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.

Summer Racing

Now that summer is finally here, it's time to start thinking about our training and racing schedule.  Most of us have to adjust what we do as the heat takes its toll.  Whether it is training earlier or later, changing the pace, or for some cutting the amount of training, most of us make some kind of adjustment.  This does not mean though that we can't train or compete; it just means that we need to be smarter about how we do it.  I know personally I used to love running during the heat of the day but I've found as I've gotten older, that I can no longer g

What's the Route?

One of the little known features that we have had on our website since we went live is the ability to show route maps for the events that we have posted.  It's been a little difficult to navigate and frankly was a little difficult for us to maintain so we really haven't pushed it too much.  The problem for us is that we had to use a third-party tool to actually create the map and then copy the coordinate mapping to our site in order to display it.  I knew that wouldn't work long term but there have been a lot of other priorities that prevented me from fixing it.&n

Achieving the Dream

This has been a really tough week emotionally for me as my father of 73 years old passed away this past Sunday night (May 5).  He had been fighting cancer for a long time but it finally got the best of him.  It's been painful to watch him the last couple of years as the cancer had metastized into his bones and was excruciating for him.  Amazingly, he always maintained a positive outlook and just kept hoping that a cure or at least relief would be around the corner.  The doctors finally gave us the word a little over a month ago that all treatments and options had bee

Website Update

Some of you may have noticed (but hopefully in a good way) that we have upgraded our website this week.  The success of our business over the last couple of years just dictated that we upgrade to a larger and faster server.  I've been noticing over the last several months that the site had really started to get bogged down and at times would actually temporarily seize simply because we we couldn't handle the demand.  It's a nice problem to have but at the same time required making some big changes to accomodate the traffic.  Along with the move I've also

Keeping it in Perspective

This has been an incredible year for racing and I've had the opportunity to participate in many events either as a director, timer, and sometimes participant.  As someone who spends a lot of time behind the scenes of events, I really appreciate the hard work and dedication of those people who take the risk, do the work, and conduct these events.  I can say without a doubt that every one of these people have a desire to have a fun and successful event.  Unfortunately that is not always the case.  If you've ever worked behind the scenes as a director or volunteer,

What happened to my time?

This is from a blog that I wrote several months ago, but thought it important enough to rehash.  We've been timing a lot of races this year and I continue to see some of the same problems we've been dealing with.  I believe having this information out there will help improve the timing.