The leaves haven’t even finished falling and there is still a few more weeks of good riding weather, yet some people are already working hard behind the scenes on the events of summer 2009. In order to make a bike run successful, “Planning these events should be done in advance — a year in advance” according to Deb Jallen, mother of Stephanie Jallen and organizer and chief bottle-washer for the Stephanie Jallen ride each summer.
July 12, 2009 will mark the fourth year that there will be a motorcycle run as part of the fundraising events for the Stephanie Jallen Paralympic Fund. Many of us show up at these events, donate our money, go for the ride and have a great time without really knowing how much time and effort goes into making such an event happen with success and safety for the bikers.
I spoke with Deb the other day to check up on her and Stephanie and find out what’s going on with their lives since the weightlifting event on Oct. 18. Not surprisingly, I found Deb in her usual high-gear, high-speed motion. Just finishing the weightlifting event, one would think she could kick back, put her feet up and relax just a bit. That wasn’t so. She is already hard at work planning for next summer’s event, taking in the lessons learned and making some changes from last year.
The first change you will note is the day; last year they ran into some stiff competition with the Geisinger Children’s run in Danville. Even though it’s an hour away, it does provide some competition for the local runs. So how does a run planner avoid making this type of mistake? The following areas are things to consider when planning your event.
The competition
The competition is the hardest factor to try to plan around; it seems that everyone is doing a run. Deb says that there are several things that she does to minimize the opportunity of scheduling a run at the same time as someone else.
“Get on www.lets-ride.com/event/pennsylvania.htm so that everyone can see where it’s at.”
“Coordinate with the clubs.” Get flyers and e-mails out to the different club presidents in your area. Another suggestion along this line is to call the officers of those clubs and see if you can get on their agendas and speak to them directly about your run and find out what days might interfere with runs that they sponsor.
Good planning
No matter how well you plan things, there are always those that don’t, and that makes it difficult as well.
“The smaller [benefits/rides] throw it together at the last minute, and they just can’t do it,” Deb says. Deb also says she “Started planning right after June and already have 2010 booked.”
So start planning immediately after you’ve run a successful ride, or if you want to have a ride next year and you’ve never done one, start now!
Organize a committee to help with the planning and research for the ride.
Book your bands in advance some are scheduled for next year already.
“Beginning of the year we’ll have to get in contact with all our advertising TV, papers, etc.,” Deb says. So plan all of your media uses early as well.
Get your start and stop points planned out and organize some type of traffic control.
“It took three bike runs to get it down, it was all a learning process. You’re pretty much on your own trying to figure out everything, and Bob and I learned the hard way,” Deb says.
If you follow these steps it could save you some scars.
Finally Deb adds, “And when you get done you have to start it all over again. I’m blessed to have these guys to help me, some family members and those loyal volunteers whose hearts are full of giving. My driving force is the people that help make everything happen, and of course Stephanie’s face when the people all come to help her out. She loves to go to the other big runs, and she sees what it’s all about. Out of all of the events that we do, her motorcycle run is the one that she gets so excited about. This was the third annual bike run, and she sees the same faces, and it’s like a family.”
She then adds: “And finally you have to pray for good weather.”
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