Over the past year I’ve been sometimes vocal, sometimes silent, (yes, it’s possible, albeit rare), and sometimes in-between about how I see the running ‘industry’ in South Australia evolving. At various times, I have perhaps, somewhat confusingly, been on both sides of the fence, as well as on it.
Now, every time I go for a run, at least one or two people ask me where I think everything is at, so here’s my unsurprisingly longwinded answer.
(In the interest of transparency, let me start by saying I am a paid up member of both Trail Running SA and the SA Road Runners Club. I have no official affiliations with either of these organisations, although one company I am associated with, sponsor TRSA. That in no way affects anything I’m about to say. I’ve always called it how I see it, no exceptions. Ever.)
When I first started running almost ten years ago there was no parkrun, no Yumigo (soon to re-brand as UltraRunners SA), no Trail Running SA and very few, what I’ll affectionately refer to as, ‘random events’. City to Bay was there, perhaps a few local fun runs in various places, but nothing with much profile that I can recall.
Since then, plenty of things have changed. Just about everything has changed, actually. Well, everything except SARRC. If you compare the visible output of that organisation today, with what it was doing ten years ago, with the exception of increasing entry costs, and the lack of trail running events*, there is very little difference. And that’s been a major problem for them and, I suspect, a major driver of change in the state that has resulted in other organisations appearing and stepping in to meet the demands of modern day runners.
(*The single, official, and arguably incongruous remaining trail presence in the Road Runners Club is the Yurrebilla Ultra. This remains a weird fit on their otherwise road-based calendar.)
When mum and dad broke up. And the murky middle ground.
For those of you who don’t recall, the Trail Running SA we see today, was a breakaway offshoot of SARRC. Or as I like to describe it, “when mum and dad broke up”. Perhaps think of it like when Joey got spun off out of Friends with his own TV show. Only way more successful. So after a few years of wanting to head in different directions, both groups did exactly that. And you can make your own mind up about which direction was best and how that’s worked out for everyone.
It’s worth noting, that trail running as a sport has exploded in the past few years, so their timing was impeccable, and they’ve certainly found a winning formula if the numbers they get at their events are anything to go by. In business, there’s always two places that are pretty great to be: at the top, charging a premium – that is, getting a lot of money from a few – or at the bottom, in what they refer to in retail as “stack ‘em high, watch ‘em fly” – that is, getting a bit of money from a lot of people. (Do the math, making $5,000 out of 10 people is the same as making $10 out of 5,000 people.) Where you don’t particularly want to end up is in the murky middle ground, where you’re either not making enough from the customers you do have, or simply don’t have enough customers.
Now, before anyone is tempted to think I’m being I’m taking quite a pro-TRSA, anti-SARRC stance, let me confirm a few things. TRSA are the new kids on the block, and it’s often, although not always, easier to be sexy when you’re shiny and new. Like when Ali went into Bachelor in Paradise a few days ago and all the guys started fawning over her. New events + new way of doing things + new energy = interest + success. But it can be difficult to keep that momentum going. Not impossible, but difficult.
As for SARRC, they’ve been smashed by the realities of decreasing interest in the same old events, and increasing costs – specifically things like road traffic management, which is a much bigger deal for road runs, than it is for trail runs. Obviously. Needless to say, they have a very different cost base in several areas, and this is one of them.
Evolution is difficult. Just ask the dinosaurs. Oh, wait…
SARRC have also, several times in the past few years, so far unsuccessfully tried to transition from a volunteer run organisation, to a ‘proper business’ run, at least partly, by paid employees. We could wax lyrical about the ins and outs of that, suffice to say, the volunteer-model had some challenges, so on the advice of a consulting company, they attempted to evolve by employing someone to run the place. It didn’t work so they went back to the old model that wasn’t working. That, ah, didn’t work out, so they went back to the new model… and here we go again. It can be incredibly difficult for any business to make a transition like that without a corresponding increase in revenue to cover the increase in expenses. Makes sense, right? If you’re a business with cash coming out of your bumhole, employing extra people to keep everything moving is pretty easy. If your business model is under pressure from, amongst other things, increased competition, and your revenue is actually falling, then adding expenses can be pretty difficult. Although potentially, depending on the situation, still necessary if you’re going to try and evolve and grow and navigate your way back to being viable and successful. And relevant.
It’s worth noting at this point, that while TRSA run on the smell of an oily rag, seem to have an abundance of volunteers, and get great numbers at the races, that is never guaranteed moving forward. I’m pretty sure the same could have been said about SARRC at various times in the past, and as we know, things change. And only time will tell what the future holds in that department. For the time being at least, TRSA are a powerhouse player with a wining formula.
Right, still with me? Good.
So those are seen as two of the major players in this market. But let’s not forget Yumigo who also do a pretty significant series of events. Let’s not forget organisations like parkrun who, despite being ‘free’, are still a major player who have changed the landscape and expectation of runners around the world, not just in SA. (Why pay $30 to run the Clare 5km next weekend when you can run the Clare parkrun in the same place, the day before, for free. You’re basically paying $30 for a medal? But what happens if parkrun lose their sponsorship? Will it always be free? Can can they really keep growing at the rate they are and still finding enough volunteers for all the events? Where the fuck are all those volunteers coming from?) And let’s not forget… wait for it… Athletics SA. A random inclusion to many regular runners, but the dark horse in this equation. More on that later.
A note about ‘random events’. And why they’re different.
But first let me backtrack to what I referred to as the ‘random events’. It’s also worth remembering anyone can put on an event or two, with little regard to their financial viability, if there’s money coming in from somewhere else. Like a grant, local council, or some other party with a vested interest. Even if that’s just a person who wants to put on an event for the hell of it. If I had a well paying full time job, and put on a race that lost money, I’d survive just fine. I could even continue to run that event every year, without the need for it to make money or even break even. Just crack open the piggy bank and off we go. If my motivation wasn’t to make money, but to have fun, do something exciting or interesting, or some other thing that was not money related, it would be completely viable for me to go on my merry way with my event, regardless of whether or not it made money. And that event would still pull people, and money, out of the market of runners who have limited amounts of both time and money.
But it’s not a level playing field. The same logic can’t be applied to an organisation whose sole purpose it is to run events and be financially viable by making money doing those events. Yes, I’m talking about SARRC again. They don’t make money on the side from their ‘day job’, they don’t make a million dollars from selling T-shirts or magazines or some poncey craft beer, (could be a thing?), they make money by getting people to sign up to races. And when not enough people sign up for not enough money, there’s a problem.
There’s only so much you can charge for a race – although SARRC are certainly giving that theory a nudge. And adding more events to try and make more money, adds more pressure and more cost, and in fact, we’ve seen the club do the exact opposite by getting rid of a few events to try and make things run smoother and more profitably. Admittedly they’ve tried adding at least one that I can think of, (The Glow Run), but whether or not that’s added revenue yet is anyone’s guess. (My guess, by the way, is not. But I could be wrong. And to be fair, new events sometimes take a while to find their feet. I personally think it’s an expensive stinker, but I’ve been wrong before. Like that time I said I’m not sure if Facebook would ever take off because Myspace was really good, but that’s a story for another day. Or never.)
Vote with your wallet.
So as an ongoing thing, because social media is, well, social media, we see all sorts of people with all sorts of opinions about what makes a good event. (Like my opinion now!) There are those who love the low cost TRSA events just the way they are, and those that would prefer they cost a little more and supplied bling. I’ve even noted the Great Southern Half Marathon has taken the middle ground on that one this year, and you can register and pay with or without bling – the bling option is $10 more. I guess that will be an interesting experiment. One with no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ result, just clues as to what the market wants. And that’s effectively what will happen. People shouldn’t feel compelled to bitch and moan about this event or that bling, they should simply do what we talk about in business as ‘voting with your wallet’. Or purse. Or pay wave card thingy. You get the idea.
Don’t like a race? Don’t fucking do it. It’s really not that complicated. Don’t like the bling? Don’t fucking do the race – or do it and don’t take the shit bling. Or take it and give it to your next door neighbour’s kids. Or stick it up your ass. Whatever floats your boat. If enough people don’t do an event, the organisers will get the message loud and clear. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against offering feedback. “Oh, I’m disappointed the cost has gone up” or “Not loving the medal this year” are both things I’ve said recently, possibly in more colourful terms than that. Last year I seem to recall saying I thought the Holdfast2Haven medal was so pissy and small it would come in handy if I needed a five cent piece for a parking metre… which may have been a bit harsh. Accurate, but harsh. My point being, genuine, constructive feedback with a genuine intent to be helpful can be really useful to an organisation. (Assuming they’re prepared to listen.) Having a sook and (unisex) bitching about things just to be a negative asshole, not so much.
My big prediction.
So having said all that, where do I see things going from here? Here’s my big prediction: Remember Athletics SA, that dark horse I mentioned at the beginning? SARRC will merge with/be swallowed up by them. And it probably wouldn’t be a bad thing. In fact, looking at it now, I see it as almost inevitable.
Any time ‘rival’ organisations merge, they are almost inevitably able to reduce their costs as they get rid of duplicated resources. And in this case, I reckon there’d definitely be some of those. Since the TRSA breakaway, SARRC has become almost exclusively an actual road running club – as per the name. Which is only a hop, skip and a triple jump away from ‘proper athletics’. It would, for example, be a perfect fit for Athletics SA to have a Road Running Series with a marathon and perhaps a triple crown half marathon series. They could ditch the other events so they don’t stretch their own resources too thin, and just run three or four road races during the year as part of their winter calendar which definitely looks like it could absorb a couple of extra events easily enough. And road half marathons and marathons (with shorter alternatives) certainly fit under the ‘athletics’ banner nicely.
What’s more, if the extra events they add to their calendar aren’t wildly successful, it wouldn’t even matter, because they’re already pulling revenue from their wider activities and events. (It should also be noted, with SARRC’s recent focus on offering prize money to the few elite people in their races, it certainly seems a lot like they’re pushing down an Athletics-inspired model anyway, chucking out cash to the dozen or so people in the country who might ever make it onto a podium, at the expense of the rest of us just plodding along. It’s decisions like this, as well as a few other things, that have helped me decide to give SARRC events a miss this year while I enjoy running some of the more out of the way ‘random’ events I spoke about earlier. This year I’ve already enjoyed two half marathons, Orrorroo and Salisbury, that cost a fraction of what SARRC charges. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against paying a fair price to run a race, but I’ll be fucked if I’m kicking in just so some speedy gonzales can take home a pocket full of my money. While they’re completely entitled to do that, of course, I’m also completely entitled to decide to not be a part of it, so as I’ve been known to say from time to time – Fuck. That.)
On it’s current trajectory, and what we publicly know of its position, I can’t see how SARRC will survive another 12 months without something major happening. That could mean a major reduction in costs, (and I’m not sure there’s enough costs there to reduce), or a major increase in revenue. The revenue could come in the form of a significant sponsor or grant, but that failing, I don’t see them miraculously increasing race registrations to make that happen – unless there’s a few thousand people out there keen to win some of the $8000 worth of prize money on offer for this year’s marathon – and without something big happening, I’m skeptical its business model is viable given the dynamics of the current market place. Which leaves only two options… it either merges… or disappears. And from where I sit, a ‘merger’ of some description with Athletics SA, an organisation they’ve already cosied up to, would be a bit of a no brainer.
I guess we’ll see whether this is just the start of something new and exciting, or the finish line.
Whatever happens, running will go on. You just put your shoes on, or not, and run. 🙂
Happy running everyone.
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