Making an announcement

Budding announcers practicing with Drumstick Lollys

Sunday 12 December was the annual Stockport 10 road race. Ian Brown is our regular announcer at all Stockport Harriers events and so, a few weeks ago, I got on the phone to him to ask if I could be his apprentice for the day and I was really pleased that he accepted my proposal. I got to work straight away with my preparation.

Music was recommended and we were advised to plan it carefully to suit the mood that runners and spectators need to be in at each stage of the day. We were told that it should be easy listening as the runners are arriving at the start of the day and more upbeat and motivational in the last hour before the start of the race. I have to confess that I gave this job to someone who is far more in tune with music and music technology than I am. Tony Audenshaw is lead singer in White Van Man (famous for performing at the Great North Run) and has also put all of the Goody Bag videos together. He created three CDs:

Mellow Tunes for pre-race

Upbeat Tunes for warm up

Celebratory Tunes for the finish line

We were also encouraged to acknowledge as many runners as possible as they finished and to name them if possible. This can be easier said than done when the finish is crowded but, again, I enlisted some help! Dave Mercer, from Ashfield Sound and Events Management sent me a programme for the laptop which helped me to quickly identify a runner with his or her race number.

So, with a bit of last minute swotting the night before to see which elite runners in the various age groups had entered I felt ready for the job.

We arrived at around 8am. The race starts at 10.15am. After a few sound checks and setting up the computer we were ready for the off. The first track on the CD was "Stockport" by Frankie Vaughan, that can be heard on this video of the goody bag. It was a great track to open with and had everyone around the stadium smiling! On the course we had been warned that the first 30 seconds of announcing are the most nerve-wracking so I actually wrote my first 30 seconds of talk on a piece of paper and read from it so that I didn't have too many pauses or ums and errs! It went something like..."Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the 2010 Stockport 10. We're really pleased to welcome you - it has been touch and go all week as to whether we would be able to go ahead because of the snow and ice that we've seen recently so we were relieved when the snow melted. It wasn't all plain sailing after that though as we've had the mystery of the missing numbers to contend with. If you are one of those whose numbers didn't arrive through your letter box please make your way to the green gazebo, where you have a replacement." Ian took over after that to remind the runners of the start time, where the baggage storage was located and of course toilets and changing. Phew! The first bit was over with and went okay!!

From there on it was regular announcements about the course, the road works, the marshalls etc. We gave regular reminders on how many minutes were left to go, who we'd seen warming up, who we expected to be in contention for the prizes, best vantage points for spectators, where to get massage and food and the bargains to be had from Sweatshop who were retailing on the day.

Once the race was underway it was a case of getting radio messages and text messages from various marshalls around the course to let us know the numbers of the leading men and ladies. With this information we were able to keep the supporters informed on what was going on as well as grabbing an interview with GB Marathon international, Andi Jones, who had come along to watch. He was able to talk about the lead runners and also entertained us with what his race plan would have been had he been on the start line!

Ian was great at building the anticipation to the finish. He reminded the spectators of the course record and let them know how long it would be before we were likely to see the runners come into view. It seemed like no time before Matt Clowes came into sight, finishing like a train. After the first dozen or so they seemed to be coming in thick and fast and so the computer programme was put to the test. It was great for me - just a question of tapping 3 keys and the runners name, club and age group flashed up on the screen. I have to say that Ian, with all of his experience, was just as fast with his piece of paper but we started to enjoy a bit of competition as to who could announce the name first!

As the flow of runners slowed down a bit there was the chance to interview both men's and women's winners as well as the guy who had run it in 73:10 whilst carrying a 40lb backpack. I also took the opportunity to remind everyone to claim their runbritain handicap score. (Much to the amusement of the finishing team who, unbeknown to me, were taking bets on how many times I said 'runbritain'!)

The awards ceremony went without a hitch. On the course we had been told  that we should always save the prize winners name until last and announce the club and time first and I had chance to practise this too..."And the winner of the Stockport 10 2010 - from Staffs Moorlands - in a time of 50 minutes and 34 seconds.....Matt CLOWES!"

Once this was over the only thing left to do was to thank the runners, sponsors, organisers and marshalls and wish everyone a safe journey home.....and then go and tuck into the chilli that the runners and spectators had been enjoying all morning. After some time spent packing everything away we made our way to the pub for a debrief and to start planning for next year!