Anyone have any experience at organising a race?

[El Gordo]

Sorry Tim, but it looks like we're a bit lacking in that department. I've often thought about organising a race though.

No hang on, let me rephrase that. I've often thought about what would make the perfect race (just as I've oftern daydreamed about what would be the perfect pub).

In the absence of real-life race organisation experience, perhaps the best we can offer is some arbitrary thoughts.

41 miles sounds like a hell of a marshalling task.

A long distance riverside path sounds delightful, but would you get enough takers to run the distance, particularly in an area that wouldn't be too accessible for most?

A plus point is that you won't have to muck about getting police permission to close roads.

Perhaps your best bet is to start very small, and try to work up. Perhaps you could persuade a small number (say a couple of dozen) to run it as an informal event, see what people say about it, and build from there.

Or perhaps better, you say that the path is going to be created, suggesting that it hasn't yet opened. Perhaps the local authority or whoever is administering the project, would like to co-operate with you in organising a race, as part of the publicity for the new path? You could get loads of administrative and perhaps financial/marketing help this way, and for them, they have your knowledge of long-distance running. It could be a good, complementary partnership?

Why not test the water?