By the Numbers

Do you ever wonder what it takes to put on a quality racing event?  It turns out, it takes spreadsheets. A lot of spreadsheets.  Jim Chaney and I sat down over coffee and a laptop, and we crunched some numbers.  A lot of numbers.

This is EXACTLY how Jim Chaney looks when he's crunching numbers.

30  Buses used to shuttle runners from the parking lot to the start and back again and also to and from relay points.

11 Average number of minutes for one-way bus commute

7276   Runners who need to ride the buses

The explanation for all of these numbers was pretty simple when I was sitting in front of the spreadsheet and Jim explained it to me, but honestly, this isn't a simple task at all.  A race director has to calculate the number of runners, the time of the commute, and the number of seats on a bus (68) in order to figure out how to get every runner to the starting line in time to race.  What I learned from his explanation of transportation was to GET TO THE PARKING LOT ON TIME!!!  I have fear-of-parking issues anyway, so that won't be a problem for me.  I intend to be at Belden Village by 5:00.

GAAAA!  I need to get on one of those buses!!!

167,040 Ounces of fluids (water or Gatorade) needed for aid stations on the course, which come from 5 gallon bottles delivered fresh from the water supplier!  No sipping out of a hose or fire hydrant! There are four fluid ounces in each runner's cup, so Jim multiplies the number of runners by four to get this figure.  Statistically, seventy percent of runners take water, and fifty percent of runners take Gatorade.  Temperatures could change this, of course, as more runners will need more fluids on a very hot day.

Do you think this will be enough?

10,914  Bottles of water at the finish line.  Same number of bananas and cookies.

6,000  Subway subs last year at the finish line for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon and Half Marathon.  More runners means more subs this year!  Yay!

Hello, Beautiful!

48   Churches on the Pro Football Hall of Fame marathon course.  That's a lotta prayers that I don't fall, puke, or die during the race.

Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to laugh at Stephani as she runs past us.

60%  Runners who normally take a gel on the course.  The event's gel this year is Clif Shots, and they will be at miles 8.3 and 19.2.  Why the weird points on the course?  Get this:  Jim has the water stops at the half mile mark, and he wants you to have enough time to open and eat the gel before you have to deal with the water.  He thinks of EVERYTHING!!!

160  Portapotties on the course and at the start and finish.  This does not count the bathrooms inside the stadium.  There will be five portapotties at each aid station in the first half of the course and three at each station in the second half.   This is a relief (see what I did there?) to me because besides parking, bathroom issues are my BIGGEST WORRY when I'm racing.  I'll have plenty of opportunity to go to the bathroom for my standard twenty times before the start.

There will DEFINITELY be more than four.

600-800 Volunteers for the whole event.  200 will be inside the stadium working the Start and Finish lines.  Many will be at the aid stations handing you water, Gatorade, or Clif Shots.   A special shout-out goes to the Ohio Special Response Team,who will be course monitors, ensuring the safety of runners and drivers. Make sure you thank these generous people for giving their time so that we can have a fabulous race.

19 Average hours of sleep Jim Chaney gets during race week.  Monday through Thursday of that week he is lucky to sleep about four hours a night.  Friday night he may get about two hours of sleep. Saturday night he will be lucky to get forty-five minutes of sleep, as he will be driving the course starting around 2:00 AM to make sure that it is ready to go.  His first real night of sleep will be the Tuesday after the race.

Finally, the most important numbers are the Runners and the Spectators.  That's you, Friends.  If you haven't already registered, do so today!  What are you waiting for?  Come out to Canton, and be a part of an awesome community experience!  I'm looking forward to seeing you!

Run!  Cheer!  Volunteer!

Like what you read? Follow us on Twitter @itibrout and @hofmarathon!