By HPRS Owner & Race Director “Sherpa” John Lacroix
The Human Potential Running Series is Colorado’s Largest Series of Ultramarathons, we are also the 5th largest ultra series in the nation, with 9 events that feature an ultra distance race. 2018 was our best year to date and I can’t thank those of you who came out and contributed to our amazing community enough for being a part of something truly special. Below is a snapshot of our numbers for 2018, as well as the grades we received in our post race survey conducted over the last year. We made it to the finish line triumphantly.
The Health of HPRS: I processed 524 total race registrations for our entire calendar of races held in 2017. My goal for 2018 was to reach 700 total race registrations across the entire series, a 34% increase. I added 2 additional races to the calendar with Stories Ultra (Feb) and the Sangre de Cristo Ultras (Sept). I processed 1,082 total registrations across all of our races in calendar year 2018. This is a 106% increase over 2017. If you were to remove the addition of Stories Ultra and Sangre de Cristo, I processed 911 total registrations, a 74% increase over the same races in 2017. Of all of our competitors, The Leadville Race Series was the closest in growth with a ~59% increase over the same time period (based on known finisher numbers only).
Volunteer Base: Our volunteer base grew with 115 individuals giving more than 1600 hours of their time to the series. It is my hope that these numbers will continue to grow in 2019 as more people give back to their fellow runners and subscribe to being an active member in the HPRS community. Our recent Sawmill Trail Runs was a fantastic example of what a stout volunteer base looks like at an event and I hope it serves as an example to others on how much fun can truly be had in service to others.
Looking Ahead: It is my goal to process 1500 total registrations across our entire series of races in 2019, a 40% increase over 2018. I look forward to your continued support of the series in order to achieve that goal. I have added a 100-Mile and 27k options to the Sangre de Cristo Ultras. I am also looking to expand HPRS into other states, which could happen as soon as November 2019. Ultimately it is my mission to continue to provide races that challenge runner’s physically and/or mentally while maintaining our track record of top notch aid stations, quality comfortable race shirts, and unique finishers awards along the way.
Survey Results: Over the last year I sent out a post-race satisfaction survey to every finisher in each of our races. I wanted to share those results with you in the hopes that you’ll see a small snapshot of what our clientele thinks of HPRS after participating, and also give you a brief snapshot into what is important to our community of runners. Questions and comments should be directed, respectfully, to me at [email protected]. Thank you to those who took the time to offer this valuable feedback.
Our demographic is in line with the sport of ultrarunning as a whole; 65% men and 35% women with the sweet spot in age averaging between 25 and 54 years of age. Overwhelmingly our participants had an amazing experience with HPRS, would recommend us to others, and felt that our races were reasonably priced if not under priced. Most of our participants do not spend money on local lodging, which shows that our races are either closer to home or they opt to engage with our community by camping with us. Our participants do spend money at local restaurants. Hummus is the least favorite food item we offered at aid stations, followed by Turkey/Ham & Cheese wraps. Junk food (salty or sweet) were the favorite foods to nosh on. Water and BASE Performance were the top two drink choices, with soda being the least favorite. Course marking is never perfect but in general felt ok by our efforts. We’ll continue to work on this. Pre-race communications are thorough and helped runners prepare for race day. Just about everyone would recommend the race they participated in to others. Here’s a closer look at the numbers..
How would you rate your overall event experience?
68% = So Awesome! Can’t wait to come back!
25% = Pretty Fun, but I’m hard to please. I’ll definitely give it another run.
6% = It was ok. Probably one and done though.
1 Person = Meh. Nothing special. I’ll probably skip it from here on.
0 = You guys have a lot of work to do. No way I’ll be back. Good Luck.
How likely are you to recommend HPRS to others?
75% = Very Likely
22% = Likely
4 People = Neither likely nor unlikely
1 Person = Unlikely
0 = Very Unlikely
How would you rate our ROYP (Return On Your Pain)?
16% = You’re giving it away! Based on the cost of similar events, you should’t feel bad charging a little more!
71% = Stellar! Love the swag and support… so worth the money!
11% = Definitely a high entry fee.. but I got my money’s worth.
3 People = I was expecting a bit more for my entry dollar.
1 Person = Way too much money for what you get.
Did you spend money on local lodging?
40% = Yes
60% = No
Did you spend money on local restaurants?
53% = Yes
47% = No
How do you prefer to get updates and information on the race?
59% = Email
2 People = Facebook
3% = Race Website
37% = All of the above, depending on what device I’m on
Please rank your food presences at an aid station (listed by avg % ranking)
23% @ #1 = Energy gels/chews (score: 7.04)
25% @ #2 = Chips, pretzels, salty trail mix, etc. (score: 8.89.. Most)
15% @ #3 = Cookies, candy, sugary items, etc. (score: 7.28.. 2nd most)
16% @ #1 = Bacon (score: 7.21)
14% @ #3 = Boiled potatoes (score: 6.86)
14% @ #6 = Tater Tots (score: 6.93)
14% @ #11 = Turkey/Ham & Cheese (score: 5.81.. 2nd lowest)
16% @ #8 = Avocado (score: 6.43)
18% @ #12 = Hummus (score: 4.62.. lowest)
16% @ #10 = Peanut Butter & Jelly/Nutella Wraps (score: 6.31)
16% @ #11 = Misc. Quesadillia’s (score: 6.01)
14% @ #12 = Soup, Broth, Noodles. (score: 6.45)
Please rank your drink choices
57% = Water
30% = BASE Performance
3% = Soda
10% = None.. only what I brought
What options would you like to see more of at aid stations?
8% = Vegan
12% = Vegetarian
10% = Gluten Free
58% = No Preference
12% = Other
How was your experience with course markings?
27% = Impecable! You’d have to be asleep or running with a blindfold to get lost.
60% = Great.. but there were a few places where I was confused, or I could see how others would be
8% = Needs significant improvement.. I see that you marked the course but it needed some work.
5% = You guys marked the course?!
How did you feel pre-race communications facilitated your race preparation?
89% = I read all of the material and felt fully prepared because of it.
6% = I read everything.. but ultimately still felt confused and underprepared for the day.
4% = I honestly didn’t read everything, but wad able to adequately prepare by perusing the content.
1 Person (thanks for being honest!) = I honestly didn’t read anything and that’s my bad… because of this I acknowledge that any pre-race confusion is most likely my own undoing.
Would you recommend this race specifically to others?
95% = Yes
2% = No
4 People = Only if some changes were made
What gender do you identify as?
65% = Male
35% = Female
What is your age?
0 = <18
6% = 18-24
25% = 25-34
38% = 35-44
23% = 45-54
6% = 55-60
2% = >60