsor” - I’m not convinced we need one, though I suppose the usual principle is that they provide the tee-shirts in exchange for the advertising. Which is fine if it’s a business you’re happy to support (like it was Kirk Street Dairy in 1988), but not if it’s Coca-Cola (who at one time sponsored the “Great Scottish Run” in Glasgow). In other words, we mustn’t be in a position where “The End Justifies the Means”. Maybe try the Scottish Co-op, who sponsored the Mid-Argyll Half for several years.

Re West Kintyre Windfarm Trust. A good idea, but I think they only have a grant-awarding meeting twice a year, and having just had one (13th Oct), the next one would be too late to fit in with our planning.

Coming back to my main point. Let me put my money (or rather my “In Kind”) where my mouth is. I do stuff with computers. So, for the race day. I’ll provide the use of a PC and printer (and supplies of paper etc) and the timings/results program I created for the Mid-Argyll Half on 4/5/03, which prints out a personal certificate for each runner with placings etc within a minute of finishing. And if someone could lend a projector + screen, we could also have a real-time display of the results table. Maybe even make this a “unique selling point”?

[hoots the scoop]

Re Funding. a fruit shop could provide tomatoes, they’re always being pestered for money and/or raffle prizes. But surely it’s different if it’s their own product or service?

To provide them would mean the shopkeeper having to bring in extra and that costs money just the same as giving away stock in raffle prizes. It is still the shopkeeper having the bill at the end of the day and the fragile economy at the moment means no business can sustain freebies when ultimately there is no return

The marathon is a good idea but it has to be remembered not everyone will have the same enthusiism as the participants.

I think Jackie's idea is more realistic

hoots

[hoots the scoop]

and surely lots of people would be happy to make up the rolls on the actual race day, ending up with probably a BETTER quality product than the bought-in kind.

I'm afraid that gets you into the realms of having to deal with environmental health and making sure the volounteers have food handling certificates
One of the issues would be where they were made up. As I understand it the location has to be acceptable to the local department and the food has to be wrapped. More money!

I know through experience that you cannot make food in the Victoria Hall.

It is something that would need to be investigated before finalising any plans where food is concerned

[John S]

I think there is a balance to be struck in any event planned between planning for maximising the impact, and in achieving long-term sustainability. Robs ideas are firmly set in the sustainability camp and if the event brings "customers" to the town then I would expect local businesses who benefit from these to be proactive in supporting the event in future and so grant funding requirements to become minimised, but I think it has to be proven first and momentum built for future years. There are funding streams out there which support development and not ongoing costs so lets use these to help build the event.
Enthusiasm and experience should not be overlooked and I know Rob and the other contributors have these in shovel-fulls so it might be a good idea to identify all the tasks that need to be done in the build-up to the event and on the day and list them here ASAP so we can share these out and let everyone get on with working on a bit.

[John S]

Come on Hoots, lighten up where there’s a will and all that.

Home-Start recently put on a great "Big Tea Party" in the Victoria Hall for me at the Environmental Fair, healthy and tasty all prepared off premises.

[jackiefulton]

have already volunteered Home-start to provide creche / play area and refreshments on the day of the race - and have no doubt we will be able to draw in help and donations - if you are out there and want to help - let me know - especially if you have a food handling certificate!

the Big Tea party John referred to was provided exactly as Rob suggested - everything was donated tea, cakes, juice, fruit, people's time
- we completed risk assessments appropriately and some of the folk have food handling certs - we benefitted from the publicity, raised some funds through a silver collection and had a good time!

[Tom B]

I'm glad that the event has promoted so much debate, and interest. In terms of how to plan it, I think while this forum is ideal for knocking ideas around, there needs to be a formal structure in place to make sure there is accountability.

At the meeting on 22 October, a number of initial actions were identified and are being followed up - such as police / roads dept / costs / funding / organising etc. The results of that will be posted here.

I took the chair at the first meeting and it was agreed would carry on chairing the planning team until the second meeting which will be in Campbeltown in December. A formal committee (including chair) will be constituted at that meeting. Prior to that meeting, there'll be an advert in the courier (and here) to make sure that all interested parties can come along and get as involved if they wish.

None of that is to discourage discussion on this forum, however we should be careful that we retain a planning structure, otherwise things have the potential to get out of control.

[Tom B]

As promised there will be a follow up meeting in the Community Centre, Campbeltown on Saturday 3rd December at 10.30.a.m. Anyone with an interest in this event who is free to come along is welcome. Otherwise please post comments on here, or PM me or Elaine.

In terms of planning to date:

Date - 28 May 2006

The two routes below have been discussed and verbally OK'd with local police and roads department, but we await written approval.

10k route - starts 1000hrs
·Start on esplanade facing Victoria Hall.
·Run along esplanade, up Main Street then turn right and up Longrow to Milknowe
·Turn right at Dellwood Hotel and right along Dalaruan St
·Continue along Low Askomil then cut up lane at Trench point to High Askomil (private road? - to confirm)
·Down High Askomil and turn left down North Shore Street onto esplanade
·Along esplanade turn left towards roundabout and along Hall Street past cinema
·Straight along Lochside walkway past putting green and up onto Kilkerran Rd
·Down Kilkerran Road as far as jetty and turn
·Return along Kilkerran Road and turn left up the cutting and along Limecraigs Road
·Turn right along Ralston Road and along past police station and down Main Street
·Round the roundabout at bottom of Main Street and turn right to finish on esplanade

Half marathon - starts 1030hrs
·Start on esplanade facing Victoria Hall
·Run along esplanade, turn left towards roundabout
·Turn right up Main Street then turn right and up Longrow towards Milknowe
·Continue straight up West Road to Westport
·Onto beach and along beach as far as Clochkeil Farm
·Cut up off beach and along gravel road past Clochkeil Farm
·Past Sound of Kintyre and turn right into Moss Road
·Round Moss Road and turn left at end towards Campbeltown
·Down the Big Kiln, turn left down Main Street
·Round the roundabout for finish on the esplanade

Costs
The event needn't cost a lot to put on, but obviously the more funds available the better the facilities, prizes, how professional it all looks etc. We have costed the event based on 150 runners (100 - 10k, 50 - Half marathon) to provide for insurance, association affiliation, advertising, signage, start/finish area/gantry, printing & postage, refreshments, trophies, changing facilities, goody bag - t-shirt/medal etc., contribution to Red Cross/others etc & contingency. However, depending on how successful we are in fundraising we will "cut our suit according to our cloth."

Without soliciting them, we have already had a number of in-kind offers to support the event (thank you very much), which is very encouraging, and where possible we would look to purchase other supplies locally.

Applications for funding
We have applied for or are applying to the public bodies/funds listed in this thread, and have now contacted a couple of larger businsses with a view to corporate sponsorship.

Website
A website is being designed and lauched soon which will have all the race details, maps etc, a link to on-line entries, and a print out and post entry form too.

Safety
We are following guidelines from Scottish Athletics in planning the event, and will fully comply with all H&S requirements as organisers.

As well as the meeting on Saturday 3rd, we'll be carrying out the risk assessment of the routes necessary for insurance and Scottish Athletics affiliation.

Next steps
Receive written confirmation on routes from police.
Then, the focus on the next month or so will be lining up/confirming the finances. When that is in place, we'll look to start planning the details of the day. A lot of marshalls will be needed, so any offers in this area particularly welcome!

Thanks
Thank you to all those who have provided comments, advice and offers of help to date. Much appreciated.

Hope everyone is in training - the race is 6 months tomorrow!

[Iona]

This looks really really good and I wish you all the best.

I assume people can walk the 10km if they wish??

[Tom B]

Iona - thanks.

I don't see any problem with walking the 10k route - the more participants, the better!

[Ship called Dignity]

Just to let you know that there seems to be alot of local interest in this.

Although there have not been that many postings outwith the group on here I know people will do it.

Strangely enough there is a dominoe affect in Campbeltown - if you get one person to do it then one of their mates will do it and so on.

I'll be doing it and I know alot of the boys in the football team will be doing it too. Would be good to get people off this board to do it too!

Just realised it makes sense to have it in the morning - I think it is cup final day!

Keep up the good work!