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Sandra Courtney, Race Director of the award winning Ealing Half Marathon
55 Plays4 years ago
Sandra is Race Director of West London’s only fully road closed half marathon, The Ealing Half Marathon.
This race has raised a staggering 2.5 million for local charities and good causes and as Sandra says in the interview, when you enter the Ealing Half Marathon you are not just paying for a race place.
You can connect with the race team and sign up for the September 26th event on the links below.
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 35
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to episode 35 of the UK sports chat podcast. I'm Joe Williams and in today's episode I speak with Sandra Courtney.
Charitable Impact of the Ealing Half Marathon
00:00:09
Speaker
Sandra is race director of West London's only fully road closed half marathon, the Ealing half marathon.
00:00:17
Speaker
This race has raised a staggering two and a half million pounds for local charities and good causes since it began. And as Sandra says in the interview, when you enter the Ealing Half Marathon, you are not just paying for a race place. Hope you enjoyed this conversation with Sandra. If you get a moment after listening, please do leave us a review. It really helps. And do listen out for another episode coming out later this week.
Role and Responsibilities of a Race Director
00:00:42
Speaker
Welcome, Sandra. Hi, Joe.
00:00:45
Speaker
How are you? I'm good. Thank you. Yeah, very well. Good. Thank you for coming on. Thanks for having me. That's very good. Very good. Thank you very much. It's great to have a fellow race director come on to chat about races.
00:01:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's always good to... Exactly, that's it, yeah. Our exciting world of events. So for those who don't know who are listening, I've said in the intro that you're the Race Director of Ealing Half Marathon. Tell us a bit more about what a Race Director does, just to start us off.
00:01:26
Speaker
Okay, so a race director's job is a job initially that I didn't even know existed before I started doing it, but it's a really interesting role. You oversee every part of putting on an event, be that a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon, marathon, et cetera, all the different options that you've got. And you basically are responsible for getting it from the thought process,
00:01:54
Speaker
up to the actual event day and through to getting the last runner across the finish line at the end of an event.
Organizing the Ealing Half Marathon
00:02:02
Speaker
Between that big gap that I've just described you can imagine there's about a million different cogs to turn and that culminates on the on race day where they're all turning at the same time so you've got to juggle a lot of things so it could be
00:02:15
Speaker
Obviously, you've got sales and marketing beforehand, you've got publicity, trying to get as many runners into your events as possible. You may have charities that are involved as well, so you've got account management with those. And then just everything leads up to race days, so you're dealing with possibly, depending on the size or type of event, you could be dealing with local authorities, emergency services, everything basically traffic management, security, medical,
00:02:44
Speaker
All of those things, contractors have to be found and agreed and basically everyone in place ready on your event day. I mean, obviously I'm talking from Ealing Half's point of view because it's slightly larger than some events that do happen. But yeah, so we do juggle a lot of balls and a year's work basically all culminates in one weekend where we have our Ealing Half
From Volunteer to Race Director
00:03:08
Speaker
marathon.
00:03:08
Speaker
Yes, it's quite a diverse role, but a very interesting one. No two days are the same. It's one of those jobs and you get to meet the most amazing people along the way. Yeah, it's a great job to have. Great job. So when did you start?
00:03:25
Speaker
So I've been there from the beginning, but I was a volunteer the very first year. Everyone working on it was a volunteer. So I actually, after the initial event in 2012, September 2012, we had our first one as soon as the Olympic legacy embargo was lifted, we were one of the first events out the door.
00:03:46
Speaker
to be yeah as soon as the 2012 Olympics finished we were there and I've been there pretty much since day one just obviously volunteering the first year and then we realized you know it's a massive project it does need somebody on it full time so I was lucky enough to be offered the position and I've been there ever since nearly 10 years later. Here I am.
00:04:11
Speaker
It's an interesting point you make. I think everyone realises that an event just doesn't come together like that in the 46 weeks before the year.
00:04:24
Speaker
It's a 12-month project, isn't it? Yes, yes, definitely on one-hour size as well. So, I mean, you're talking about thousands of runners. We have to recruit 700 volunteers. I mean, some races don't even have 700 people in them, and that's just our volunteer database. So, obviously, we spend all year recruiting for that as well.
00:04:41
Speaker
Any one of those volunteers needs to know exactly what they're doing, where they're going, what their role is. Talking about individual briefing to those people and so there's notes, there's admin, there's this, that and the other behind the scenes just for the preparation. And then you've got team leaders that are instructing volunteers. All of those people have to be trained up.
00:04:59
Speaker
And it's just, I mean, it's phenomenal that, you know, the majority of the people that work on our event are volunteers. The community is just absolutely amazing. But it's, yeah, it's a lot of a lot of hard work goes into half a morning's event. So yeah, it's the run of, you know, it could be there for a few hours. But yeah, it's an awful lot of work behind the scenes just to get that an event off the ground like that.
00:05:24
Speaker
It's incredible to think of that, isn't it? Like 700 volunteer briefings and yeah, it's
Community and Non-Profit Involvement
00:05:30
Speaker
incredible. Yeah, we're extremely proud of that side of it as well. I mean, our volunteers are just spectacular. And yeah, it's a lot of people from, they're not even all local, some of them travel to, you know, to come and help us out. And it's just, yeah, it's one of the things I'm in awe every year about, you know, just looking around, seeing all these yellow high beers, and it's like these people are giving up their time.
00:05:49
Speaker
to help us put on this event for the runners and yeah it's phenomenal yeah makes me very proud seeing that. Yeah it's it's one of those things about running in general isn't it across the industry the volunteering you don't you don't you don't always see it.
00:06:07
Speaker
It's like if you go to a football match, even the marshals at a football match, they support the home team. At a running event, they're just supporting everybody. It's part of the whole feel-good factor. Absolutely. I think we're really strong, obviously, because we are a community event. We're a community interest company, so we're not a big, you know,
00:06:33
Speaker
the commercial industry is it's a couple of local people are at the heart of this organizing the event and then everybody else we've got friends and family you know everybody dragged in to help put these events on but it's an extremely professional race but it's yeah it's a lot of hard work but it's the community side of it is it really brings it all together and you can see the dedication that people put into the event I think is what gives it its heart and soul really so yeah it's an amazing achievement yeah
00:07:03
Speaker
So you touched on it a little bit when you mentioned about 2012. Give us a bit of a history of how it started and when, because you mentioned the Olympic legacy there. Yes.
00:07:17
Speaker
Yeah, so basically, during 2012, obviously, no events were allowed to happen other than the Olympics. So we had obviously been planning way before that, it took about 18 months to get to event day. So you've got obviously, you've got a roots plan, you've got emergency services, you've got local authorities, everybody to deal with and get a plan in place.
00:07:37
Speaker
and beforehand so that's the bits that behind the scenes that people don't see and so we had we were hoping to do it during 2012 earlier in the year but obviously with the Olympics coming we realized then we were told that you know you can't have anything on until after it so once they had finished we were basically one of the first events that was held afterwards so we're now one of the largest legacy events left over from the London Olympic and
00:08:05
Speaker
Paralympic Games, all inspired by the 2012. Yeah, because we were very lucky to host our first event in that special year. So yeah, it's been run ever since, apart from obviously 2020, which won't be a shock to anybody. But yes, yeah, so we were very, very lucky to be, you know, part of on the, you know, the start of, of legacy events happening after the Olympics.
Accolades and Community Success
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, very proud to say that we're still, still going and still doing that. And we had, you know, Seb Coase backing our
00:08:32
Speaker
our event this year as well to make sure we, you know, it goes from strengths to strengths. So he's just retweeted about us this morning. So yeah, it's all very, all very positive. Yeah. Am I saying you're West London's only fully road closed half marathon? We are indeed. Yes. Yeah, we are. Yeah. There are, I mean, there's, there's, yeah, some great half marathons around, but yeah, we're West London's only fully road closed one.
00:09:00
Speaker
So I've been sat at the running awards and it used to be a regular current, so I'd just see you tootling off to the front to collect an award. Tell us about the awards, the events as well.
00:09:13
Speaker
I mean, I was very lucky to be able to represent everybody. I mean, those awards, we won the best half marathon in the UK three years in a row and we've had a subsequent, I think, another four awards from there.
00:09:29
Speaker
and it's silver but it's yeah every year we're just astounded but I mean it's that those awards are everybody that that's a huge massive team um celebration it's it's everybody that's come together to help us on those days it's just unlucky enough to
00:09:44
Speaker
able to go up and collect the award on behalf of everybody but it's a humbling experience
Supporting Local Initiatives
00:09:49
Speaker
still to this day to think that we're a community event and we're beating all the big boys, all the corporate companies that have these massive races and it's here we are in
00:10:05
Speaker
in west London and you know just doing what we have a passion for and hope we do it well I think we do and obviously if we're getting some votes then you know all the better but yeah it's an amazing achievement from everybody in the team everybody comes together all the volunteers.
00:10:24
Speaker
even the suppliers and contractors, you know, everybody helps us to bring this, deliver this on that weekend. And it's, yeah, it's great to see it rewarded for everybody, you know, everybody that puts their heart and soul into it. It is really, really, it's a proud moment for me to see, you know, everybody knowing that they had a part in that. And yeah, we're very, very proud of our awards. And yeah, yeah, we can, we're a bit shocked sometimes still, but it's, yeah, it's something, we won't get bored of that if that keeps coming, so.
00:10:54
Speaker
See, you've touched on there that, so the Enlaf Manif is a community interest company, isn't it? Correct, yes, yes, or a social enterprise, yeah.
00:11:04
Speaker
Yeah. So that means that it's for the benefit of the local community. Is that right? Absolutely. That is. So we're a not-for-profit community interest company and basically any excess that we have from the event is reinvested back into the community and that could be something to do with we go into schools and trying to educate children on
00:11:29
Speaker
and it's not all about running it's educating them on just being active so you can go and take the dog for a walk you can you know if you want to do an event then you know playing football just get it getting out and about and trying to capture people young um what you know to get them inspired into moving and being active
00:11:47
Speaker
But we also do things with adults. We set up running clubs in areas that possibly need a little bit more attention. So it's focusing on getting people, children, adults moving within the community. And as I say, it's not all about running.
00:12:03
Speaker
It's very much, you know, we will talk about projects and get projects off and running that are relevant to people and relevant to the area.
Global Participation and Community Contribution
00:12:09
Speaker
But that's a huge positive that we're impact that we're able to deliver from our event. Another example is we've had a water fountain installed in our race village, which is Lamas Park, which is where we host our start and finish of our event. So it's a permanent structure there now that we know that it's available to everybody. It's even got a little doggy bowl at the bottom so that little doggies can get
00:12:32
Speaker
get water but it's you know it's being able to give back things like that to the community is a really you know it's a fundamental reason why we do our events so yeah so any surplus gets plowed back in so it's something different you know it's not you're not just buying a race place when you're buying an event ticket with us you're actually you're giving back in a way that some people probably don't even realise that they're contributing to
00:12:55
Speaker
and but it's yeah it's something that we you know we try and make people aware of it's not just a race place with us it's an awful lot more and your your legacy of buying that that race place you know can can benefit so many other people as well and so yeah it's yeah follow the we call ourselves the half with the heart as well so it's yeah just something that we um and the you know the healing feeling that we spread around them as far and wide as possible so yeah
00:13:21
Speaker
Yeah, see the hashtag healing feeling on you. Yes. Cross your social. Yeah, that's one of our strap lines. Yeah, get the healing feeling.
00:13:31
Speaker
So is it a very local race for Sandra or do you have people coming from all over to take part? Amazingly and again this astoundingly each time we have people booking their holidays and travelling from all over the world to come to our event. Each year we have a new country
00:13:52
Speaker
because we try and be as personal as possible as well. It's a very professional race and a very big race, but we do try and keep elements of it as personal as possible. So one of the things we do is we put up not just directional signs, but welcome from whatever country we have on our race list. So everybody, every country that's entered will see their flag as they're running round. So you can welcome to our runners from Brazil or welcome to our runners from Ireland, welcome to our runners from
00:14:22
Speaker
Australia and so you'll see those on a on a vent day when you're if you're a runner taking part and you've traveled over you'll you'll have your flag up somewhere on our course um but yeah it's just it's it's absolutely phenomenal yeah the the distance that some people travel so yeah it's um it's always great to to know that we're sort of worldwide now as well yeah yeah i was just i was wondering how you know how much of um
00:14:50
Speaker
because it's very community driven, how much you actually got from the locals who all took part.
Charity Partnerships and Support
00:14:59
Speaker
as well but because you're such a huge number of people because of where you are. Yeah I mean it's such a mix as well I mean obviously we have a lot of runners from West London and from London and the surrounding areas but you know they travel from all over the UK but as I say as well all over the world it's just we're very lucky and it's a great race for that sort of interaction and just different diversity and it's a great thing to see.
00:15:25
Speaker
Were you involved in setting up a local parkrun as well? I wasn't myself, no. I've been to test runs at them, but yeah, I'm not. Kelvin, who is the founder of the Ealing Half Marathon, he helped set up Gunnersbury and Pittsanger Junior Parkrun. Okay, yeah, so you involved in all then? All the local bits, which is brilliant.
00:15:51
Speaker
Fingers in many pies to try and get people active and healthy and out the door. Yeah. I read that it was over two and a half million pounds worth of stuff that you've done over the years for charities. That's amazing. We're lucky enough to have worked with the same charities for many, many years and we've got some new ones on board each year. But obviously it works so well for the
00:16:21
Speaker
the charities that we work with, that they've stayed with us, they've been with us for many years and we're lucky enough to have some new ones joining each year as well and we try and make sure that we've got obviously the headline charities but also the local charities is key to us to support so we do have
00:16:39
Speaker
associated charities, etc. We're trying, we'd love to, you know, have as many as, as possible on board. And our philosophy is basically, you know, the events happening, use the event to your advantage. It's like, you know, if you've got a local charity, a local cause, get some runners running for you and raise some money. It's the event is happening anyway, so you take advantage of it and make the most of it. And if you can be involved with an official way, you know, come and talk to us. That's, you know, it's great, because I mean, that's, that's the, you know, the wonder of the event raising, you know, of two and a half million.
00:17:08
Speaker
in nearly 10 years is just, you know, it's a phenomenal figure and it's just, yeah, it's great to know we can still keep that going for many more years to come. Yeah, this last 12 months, it really hit home.
00:17:23
Speaker
Absolutely. We've all seen stats of all the different charities and money that hasn't been raised this last 12 months. And we've all felt it. But when you actually hear real life things that you've put the money into from this event, you know, you water find things in the schools and kids being involved and all the rest of it, it really makes it a hit home, doesn't it?
Adapting to Challenges and Virtual Events
00:17:50
Speaker
I mean, yeah, that's, I mean, charity is, is, you know, it's a big thing for any event, but it's, you know, we want to help as many as possible. And we were lucky enough, obviously, in the last year to be able to do our virtual events to get people, you know, motivated and active still. And we had some hugely successful virtual events. So our Queen of the Suburbs sort of took on a life of its own. It was, it was, it was phenomenal success last year, but we did our virtual Osterly 10K as well in December when we would have not had our normal 10K event.
00:18:17
Speaker
and we did that for a local food bank and the runners raised over £13,000. It's amazing what can be achieved still. It's a time when it's needed the most, as you were saying. It's key that we make sure that we're back helping as many charities as we possibly can.
00:18:40
Speaker
In your role, how's that changed over the last 12 months? Are you having to do anything different or are you preparing differently for this year's event at all? Obviously, it's all been about virtuals. Surprisingly, they take up an awful lot of your time as well.
00:18:59
Speaker
Yeah we've had a mixed year of doing different events at different times but this year it's been solely focused on actually you know we've sort of got a rough idea that we might be doing and be able to put on events again and as soon as we knew that you know already at the beginning of this year we were planning for for September
00:19:17
Speaker
And now obviously we know that we would be able to host it but I mean obviously we have got challenges, we have got difficulties ahead because we need to make sure that the running community comes back to us but we've got a lot of events around that time in August now.
Future Strategies for the Marathon
00:19:33
Speaker
Yeah it's sorry in autumn and we need to make sure that we've got enough runners so that we can get close to our normal participants number but we've got you know to give people confidence we've got things like a COVID guarantee so if you know the event is shut down for whatever reasons linked to COVID we're offering refunds so that people can sign up to our 2021 event knowing that you know that they're secure
00:19:58
Speaker
secure in getting their place no matter what if they'll get a refund if the event doesn't happen and yeah but basically we're sort of appealing to people to to keep spreading the word just as said coded for us this morning and just you know make sure that we can get enough runner numbers in and just yeah getting getting our
00:20:16
Speaker
you know, we've got a campaign running off social media at the moment. So people can see that on Twitter and just retweeting things like that for us. It just gives you ways to advice on ways to help us. So you could, you know, just retweeting and letting other people know about us and buying a bit of merchandise. We've got donating a race place. If you don't want to run yourself, you can just purchase a race place via our shop online. And that basically that will you can either offer that to a friend or you can go to a cause or a charity of your choice.
00:20:46
Speaker
So there's simple, you don't even have to be a runner to be able to help us get to making sure that the 2021 event is on. But yeah, we do need people to back us this year and give us as much support as possible and keep spreading the word, get your work involved, get teams that might want to take up a challenge, get motivated again after maybe being apart for so long. This could be the perfect opportunity for everyone to come back together and have a nice celebration in September.
00:21:15
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. By running 13.1 miles, I'm not sure everyone has seen that acceleration, but yeah. It's an important point that you make as well, because there is a lot of events that's going to happen at that time. So yeah, remember the healing half marathon is award-winning. There's a reason that the event
00:21:38
Speaker
wins awards. So do consider it if you haven't got an event lined up for Sunday 26th of September. And like Sandra just said refunds will happen.
Physical Activity and Mental Health
00:21:48
Speaker
So you've got like COVID security as well. What's your, what's your take
00:21:55
Speaker
on the future of running events. I'm just asking some broader question. If you think about the last couple of years, we've seen a lot more trail events happening. Do you think we'll see more trail? Do you think we'll, because they're easier to manage, do you think we might see a change in license standards? Where do you think we're going?
00:22:19
Speaker
I'm not sure I mean obviously I think virtuals are going to be a bigger part of obviously you talk about trails and stuff but for events around London and that's you know not really a huge option but yeah definitely I think we'll see more diversity in what's offered to people and virtuals obviously you know you can are going to be I think they will sit alongside now real events that come back live events and you also have a virtual option I think for a lot of things and
00:22:45
Speaker
I think it's a great thing though because it doesn't deter from the physical events at all. I think it just offers the opportunity for people to get involved further afield and not having to travel to an event as well. If it's not local for you, you can still get involved, you can still get your medal or whatever that happens to be offered at that event and it's just anything to get people motivated, moving, a new challenge in their life. It may be somebody that's
00:23:14
Speaker
I mean we've been very, we've seen so many new runners obviously in the over the last year out and about and completing couch to 5k and it's phenomenal as well but I think yeah I'm not sure about regulations in terms of what the changes might be
00:23:30
Speaker
But yeah, I think virtuals would be obviously the thing I think that's going to open it up, events to a lot more people and a lot further afield, which is obviously a very positive, a great thing. And yeah, we'll all be even more delighted when Park Run comes back as well. Yeah, definitely.
00:23:50
Speaker
I agree, yeah, virtuals have been a real saving grace. They weren't for everybody, were they? I think even some of the naysayers for virtual have realized what a big part they've had to play, especially for the smaller races. They've really been saved by that option over the last 12 months, really important. And I agree, I think they're here to stay. People like to have that.
00:24:15
Speaker
you know, why not, why not take part and support an event by doing it virtually? Yeah, I mean, as long as we're giving people the opportunity to get involved and to get moving, I mean, obviously, mental health is going to be a huge issue coming, you know, in the coming years, I think, because of the impact of COVID. And it's something we've got to be so mindful of and give people, you know, connect with people, keeping them active, obviously, you know, moving as being as active as you possibly can really
00:24:42
Speaker
helps your mental health. So it's something that we need to keep pushing out there and encouraging people to do as much as they
Favorite Races and Activities
00:24:51
Speaker
possibly can. And as I say before, it doesn't have to all be about running. It can be walking. It can be just giving yourself some kindness towards yourself and keeping yourself active just to help in any way, shape or form for
00:25:05
Speaker
uh for future years and generations and just you know keeping keeping um as as well as possible what is your possible hand yeah yeah agree more have you like have you got a favorite race that you've taken part in Sandra I have I have go on
00:25:22
Speaker
It's the Ealing half marathon. I actually did, I volunteered and I ran the first one. So I do, I mean, obviously that's where my heart is, but I kind of, one of my, one of my favourites is, I did a few years ago, the 24 hour, the Adidas Thunder run, I think it was, it was called at the time, but I've done that a couple of times and I actually, yeah, they are, I mean, it's, it's horrific, but it's absolutely,
00:25:49
Speaker
it's amazing as well and it's that yeah I've done them yeah a few a few odd ones like a tough guy and stuff over the years and I've run London I can't say yeah that that was my wisest decision but it was it was amazing to do but it's yeah I kind of like the oddball ones the the off you know the 24-hour ones the the messy ones that the
00:26:09
Speaker
those sort of races more so then. But yeah, I will be absolutely delighted. Those running days are well behind
Open Water Swimming Passion
00:26:17
Speaker
me now. So I'm quite happy doing my 5Ks and cannot wait, as I said before, for Park Run to come back so we can get back to that event as soon as possible.
00:26:27
Speaker
What non-running world hobbies do you like to get up to? I've become obsessed with open water swimming. I was doing that before. I trained for the London classes, the two miler. So I did that in 2019 and was hooked ever since.
00:26:49
Speaker
So it's obviously in the year of the 2020 was, it was quite difficult, but the lake stayed open for most of the time. So, and I, you know, when I could travel down to the sea, I would, or local ponds, but obviously that got more and more restricted. So I was managing to do, I wanted to do 12 months of continual winter, you know, continual swimming and obviously goes all the way through the winter, but I only managed to get to January this year, I think about three or four degrees water temperature, which was,
00:27:17
Speaker
which is cold enough and I actually I now think maybe I was quite lucky that it all got shut down because I'm not sure I could have coped it much more but it's definitely something I'm aiming for again this year it's like I want to get to do a 12 month cycle of just doing my open water swimming I absolutely love it so yeah the colder the better at the moment you know I quite like it.
How to Get Involved
00:27:38
Speaker
wow well uh i think you're not using me with the four degrees it's very refreshing when you jump in yes yeah yeah yeah it is it so yeah it's it's good for the mind body and soul i think doing that yeah i'm actually going to yeah going for a swim later on today as well so yeah
00:27:56
Speaker
So remind us where everyone can connect with the race across social and where to sign up please. Yep, so you can find us at www.eelinghalfmarathon.com. We have a Facebook page, we have, you'll find us on Instagram, Twitter,
00:28:14
Speaker
Or you can use the hashtags to find us hashtag healing half hashtag healing feeling you will normally find something about us and Yeah, basically we're with all our social media platforms. But yeah Facebook Instagram Twitter and just look for healing half marathon and you will find us but yep signing up via our website as well brilliantly go and
00:28:38
Speaker
the award-winning Ealing half-marathon and I think the most important point that I've really enjoyed hearing about as well is the kind of projects that you profit go back into. The whole thing for people to realise is when they sign up to us it's not just a race place you're buying, you're doing a whole lot more for communities.
00:29:00
Speaker
that need help and yeah, you're giving back in a way you probably didn't realise. Yeah, please encourage others to sign up or donate a race place, buy some merchandise, anything you can do to help. Just keep spreading the word as well. Keep telling people that don't know about us, get the word out there and just help us make a bigger, better 2021. Brilliant. Sandra, thank you for coming on and chatting. Thank you, Joe, for having me. Speaking in soon. Yeah, take care. Thanks very much, Joe.