| Why have groups?
Put simply- adding a group component to your race will help attract more runners! When a team component was offered, 31% of participants joined a team (from the Runsignup 2023 Race Trends report) and that number has been steady over the past 5 years.
What type of group?
The main two group types are competitive teams (where there is group- based timing, awards, etc.) and social teams (no team timing/awards; the focus is more on people signing up/participating together).
While we’ve worked with events that do both types, we see far more events go the social team route.
Both encourage group participation, but social teams appeal more to casual/fun participants, whereas competitive teams are geared more towards more serious/competitive runners.
Both can work well- just consider your goals and target audience when making the decision.
What about group discounts or incentives?
Offering discounts or incentives based on team size can help encourage participants to invite their friends to participate and help attract more runners. Be sure to promote any discounts to existing participants so they are aware and can help get the word out!
Takeaways
- Start this year! It’s easy to add a group component to your event (especially social teams), so go ahead and start now!
- If you have multiple races/distances, allow participants across multiple events to join the same team (for social teams). This will help increase team size/participation.
- Take advantage of the marketing benefits of teams- get photos of teams on race day to help promote next year and encourage/incentivize team members to get the word out.
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