In our new interview series, Ahotu will be speaking with the people behind some of the most unique races across the globe. We’ll be discussing the history of the event, challenges and how to overcome them, attracting sponsors, reaching new runners and more!
In this interview, we’re heading to the Australian island of Tasmania, to chat with Epic Events & Marketing’s Richard Welsh, Race Director of Hobart Run the Bridge and various other races across the island.
For anyone who is not familiar with you or your races, could you share a little bit about yourself and Epic Events & Marketing?
We’re a little team in Hobart, Tasmania that started out in 2015 when we purchased the rights to the Hobart Run The Bridge. Prior to that I’d worked in various roles in Athletics for a decade, from columnist in the local newspaper, to managing the national fun run program for Athletics Australia called iRun. I then had a stint as the CEO of Football Federation Tasmania before starting Epic. Football (soccer) was my first sport, but I was better at running. Now I feel I’ve found my niche in life, organising mid-sized running events.
How long have you been organising races and how did you get into it?
The first one I started was in 2002 in my hometown of Albury – Wodonga, called the Brooks Border Bolt. That was while I was at Uni and it was all voluntary. In 2005 I travelled around the world and when I was in Italy, spent some time with Brian Roe who is a big wig in World Athletics and I was keen to work in the sport. He was also the President of Athletics Tasmania and a year later I moved to Tassie with everything I owned to be the Athletics Tasmania Development Officer.
Australia has obviously fared better than other parts of the world with regards to the pandemic and it was great to see Hobart Run the Bridge take place recently with 4,000 runners. How have you managed the disruption of the pandemic?
I feel a bit guilty when I say this, but we didn’t actually cancel any events in 2020. Over our summer we hold events in Tasmania, then in the middle of the year we have some events in Darwin, right at the top of Australia. Both Tasmania and the Northern Territory have handled the pandemic really well. Given our events are usually between 1,000-4,000, they are all manageable, so we’ve been able to produce plans to the government for each one on how we can deliver them safely and within their events framework. It hasn’t been smooth sailing though, as everyone is new to all this; government, event organisers, suppliers and participants, so we’ve all been learning this new norm.
Was the atmosphere / runner experience any different to what you would have seen pre-pandemic?
Yes. I remember our first event back in August, a local event for our athletics club called the Glenorchy Fun Run. We had nearly 500 runners taking part and I remember the start line specifically, I was on the microphone about to tell people to socially distance, but they already had. It told me that people really want to return to normal events, and were prepared to adopt to the new norm to achieve that.
With in-person events going ahead for you throughout 2020, did you utilise virtual event tech at all at Epic Events & Marketing?
Yes. Virtual events have come so far in 12 months it’s ridiculous. I actually held a parallel virtual event for Hobart Run The Bridge in February 2020, before Covid really went global. We had participants emailing us with times to update a spreadsheet and upload. Now look at the tech, interacting seamlessly with apps and devices. Given all that development, I think we’ll see virtual events being held parallel to actual events moving forward. But organisers have to do them well, much like in person events.
How has the running / endurance scene changed in Tasmania and Australia over the years?
I recall my first ‘major’ event organisation of the 2007 Cadbury Marathon. We had 120 entrants, police shut the roads for us, entries opened the morning of and I actually went fishing the day beforehand. Now that event gets 2,500 most years, with a third coming from outside Tasmania. So that tells you that along with professionalism of event organisers, events can grow and provide a greater experience. As a former serious runner myself, I always try to put events on from the runners perspective. I’m not sure if runners realise how fortunate they are in Tasmania, with the choice of events on offer and the quality of a number of event organisers.
Where do your participants tend to come from?
Largely locals. Tasmania is small enough you can day trip to most parts. For Hobart Run The Bridge for example we’d usually get 5% outside Tasmania, 60% from the Hobart region and 35% from intrastate.
It looks like you’ve got a great range of partners and sponsors for your races. What has been your strategy for reaching sponsors?
I’m fortunate that my professional background is in Marketing and Psychology, so I try to understand the event from a potential sponsors perspective first. Identify elements of your event that you can break down and ‘sell’ as properties to businesses. Then place a value on it and go to market. Procuring and retaining sponsors is getting more and more challenging, so then once you do have them, ensure you’re servicing them as best as you can to keep them satisfied.
Aside from RaceRoster (for registrations) are there any other companies or tools you use that other race directors should check out?
Over the years I’ve been fortunate to work with a range of skilful and passionate event suppliers. Usually, I like to reward loyalty and roll over the same suppliers each year. Covid did present the opportunity to get introduced to the team in Australia from Race Roster, then the global team and the tech is so impressive, that we now use it for many elements of our events. Given our industry is so niche and we’re mostly made up of people who do or did do these events, we all have mates in the industry. I like to think that there is an eco-system of mass participation event organisers in Australia and given none of us organise events every week, we share our resources. It happens a fair bit already, but the collaboration as a result of Covid will only see this expand I feel.
What can runners expect from taking part in one of your races?
Accurate courses and accurate times. Every participant deserves to get the basics right first and foremost. If the event has capacity to do cool stuff like course entertainment, photos, elites, scenic places and amazing finish line experiences then that’s great. With so many free events like parkrun out in the market, organisers need to be creative with their offerings and ensure people can get value for money.
What is your next race in the calendar and how many runners are you expecting?
The Easter Marathon on April 4th. This is previously known as the ‘Cadbury Marathon’ and is usually in January. There will be around 1,500 or so in it. In a normal year we would have 2,500, so this year will be heavily impacted, with a new name, date change and travel restrictions impacting it. But again, to actually go ahead and reward those who turn up and race is important for the industry. We then have the Launceston Running Festival on June 13th, NT Santos City2Surf on June 27th and Top End Gran Fondo on. July 25th, so a big few months coming up.
Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Richard, great to speak. We’re slightly jealous of your ability to race in-person throughout 2020, but it’s great to hear and we look forward to watching your race continue to grow! Tasmania is definitely on the bucket list now.
Interested in taking part? You can register for the Cadbury Marathon on Ahotu – Cadbury Marathon
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