COMRADES Marathon – Marathon Race Organising Workshop – 26 January 2013

In a bid to professionalize road-running events in the Magic Province, KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) in conjunction with the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA), has implemented a series of Race Organizing Workshops across KwaZulu-Natal, with the final one being held this weekend.
 
Presented by the CMA’s Race Director, Johan Van Staden, the initiative is aimed at improving the level of race presentation in the region. Course content has been designed to train race directors, running clubs and volunteers to better understand the rules governing such events and to follow the correct procedures when applying to KZNA for race dates all the way through to the final presentation of their event.
 

The course covers the following 10 major components:

1. Sponsorship
2. Race Application: The Process and Requirements
3. The New Events Bill: Health, Risk and Safety Requirements
4. Route and Course Measurement
5. Race Flyer and Final Race Instructions
6. Budget and Corporate Governance
7. Race Organizing Committee – Roles and Responsibilities
8. Components of the Race and Race Day
9. Role of Technical Officials and Referees
10. Post-Race Assessment

 
With courses already having been held in Newcastle, Pietermaritzburg and Richard’s Bay attracting more than 150 delegates, the next training course will be presented at the Sahara-Kingsmead Cricket Stadium’s Media Conference Centre in Durban on the 26^th of January 2013 at 09h00.  This will be an ongoing process with the courses and content developed on a continual basis covering more aspects and in the process developing the sport of road running to new levels.
 
Johan Van Staden says, ‘The delegates have responded very positively to the workshops and we are pleased that such a vast amount of Comrades Marathon experience and knowledge could be shared with race organizers across the province. We anticipate that our local race organizers will put their new found know-how into action and take their events to new heights.’
 
KZNA Road Running Commission’s Craig Dennill says, ‘This joint venture between KZNA and the CMA has been a tremendous source of help to our provincial race organizing officials. KZNA’s objective is to ensure that our athletes enjoy a better experience and to make our provincial events more attractive and valuable to potential sponsors. We are grateful to CMA for the assistance in raising the standards of our local races.”

COMRADES Marathon Organisers