Reviews Guide
MyNextRace.com, Your Online Starting Line led the way in Canada by being the FIRST website to include a fun and Unique Feature called Banana Reviews, which is exactly like websites you are all familiar with such as Trip Advisor (hotels), Rotten Tomatoes (movies) and Yelp (restaurants mostly). Everyone likes to give feedback on things that are important to them, correct? And today with so many races to choose from and rising entry fees, athletes are looking for feedback from their peers whom they can trust. If you are still reading this message, YOU are likely that person…..to provide feedback and comments on your own personal race or event experience, and whether or not fair value was received in return for the registration fees you forked over, hard earned ones!
These Banana Reviews are NOT intended to promote your own race experience (I was tired so my finish time sucked….I kicked ass, Yeah for me…..I did my first race and here is the 1000 word minute by minute breakdown)! We do congratulate everyone for their efforts, and there are blogs and social media channels to do this, including our own Blog, so we are happy to host these comments for you. Our MyNextRace.com readers, new and veterans alike, want to know this….should I consider doing an event based on these Banana Reviews? Does this event pass mustard?
There are some guidelines we hope everyone will adhere to while you consider writing these reviews:
- try to include comments and feedback on things like pre-registration…was the website easy to navigate, was it straightforward signing up, and getting confirmation that you were registered?
- if you signed up really early to save on registration fees, did you receive regular, updated communications from the organizers? did they start offering 50% off entry fees after you paid full price?
- did the race promise something and not deliver, like a fitted technical shirt, a swag bag, an accurate course, or did you leave feeling short-changed and short on what you were promised ahead of time
- at the actual event, was it fun and as advertised? if the event said “we’re going to have 5000 people, and you only saw 500, was that misleading? if the course was called flat and fast but it was really hilly, did that affect your training? was the final distance short or long?
- what was it like at Bag Check, the Water Stations, the Post event Party, was the Food and Drink adequate or did they run out of bagels when you and your more deliberate friends made it across the finish line after everyone else? (you paid the same price)
- afterwards, if there were mistakes, did the event organizers own up to this? did they at least apologize or offer a discounted entry next year?
Tips to consider NOT doing if you want a fair review to be posted:
- if the weather was COLD, and the race was in Canada….in February….don’t complain that it was COLD! Obviously the weather can make or break a truly positive event experience, but, weather is one of those un-avoidable occurances and you cannot blame an organizer if the hottest day of the summer just happened to coincide with race day….unless…it was really, really hot and there was not enough water….now that’s unacceptable!
- if there ends up being construction that affects a route, or other factors above and beyond the control of mere mortal humans, then stop to consider these factors before you select that final banana, we want people to be firm but fair in your comments
- please don’t say this (only), we see these reviews here in RED fairly often, try to take another 20 seconds and mention a few more points.
A well-organized event and a great way to start the running season! Great again. Can’t wait until registration opens up for 2017.
Great course and friendly volunteers, had a blast!
Here are some great reviews we liked over the years:
- This was my first ATB 30K race. I have to say this race totally rocked. I found the aid stations to be aplenty and the atmosphere awesome. Given the cold conditions this year, I might suggest that it would have been nice to have the option of a hot chicken broth cup post-race. Just a suggestion. Otherwise great event
- Nice flat fast course
Check point at 5k
Nice hat
Nice medal
Street parking - Nice race, through surrounding neighbourhood. Pretty flat except for a bridge (start/finish, as it’s an out and back route).
- Organization was great, possibility to pick up the race kit a couple days before the race (at the local Running Room store).
- A few downsides: for some reason, results are not published online (?), the route is slightly less than 5k (4.9k). Maybe the turnaround point was misplaced?
- Fun race, amazing finisher medal, a buff instead of ANOTHER tech shirt – all great! Even a very nice pancake breakfast.
- Unfortunately, there was a 0.35 k dogleg as part of the out-and-back that despite warnings, many people (including me) missed coming back.
At 4 k, you’re not very focused on surprise doglegs and better signage or volunteers at that point would have helped.
When I realized I missed it, I chose to overrun the finish, adding another 0.35 to compensate by running around the high school. Then I accepted a medal.
Fix that bit, and I’d happily run this race again!
Plus, three more of these massive medals and I’ll have snow tires!
Message for Race Directors and Event Organizers
Firstly thank you for being a Race Director! Its possibly one of the toughest jobs on the planet, and we know some of you don’t have huge budgets or Race Committees to delegate all the finer points. And we know many of you volunteer your time, resources and make sacrifices personally to ensure that every person who crosses your finish line has a good, safe experience. Some organizers are in it to win it, and I mean to generate revenue or income, which we have no problem with. Many of you generate HUGE, tremendous amounts of monies for worthy causes, and you make some money too. That’s a win-win in our books.
We want each and every one of you to encourage open and public feedback through our controlled, monitored forum of Banana Reviews. In our opinion its equally important as sending a post event survey out to everyone after, and if you can generate 80% or higher banana ratings, we have a reward for you. That’s right….we’re sending you a case of Bananas! Well…maybe not, but we will let you use our Top Rated Graphic here that comes in two languages, English and French and a Black or White option. Take advantage of this! Its free, so show your sponsors, put this on your website or entry forms, put this fun logo on your posters, remind future participants that your event has been well received by the public.
Each approved Banana Review can also be shared on social media, and becomes posted on the MyNextRace website so people see this, and if that wasn’t enough, every review improves your search-ability online, that famous word again, SEO. If that wasn’t enough, if our users search for a number of races in a particular month, any and all Top Rated ones get posted first below the calendar. So that’s plenty of reason to DO THIS. But, wait…..there’s more. REALLY? Yes…..imagine what a race listing looks like with no pizzazz…no sparkle….no OOMPH. All of the listings on MyNextRace.com are free, and for just $50 we will upgrade your listing to include logos, photos, videos, social media links, an SEO-rich blurb…content….AND if you get enough Banana Reviews we’ll WAIVE this fee.
And we will not post a Race Director comment that is clearly intended to advertise your event, or if we see multiple reviews from the same I.P. address, which usually means some falsely generated posts, nice try….but shame on you!. We do want to encourage organizers to post their comments as necessary and where applicable, and obviously we cannot share our client data with you. If you would like more information on advertising with us please review the Rate Card here and/or watch the video:
http://www.roadraceresults.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
To message the owner directly, please use the Contact Us form.
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