Racecheck, the race review platform for endurance sports events, have announced that the Racecheck Awards will be returning in 2017 to recognise the very best events as rated by their members.
The 2017 Racecheck Awards will build on the success of the 2016 awards and are a fantastic opportunity for the thousands of athletes registered on Racecheck to rate their races and discover which offers the most exceptional race experience. As the awards are decided by the average rating derived from evaluating a number of different aspects of the event by the race participants over the course of the year, they recognise the quality rather than the popularity of an event and give even the smallest races the chance to win one of the coveted Racecheck badges.
Athletes have until midnight on 31st December 2017 to review and rate their 2017 events. All races with a minimum of 10 reviews will be eligible for an award, which will be awarded in the following categories:
• Top UK road running races
• Top UK off-road running races
• Top UK triathlon races
• Best UK duathlon race
• Best UK swimming race
• Best international races
The top five rated races in each category are announced, and each of the top five receives a badge while the winner receives a special winner’s badge. In the duathlon and the swimming category only the winner is announced.
The winner’s badges are an excellent tool to use in advertising, marketing, social media and on race bibs, and many of the winners from 2016 have done just this. It lets prospective athletes know that their event has won an award decided only by the participants of their race, which is a huge achievement, and in so doing encourages even more to sign up. Races that are well run and provide a first-class race experience will stand out, no matter their size, and this in turns fuels their success in a competitive event market.
The winners of the 2016 Racecheck Awards were: Surrey Half Marathon, Hogs Back Road Race, Rockingham 10, Shrewsbury Half Marathon and Devizes Half Marathon (top UK road running races); The Quest, The RAT, Beacons Ultra, Equinox24 and Brutal 10 (top UK off-road running races); Eastbourne Triathlon, Stradbroke Triathlon, Cotswold Middle Distance Triathlon, The Lakesman Triathlon and Jenson Button Trust Triathlon (top UK triathlon races); Bayside Autumn Duathlon (best UK duathlon race).
Katerina Tanti and Alex Tanti, co-founders of Racecheck, commented, “We are delighted to bring back the Racecheck Awards for 2017. These are unique awards within the endurance sports industry as they reflect 100% the quality of an event rather than how popular it is, which makes it fair to all sizes of event. This goes hand in hand with our philosophy which is to offer athletes a platform where they can find their perfect race. We hope that athletes will use the next few weeks to review and rate their events so that we can discover which are the best events of 2017! We would also encourage race organisers to ask their participants to review their event on Racecheck, to maximise their chances for an award. Good luck to everyone!”
Racecheck was founded with the aim of providing a means for athletes to discover events across the world and share their experiences with the endurance community, quickly and easily. Priding itself on its honest, impartial reviews, Racecheck is able to support athletes in their pursuit of the perfect race whilst allowing race organisers to list and manage their events for free. The website is changing the way athletes and event organisers interact, whilst helping to promote an active lifestyle.
Racecheck currently lists thousands of events worldwide with over 12,000 reviews, and boasts a rapidly growing global athlete community. In 2017, 85% of athletes participating in a Racecheck survey confirmed that they had come across new events through Racecheck that would have been harder to discover otherwise.
The announcement of the winners of the 2017 Racecheck Awards will be made in the first week of January 2018. Athletes need to login or create an account on Racecheck in order to review and rate a race. The deadline for reviewing a race for the 2017 Racecheck Awards is midnight on 31st December, and a minimum of 10 reviews is required for an event to be eligible.
