Survey Results. What We Heard

Transcription

1 Survey Results What We Heard Canadian Winter Revenge 2018

2 How Are We Doing? It has been an exciting eighteen months since we inherited Canadian River Valley Revenge. Despite new leadership, Canadian RVR has seen record growth, celebrating sold out numbers in only its 2 nd winter series. To appreciate how quickly this race has captured the attention and passion of others, the graph below outlines racer registration statistics since June Registered Racers Summer 2016 Winter 2017 Summer 2017 Winter 2018 Our vision from the start has been to see Canadian RVR put Edmonton on the global map as the recreation destination. It was exciting to see Edmonton s river valley receive the Golden Shoe award last month by Canadian Running magazine for being Canada s best place to run. We still have room to grow and that is our plan. While we will always keep numbers capped lower than mega-races to ensure trail protection and eco-sustainability, we work hard with every event to improve your racing experience. At this race, some of the new features we offered were - chip-timed LIVE race results; - personalized bibs; - a new venue with a large kitchen (no more electric hot plates and coolers filled with ice!); and - a relay race with a brand new course. We will continue to improve upon each series, your feedback helps us do exactly that. 2

3 Racer Survey Results Thank you to everyone who took the time to give us feedback. Survey results have been summarized below. How satisifed were you with the organization of the race? Communications Leadership Race HQ Race Day Check-In Expo Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Website Racers What Went Well - Communications were very good, with lots of orientation runs and quick responses to Facebook questions a well-oiled machine. - Amazing job! - Communication was fantastic for first-time trail racers, s were very helpful. - Very well organized race. 3

4 What Could Be Improved - The change of location for HQ drop bags from start of race to end was confusing for crew and racer. - The relay map was missing the final trail climb after the Quesnel bridge. Fortunately, a course marshal here helped with directing traffic. - Racer check-in for the 8am racers was significantly delayed, disorganized, and frustrating package pick-up simply has to run smooth. - Move expo orientation and race day check-in to smaller hall in same building. Leadership We were impressed with the high turn-out at the expo, our first time offering this type of package pickup. Those who could attend did attend. At racer check-in, everyone was prompt, which allowed the day to go smoothly without any racer-related delays. Only four timing chips were not turned in and all were returned within 48 hours. The respect of the racers in being timely and communicating well contributed to a positive race day experience. Communications Communications before the race worked well. We used a variety of platforms: Website updates, s, Facebook (official and social pages), Instagram, Strava, and ambassador cross-sharing. The frequent orientation runs facilitated understanding of what to expect on race day as our leads took time during the runs to talk about the course. We are considering whether there would be value and interest in adding a training weekend for out-oftown racers at future events. Racer Check-in: morning The racers starting at 8am experienced delays in racer check-in due to misplaced bibs. Also, our first go at using a timing chip system without on-site technical support was a steep learning curve. The morning delay was frustrating for all involved, leadership and racers, and is certainly something that we will be taking measures to prevent for future races. We appreciated not only the patience of many racers but also the professionalism of the volunteers. 4

5 How satisifed were you with the course? Course Markings Design Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Racer Commentary What Went Well - The course was well marked. Well done! - Maps were great, helpful to have on course. - Course markings were greatly improved from last year s summer race. - Orientation runs helped a lot. - Most mistakes were self-inflicted. - Awesome course, lots of challenging parts. It was a lot of fun to run and very well marked. - Lived up to the hype, even for the 5K course. What Could Be Improved - The Quesnel bridge crossing was confusing. A course marshal helped, but the bib colours didn t match the course arrows. - Sandwich boards or stationary marshals would help at important intersections, like the relay turnaround, the rock bridge, and Quesnel Bridge. - The course was a little too difficult and dangerous. - I would like the 25km course to start earlier. - I m not sure why the course is advertised 50K when it s actually 55K. 5

6 Leadership Commentary Course Markings We are always grateful for the experienced volunteers who show up before race day and do an excellent job of marking the course. Their hard work shows in your feedback. This year, we tried out a new course marking technique, using longer ribbons and changing the ribbon colour to neon green. We also added branded ribbons at important intersections. Signs were placed with arrows where racers went in different directions. The only issue was that the bib colours did not match the flour colours, which will be fixed for the summer race. We resolved this issue early on race day by assigning a standing course marshal to Quesnel Bridge where the different race courses temporarily merged. We are an urban race even if it often feels like you re nowhere near a city. Community trail users sometimes remove flags and rub out flour markings. We have roaming course marshals to assist with checking markers and fixing issues throughout the day. We will also be adding stationary course markers, assuming we have enough volunteers, to the next race series in areas that have been problematic. Course Design Last year, in our first winter race, one of the comments we received was that the race actually lived up to its hype, which they didn t expect and were not prepared for: Every race says it s tough. We re getting a reputation for meaning what we say. We don t exaggerate and we don t claim to be what we re not. We are not a mountain race, but our course is challenging, some parts are too steep to be runnable, and the terrain is not for the faint of heart. For those new to our race series, the extra mileage was a surprise. Even though the actual distances were provided on our website (under course information ) and on Strava, we will be adding this information to Race Roster as well. Our course is in trail systems that can t simply cut the course for precise distances. We will continue to be a race with bonus miles and will do our best to ensure you know what to expect so that you can train for it. 6

7 How satisifed were you with the aid stations? Locations Volunteers Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Products Racer Commentary What Went Well - Aid stations were a highlight of the race. - The volunteers were beyond amazing. - The bagpipes were a great surprise! - Best aid stations/volunteers ever. - Perfect. What Could Be Improved - Timing pads at each aid station would have helped for tracking racers on course. Leadership Commentary We re hard pressed to find ways to improve the aid station experience for racers. The feedback across the board was positive. Well done to our aid stations who go above and beyond for every racer! There will be more timing mats for future events, placed at strategic locations to not only help track a racer s progress but to also ensure that racers are staying on course. 7

8 How satisifed were you with the race products? Stickers Beer Medal Prizes and Awards Race Kit Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Toque Racer Commentary What Went Well - Handmade toques are so awesome. - Love the medals. - Loved all the swag. - I love the personalization of the bibs, awards were unique. - I love the race kits, toques, and medals, felt like it was race swag with a lot of love put into it. What Could Be Improved - Race toques were not made available to every racer disappointing the cheap toque I received was not what was advertised. - Would have paid more for the 5K to have medals like the ultra ones. - We would love an iron on patch! - What stickers? - Random draws are not needed. 8

9 Leadership Commentary Medals This was our first time offering medals made by Stray Cat Designs. We are pleased that their unique and handmade medals were well received. Each year s medals will have our colour branding plus a colour theme for the year. The 2018 colour is orange, an easy and artistic way to differentiate race medals from year to year. We are already in discussions about design concepts for the summer series, including something special for the 50-mile, 100-km and 100-mile racers. Stray Cat Designs will also be making RVR branded pottery mugs and will donate special prizes for podium finishers. Toques Every race, we try to offer something unique that only the longer distance racers receive. The ultrasoloists received pom-pom crocheted toques. The half-ultra soloists and relayers received crocheted toques without a pom. The 5-km racers received skull caps. For registrants after January 1 st in the bigger distances, we ordered skull caps with our logo to ensure that every racer had a toque, even the late registrants. While our website had posted no guaranteed swag during late registration, there was some confusion about who got a handmade toque. We will be updating our website to ensure that cut-offs for swag are easier to find. If you registered before January 1 st and did not receive a handmade toque, contact us as we have extras on hand. Thank you to Chloe Savard for hand crocheting over 200 toques for our race. Stickers For those who attended the evening program, RVR stickers were placed on all the tables during supper service. This was a small treat for participants at the evening program. If you did not receive a sticker, we will be selling them at a very reasonable price on our website s store, opening this week. 9

10 How satisifed were you with the evening program? Time Venue Ceremony Speaker Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Meal Racer Commentary What Went Well - Vincent s talk was great! Love the race stories. - Program was short and sweet. Loved it! - Great food, everything else was perfect. - Supper quality and variety was great. - This was an event with such a strong sense of community and even being from out of town, I felt welcome in that community. It is a very inclusive event. What Could Be Improved - I didn t think it was appropriate to charge for the supper when it was potluck style. - Could have been more food, many people over-ate. - Supper could have been better organized so that racers ate before guests. - Too late. I wasn t coming back for a meal two hours later. 10

11 Leadership Commentary Attendance A lot of the feedback we received was by those who didn t attend and wished they had. We did our best to advertise the evening program and we also appreciate that as racers get to know our series, they will know that the evening program is worth the effort to stick around. We hope that the positive uptake from this winter s program will encourage even more participants in future events. Approximately 150 people attended our evening program, including racers, volunteers, family and friends. The room capacity was 196 but there were only 132 chairs, something we will need to resolve for the summer series. The new outdoor patio will be used in the summer for beer gardens, which may provide more seating options and space for participants to move around. Supper For the winter race, we opted to offer a variety of dishes made by local supporters instead of having a generic catered meal, in keeping with our values about community and connection. What we didn t factor in was large helpings and significant waste that impacted others getting seconds. Some of our hard working volunteers who arrived late went home with empty stomachs. While we don t want to become one of those races with servers and portions, we are considering options for the summer that will ensure a more equitable distribution of food for all participants. This will include starting the supper on time so that racers aren t famished, and having more than one food service area to keep line-ups shorter. 11

12 Would you recommend this race to others? Yes No Thank you and we look forward to seeing all of you at Canadian Summer Revenge on June 15 th 16 th! Sheryl Sheryl Savard Race Director 12