What's the Date?

As an event director and also event consultant for many local races, we are asked with helping to find a good date to host an event.  This is probably one of the most challenging aspects of pre-planning for an event.  Anytime someone comes to us and asks about putting on an event, unless it is one that has some history behind it, they will have to figure out when an appropriate time would be for the event.  It's actually a lot harder than you might think.

Chosen Marathon

We just wrapped up the 4th annual Chosen Marathon in New Braunfels.  This race was the brainchild of Jenni Lord, the race director since its inception.  She has done a marvelous job of putting the event together and continues to improve it year after year.  You cannot imagine the months of planning and work that must go into orchestrating an event of this magnitude.  Not only is there the event itself, but the management of all the adoptive families (teams) is a herculean effort.  Kudos goes to Jenni and her team of volunteers who make the magic happen.  Their

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

How many times do I hear that favorite phrase from the "Wizard of Oz" repeated.  It's often stated by people when talking about the magic that occurs when performing some task.  I've had a lot of opportunity this year to see some of the magic performed at various events and the often craziness that occurs behind the scenes.  Sometimes the participants know and oftentimes they don't.

What Does Claim Mean?

One of the biggest questions that I get and a source of confusion for people is the use of the Claim and X that is found on result and athlete lists of our site.  I'd like to give a short explanation of what they are for and why it is important to you.  It's not all that complicated but it really seems to confuse a lot of people.

Fall Cross-Country

One of the things I really look forward to every year is the cross-country season.  Now that school has started, teams across the state are starting to attend a number of cross-country meets.  If you have never been to a meet, I would highly recommend taking the time to attend one in your area.  There is nothing quite like it.  It's a combination of multiple 5Ks or other distance along with a festival atmosphere.  Is is so much fun to see all of the schools in attendance wearing their different colors.  It's an experience that is hard to describe. 

Going to Vegas

I've been directing events for several years now and thoroughly enjoy it.  I didn't start out to be a director but actually lucked into it.  My first event was the Jingle Bell 5K held in New Braunfels.  A friend asked me to direct it as she was tired of doing it, so I naively agreed.  That was the beginning of a long journey that finally led to creating my own race management and timing company.  We now manage or time many events; several of which we own.  I look back on those early days with some really good memories and realize how far the road has be

Catch me if you can

As one of the top race management and timing companies in the country, Athlete Guild gets a lot of requests to not only time events but also simply to consult on timing issues.  We have a large network of other timers around the country that we constantly share ideas and issues with.  Our goal of course is to be become the best race management and timing company around. 

Can I get a refund?

I get it.  You've trained for months, paid your entry fee, and the day of the race approaches.  All of the sudden some disaster happens whether it is a family emergency, a crippling injury, or just some unforeseen circumstance.  You don't really want to lose out on your entry fee but you've already paid for the event.  One of the biggest concerns that runners face is what to do in that situation.  To be honest it's also a problem for the race director.  We're always faced with the question of can we afford to refund an entry and if so, at wh

What's the excuse?

As both a competitor and event director, I have the opportunity to interact with a lot of people at athletic events.  Depending on which side of the line I'm on, the perspective can be a little different but one thing that always gets a good laugh from me is the conversation both before and after the event from the participants.  The conversation goes something like this:

Competitor A:  What is your goal today?

Competitor B:  Oh, you know, I'd like to beat x minutes but I've got this nagging injury...

Going Off Road

Running in the summer in South Texas can be really tough. One way that I have found that makes it a little more bearable is to go off-road and run some of the great trails that we have in the area.  Have you ever ventured beyond the asphalt and run on any trails?  You would actually be surprised at how many places that there are to run sans asphalt.  The trails in the area also afford a wide array of difficulty from very easy to technical to provide you with any experience that you are looking for.