As small female-owned company, our mission includes trying to treat our participants like they are guests to our home. Part of that includes constantly looking for ways that we can offer fun and useful amenities at our events. Over the last 7 years or so, we have grown the list and thought it would be helpful put the Top 10 in one spot. Some of our races have even more cool stuff, but the below list is consistent across all our events. In no particular order:
MANAGE YOUR OWN REGISTRATION – We put a lot of control about your events in your own hands – no waiting for a response or email while we might be out of the office. You can manage so much of your own profile – update your shirt size, your email address, your team, your add-ons, transfer your registration, defer it, choose a new event. To that same end, we do allow you quite a few options to transfer your event into another one of ours if your training didn’t go as planned or something comes up on the race date. SO MANY CHOICES!
RACE JOY APP – This incredibly robust app is free to you and your family and supporters. The app is GPS based (yes, it does require you to carry your phone, but how else will get those awesome race selfies!) so it allows your family and friends to track you in real time, it is not based on timing mats. That is pretty cool stuff. Additionally, they can record their own personal “cheers” for you to be played while you are running. Maybe a cool “so proud of you” from your 5 year old as you are feeling low at a certain point in your race will give you the get up and go to finish. The RaceJoy app has that feature. It will also provide you with pace alerts, approximate finish time, off course alert AND we have added some points of interest of things to look for on the course that are some fun local history. So you get a bit of a tour while you are running.
POST-RACE MASSAGE AND RECOVERY TENT – Thanks to our extended partnership with Pappas/OPT Physical Therapy, we offer free post-race massages and we have some great recovery tools available. The best time to care for your body is right after your race, this will set you up for a quicker recovery and you will be less painful in the next few days after you have finished your half or full marathon.
PR BELL – We know that hitting that new personal record or personal best is a very big deal and we want to celebrate it with you. We know that not everyone can win the race and/or an age group award, but anytime we have forward progress, that is certainly something to be proud of. Check out our PR Bell in the Award tent after your race and be sure to give it a ring. (Fun Fact – my dad was a boxer back in the day, and he gave me this “ringside” bell – so it has a lot of sentimental value to me. I wanted to share this awesome bell with all our Rhode Racers)
ENGRAVING TOOL – Personally, I staple all of my bibs on the wall of my garage, and hang the medals there as well. After seeing this at another event, I had an engraving tool from my wedding (our family used it to sign a silver tray we had and it served as our guest book) so I started using this tool to write the finish time on my medals as well. Now – we pack it for our races, and you can do the same. This is also in our Awards Tent.
REFERRAL AND GROUP DISCOUNTS – Running with friends is fun! And because we want our races to be events, and not just another outing, having a support group with you can add to the festive atmosphere. To that end, we offer discounts to groups and teams dependent on size. If you have 3 friends sign up using your referral code, you will receive $15 back. For groups over 10, each person on that team receives $5 off.
TEXT/EMAILED RESULTS – Standing around waiting for race results to be posted on the side of the tent, and then crowding around trying to see your own name – that has gone the way of the Dodo bird! Just sign up for your finish time to be sent to you directly after the race. Couldn’t be any easier!
FREE PHOTOS – Love them or hate them, we all want to memorialize our experience at a race – and provide social proof that we actually completed that whole thing – wow! Because what kind of crazy completes a half and full marathon and doesn’t talk about it 🙂 (Personally – I can never take a great race photo so I am so jealous of those that can) But we provide free race photos for all our participants that you can share across all of your socials. BIG TIP – make sure your bib is visible to the cameras. The AI used to attach the photos to your profile needs to be able to read that bib in the fraction of the second as you go past – otherwise you might have to search through thousands of photos to find yours. Make sure your bib isn’t covered, on your front and fully visible. Placement on your back, your thigh, under your jacket or shirt – that will obscure the number and it won’t be able to be tagged. Race belts are great for this!
FAST AND PERSONALIZED SUPPORT – We pride ourselves on getting back to any emails sent to our [email protected] within 24 hours, if not within the hour. While we cannot uphold this on race weekends, we do monitor that inbox every other day and one of us will personally respond to your inquiry.
YOUTUBE CHANNEL – This is one thing we are continuing to work on – building our video channel. We aim to provide you with the most informed race experience so that you can come prepared and able to focus on your event. To this end, we will have course videos, helpful tips, Live pre-race Q&As, RunSignUp help and more. If we are missing anything as far as content, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know.
So while we cannot offer some of the amenities of the “big boys” – it is our hope that as a smaller event company, that you feel part of the family and receive the type of personal experience that deserves all the hours and miles of training that you put in before you step up to the start of a Rhode Race. As always, we love to hear your feedback as it is our goal to always grow and learn.
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