Andrew Taylor
Bath Half Marathon Promoter & Race Director

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Working with authorities

‘Ask not what the council can do for your race, but what benefits your race can give back to the local community’.  

We should not assume those benefits are self-evident.

Sad though it may seem, public authorities such as local councils, police, fire brigades, ambulance services & NHS hospitals have not been placed in existence to provide support for road races.  It is not that they want to be obstructive, many are very supportive and most would like to help.  

But it is a simple fact that supporting road races is outside the ‘core service’ which they are funded to perform, and that road races on the public highway often cause significant disruption to the normal lives of their local community, residents, businesses, churches, motorists etc whilst also requiring diversion of precious resources (in terms of officer time or NHS medical resources, if not direct cost to the authority).

Circumstances will vary widely from race to race and council to council.  But pressures on road race organisers will continue to increase year on year as a consequence of wider changes in society such as increasing car ownership, traffic levels, weekend retail and leisure activity, coupled with growing risk awareness and accountability on the part of public authorities, particularly in terms of safety management on highways networks.

In this section we will share ideas on how best to work with your local authority, whilst inviting you to share your own problems and experiences. See the comments section below for the current discussion topic and please share your thoughts and ideas.

Andrew Taylor