| Currently, Pretzel City Sports times races as far west as State College, PA, as far North as the NY/PA border, as far South as Delaware and as far east as Philadelphia, Bethlehem and Western NJ. Those races may be as small as 50 people or as large as 1700 people finishing in a 5k. So many races choose PCS to time their event because PCS charges less than most other “comparable” regional timing companies while, at the same time, delivering substantially more services. The “timing” aspect of Pretzel City’s basic timing and promotion package includes the following services: - time the race, determine individual times and identify the award winners
- supply and set up all necessary finish line & starting line equipment including start and finish banners, finish line chutes, a digital clock or clocks, a “print out” timing machine, cones, a bull horn and/or battery operated sound system, etc.
- manage the 3-5 volunteers supplied by the race to man the finish line
- provide results boards so that runners can immediately see the place where they finished, even if other racers have yet to finish
- preside, to the degree the race desires, over the start of the race and the awards ceremony
- supply the race with an excel spreadsheet of the overall results for their use within 2-3 days of the event
However, Pretzel City Sports also provides substantial “promotional services” to the races that it times, AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE! Those services, upon request, include: - provide general consulting on race matters to the race director by phone or by email
- display applications for the contracting race, if provided, at the other 60-70 races that PCS attends annually
- publicize the race at least 2 times before the event to the approx. 9900 people that receive Pretzel City Sports’ weekly “Runners Update” eNewsletter
- post the race’s application, if provided, on www.pretzelcitysports.com for up to 2 mos. before raceday (PCS’s site had more than 100,000 visitors in 2007 and is on pace for approximately 125,000 visitors in 2008)
- supply the race with names and addresses of runners in their area, based on zip codes provided by the race, from PCS’s mailing list of over 25,000 runners
- supply the race with a mailing list of approx. 100 newspapers, specialty magazines and running clubs to which they can send information on their race
- supply the race with a mailing list of 30-40 regional running stores, Y’s and fitness centers to which they can send applications for their race
- direct the race to “no cost” or “low cost” providers of race related materials and services such as race numbers, pins, online registration, course marking materials, etc.
The fee charged by Pretzel City Sports for timing is customized for each race. It primarily depends on the travel time to and from the race location but is also impacted by the number of competitive races being held as part of the event, the number of participants, the length of the race, etc. To give you a general idea of our fees, PCS's 2008 rates are $300 for most "5K" races within a 20 minute drive of the east side of Reading, PA. The same event, if held within a 20-40 minute drive from Reading, costs $350 and, if held within a 40-60 minute drive from Reading, costs $400. In all cases, an additional fee of 75 cents applies for each finisher over 350 for which times are calculated and awards determined; non-competitive fun run finishers do not count in this total. Additional fees also normally apply for races that are longer than 5K's, races that need additional clocks-timing equipment-chutes for a second event, events where more than one set of results needs to be calculated, races where equipment has to be significantly relocated from the starting point to the finish while the race is in progress, etc. In almost all cases, the travel time calculated by www.MapQuest.com from the PCS headquarters to the race site is used to determine the base rate. Races that are timed by Pretzel City Sports also get “first priority” to participate in reduced cost mass mailings of race applications that Pretzel City Sports coordinates 4 times a year. These mailings go out to between 6000 and 7000 individual runners (not part of the timing fee, extra fees apply). All tasks relating to that mailing (folding, addressing, stuffing, etc) are done by the mailing service that PCS uses. This combining of applications allows each race to reach a large pool of runners at a fraction of the cost that they would incur to reach the similar number of runners. Due to the permissible weight of each stuffed envelope and the limitations of the automatic stuffing machine, only a limited number of races can participate in each mailing so this “prioritization” becomes very valuable! To find out how to contact Pretzel City Sports to determine a price for your event and to discuss our availability, click here. To find out additional ways that PCS can promote you event, click here. To see what other race-related services Pretzel City Sports provides, click here.
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