Running A Divas Debacle and Supporting the Home Team

I knew last Saturday there were problems when I encountered unattended signage blocking McIntosh Trail eastbound near Peachtree Parkway when leaving my subdivision with my wife to do some errands.

A check of the time, 9:30 a.m., and a glance at the signage in the rear-view mirror indicating a route split between a 5k and half marathon race confirmed my suspicions, a running event was going off the rails.

Typically, road races that follow sections of McIntosh Trail don’t need road closure signage much past 9:00 a.m. because all the athletes are long gone, and race organizers promptly remove the signage because its blocks through traffic.

It’s the respectful and proper thing to do.

My wife and I continued on McIntosh Trail westbound, and a City Police Auxiliary officer turned us around in front of The Fred- along with the four cars behind us- necessitating a detour to State Road 54 to continue on towards Costco.

We took the U-turn and detour in stride, but I suspect others may not have been so forgiving, especially if they were on the way to work or something they had to be on time for.

Typically, a well-run event that uses The Fred would have blocked McIntosh Trail at Peachtree Parkway to prevent inconveniencing drivers any more than necessary. At the very least an event marshal wearing a high-viz vest stands at the intersection and lets drivers know the road is closed.

Local clubs that use The Fred and McIntosh Trail also post signage days before events that indicates to expect closures.

I’m pretty connected to the running community in Peachtree City, and I was surprised there was an event going on. Another sign of potential problems.

It turns out the Divas 5k and Half Marathon was back in town after a 12-year hiatus, and it looks like it was a debacle.

The selling points of the Divas Race Series are that they cater to women athletes and feature tutus, boas, and tiaras with a glass of sparkling wine at the end. They are very much destination events and become good memories for participants.

Our errands also took us to Fleet Feet and Mimi’s Good Food for lunch where I found out more.

During his early morning run before work, a friend at Fleet Feet encountered some Divas athletes that couldn’t possibly be going the right way so he turned them around in the rough direction of the finish line.

A table of Divas participants at Mimi’s told me course volunteers and marking and aid stations were severely lacking, and I trust their assessment because I know them from the running community.

During a half marathon, it is common for runners to get fairly spread out such that some are running by themselves- a problem when most of the athletes are women possibly in a place they don’t know.

Safety is the number one goal of any athletic event.

Divas is supposed to be a premium event- with a premium price- so this is inexcusable.

After the start of the early 2000’s running boom, the second or third since the 1970’s running boom, for-profit companies found they could make money in managing athletic events, specifically road races.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series, owned by Competitor Group, that frequents large US cities is an example of a for-profit. I’ve run a couple of their events, and they do a good job, but other for-profit organizers can’t seem to get their act together.

Normally, I wouldn’t care about something like the Divas race, but when a running event goes sideways in Peachtree City, there will be complaints to the Peachtre City Running Club. As the Club VP of Administration, this concerns me.

Many residents and even City staff assume the Club touches everything running-related in Peachtree City, and while we organize or support a lot events, we hardly touch everything.

A few years ago, a race’s organizers used spray paint on the cart paths to mark the route, which is a no-no. City staff called the Club president, but it wasn’t our event, and we can’t police every single event that takes place.

Running Times, when it was still being published, highlighted the for-profit event problem. The for-profits pack up and are gone the next day leaving litter and discarded gear and let the local running club take the blame.

The outcome is residents push on city leaders to restrict events that cause problems, and rightly so.

Most running events in the United States are organized or supported by community-based running clubs, and they are attuned to minimizing problems- traffic and litter- for residents because their members live in the community.

I really dislike the for-profit model because when the going gets tough, the companies simply don’t invest in the quality of their events.

It is expensive to put on an event. As part of Peachtree City Running Club’s annual Classic 5k/15k, we have expenses for shirts, medals, and portable toilets, the obvious costs, but we pay a significant amount to Peachtree City for requirements they set for permitting, police, EMS, and Public Works.

The City protects themselves by requiring we use professionals to direct traffic on major City streets and have EMS personnel present.

Because our club members volunteer for the event, we can make some money to fulfill our club’s community goals.

All sponsorship money is contributed back to the community in the form of scholarships and in support of youth running. Non-sponsorship money from entry fees helps defray the cost of buses we take to the Peachtree Road Race on July Fourth, for example.

The buses are also open to non-Club members at a very discounted price as we’re more interested in filling a bus and serving the community than making money.

The for-profits race events typically have a token charity they give a small amount of money to, but this is a ruse to confuse participants.

Athletes feel good that an event supports a charity, but don’t know the bulk of their race fee after event costs is profit for a private business.

It is an easy ruse to execute because the vast majority of events that support a charity are hosted by non-profit organizations with net proceeds going to the target charity.

Because of event costs, some for-profits skimp on organizing a quality event and figure they’ll be gone the day after the event is over.

Due to the event waiver and terms agreed to during registration, participants have little recourse to get their money back, and the race fee may be a small portion of total costs for a destination event that includes a road trip, hotel, and meal costs.

I used to dislike anything that was for-profit touching the running community.

Since 1981 the Peachtree City Running Club has been supporting local runners and walkers with encouragement, coaching, and events, and I’ve been a part of this for 15 years.

When Fleet Feet, a specialty running store, came to The Avenue, I was concerned that a business was showing up to simply make money on a community that I’d been part of developing without making investments of their own.

Much to my delight, however, Fleet Feet contributes a lot to the local running community. They host a weekly group run that brings out participants who would never participate in a Peachtree City Running Club group run.

For starters, most of them are about 30 years younger than the typical Club member, which means Fleet Feet is expanding the community, and more running is always better than less.

As a comparison, some social media commenters didn’t like Peachtree City constructing pickleball courts because, in their estimation, the municipal courts competed with private pickleball courts.

Likely the opposite is true.

Peachtree City already had an active pickleball community, as evidenced by existing and new courts, that private business could serve. The businesses didn’t show up hoping people would start playing pickleball. They showed up to cater to an existing- and growing- community.

The clientele of the businesses and the City courts are different, too. Again, more pickleball is better than less.

The are solutions to the for-profit companies’ poor-quality events.

While the Divas events attract participants due to the panache associated with the event, this wouldn’t stop local running clubs from creating their own themed events- Halloween costume events, for example.

A recent Club Grand Prix event was a stroller run, with loaner strollers for those that don’t have them. Babies or toddlers in the strollers were optional.

Running clubs can also promote the quality of their events by indicating copious signage and course marshals that keep athletes from getting lost.

The Divas organizers aren’t providing a 5k or half-marathon where none existed.

There are local 5k races nearly every weekend.

The West Georgia Track Club in Carrollton puts on a half-marathon every September. I’ve run it, and they do an excellent job through the whole event- it’s inexpensive, too.

The Macon Tracks club puts on their themed Macon Music Half Marathon every November, and while I’ve not run it, their Labor Day 10k event runs like a well-oiled machine.

In Peachtree City, the Rotary Club hosts a half-marathon in January that has been excellent since its inaugural year. Lots of Rotarians pointing the way keep athletes on course- and safe.

Peachtree City government, if they don’t do it already, as part of the permitting process, can require all groups that use City streets and paths post their own volunteers, paid or otherwise, to handle traffic control at important intersections the police don’t handle and promptly collect signage and litter- or face a fine.

The City can also heavily encourage any visiting for-profit race company consult with the Peachtree City Running Club on local best practices.

Last Saturday’s Divas event didn’t have to be a debacle, but through a lack of commitment to putting on a quality event, they left behind disappointed athletes and a disappointed running community.

The solutions for our community are to promote and support local running clubs and their events and require for-profit race companies meet common sense standards every resident should expect- advance notification, safety, litter pickup, and traffic control.