FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Road Race Management Releases Longest Serving Race Director Rankings
New Format Provides Ease-of-use for Viewers and Streamlined
Updating for Event Directors
All Event Directors Serving 5 or More Years Eligible for Listing
March 15, 2022 - In conjunction with the celebration of 40 years of
publishing Road Race Management Newsletter, the company is launching a
newly-reconfigured version of its Longest Serving Race Director Rankings.
The listing, which debuted in 2019, will now allow any race director who
has directed the same race for five years or more to be included by
completing an easy-to-use form available here. Race directors already on
the list have just been emailed a link allowing them to update easily their
listings through 2021. Virtual races held during the pandemic in 2020 and
2021 will be counted towards each race director's years served. While
nearly all race directors' years of service are continuous, those who may
have missed a year but who later returned as director are eligible to be
listed. Starting in 2022, emails will be sent out in mid-December for
updating each individual's status for the current year.
Laddie Lawrence stood at the top of the list at the end of 2019 with an
impressive record of directing the Westport Summer Series for 56 years.
Click Here for an interview with Lawrence, which appeared in the August
2020 issue of Road Race Management newsletter. Many other luminaries in the
race directing world follow closely behind Lawrence, including James
Balcome of the Manchester Road Race (44 years), Dusty Rhodes of the Boston
10K for Women (43 years) and Jon Hughes of the Lady Track Shack 5K (42
years).
The listings are searchable by a number of different criteria including
race distance, country, state, and gender. Biographical data and photos of
the directors will be listed if supplied.
Road Race Management Editor and Publisher Phil Stewart said, "These
rankings will allow race directors in the U.S. and around the world to push
back against being called 'unsung heroes' and finally be recognized for
their years of service to runners. Plus it will promote some friendly
competition among them to see where they stand in the rankings. As of right
now, there are 19 directors who have been around longer than Road Race
Management newsletter, which was founded in January, 1982."
The rankings list, which appears on Road Race Management's website at
https://www.rrm.com/act/resources/lsrd.asp, is free to users. There is a
limited amount of advertising space available on the site for running
industry companies interested in having their product appear on what is
expected to be a highly-trafficked site by individuals with deep roots in
the race directing community. Details about advertising may be obtained by
emailing Phil Stewart at .
The site was developed by Ryan Morris of DelMoPRO, a timing & data
management/event services company based in Cape May, NJ.
In addition to the re-launch of the Longest-Serving Race Director site, the
February-March double issue of Road Race Management newsletter covered key
moments in the race directing/running world over the last 40 years,
complete with historic photos from many of these moments. This special
commemorative issue is available to non-members for $15. Click here to
order the 40-year retrospective issue of Road Race Management.
"It's been a tremendous run for 40-years," said RRM Editor and Publisher
Phil Stewart, "from the days of pull-tag timing and sorting mailed-in
entries on dining room tables, through the rise of running as a mass
participation sport, to the impact of technological advances including the
internet, web, transponder timing, social media and more. Throughout all of
it, RRM has been honored to provide coverage for the race directing
community."
About Road Race Management, Inc.
Road Race Management, Inc. is the publisher of Road Race Management
newsletter, offered exclusively to Road Race Management Members. Annual
membership dues are $118.
In addition, Road Race Management is the organizer of the country's oldest
annual Race Directors' Meeting and Trade Exhibit, dating back to 1983. The
meeting is known for providing well-researched presentations from leading
running industry speakers in a relaxed atmosphere ideally suited for both
race directors and trade show exhibitors to get to know each other. The
2022 meeting will be held December 8-10 in Hollywood, FL (six miles from
the Fort Lauderdale airport).
RRM is also the publisher of Organizing Running Events: The Complete Guide
to Staging a Successful Road Race, an over 500-page compendium covering
every aspect of race directing for the directors of events of all sizes.
The book serves as the textbook for the RRCA's Race Director Certification
course.
Road Race Management also publishes the RRM E-News, a free, twice-monthly
overview of the key stories in the running industry. Individuals can sign
up to receive the E-News here.
Other RRM on-line sites include the free Online Guide to Prize Money Races
and Elite Athletes, which provides detailed information about prize money
events for elite athletes, and elite athlete contacts and links to athlete
bios for event directors; and the Doping Sanctions Site, a listing of all
current and past doping cheats, which is used by race directors who wish to
ensure they do not invite any athlete who has ever served a doping
suspension to their event.
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