Open Air Business March 2017

EVENTS
SALLY WRIGHT
SALLY WRIGHT
which the venue then keeps,” says
Leinster. “Alternatively you can
agree a fixed fee for the hire of the
land per race, say £5,000.”
As far as the course itself goes,
if a landowner is working with a
race director to promote the race,
the race director will take care of
the design and construction of the
course. “It is not unusual for the
construction of the course and the
preparation of the first race at a new
venue to cost £80,000 to £100,000.
Then £20,000 to £30,000 to run
every race subsequently,” says
Leinster. “It is usual therefore to
have at least a two year contract in
place, for say two races a year.”
In terms of attracting a promoter
to your land there are a couple of
things that can really help. “The first
thing I would advise a landowner to
do is to go onto Google Earth and
mark the boundary of their land,
then push it out to promoters via
the many forums the OCR industry
has online,” says Leinster. “There
are about 100 individuals and
companies promoting races in the
UK. Another good place to find
them is via Companies House – just
search ‘Obstacle Course’ Race.
“If a landowner wants to score
brownie points, offer to help with
the course build. If you are prepared
to help and make any equipment
available on a day rate it will help
a promoter. Having the machinery
on-site will make it cheaper for
them than having to go to a
commercial operator.”
GOING IT ALONE
It is perfectly possible to create
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Leinster is the CEO
of the Obstacle Course
Racing Association UK
and a consultant to the
industry in the UK and
abroad. He is also a
course designer, race
MC and passionate race
participant. Contact
Mark at info@ocrauk.
org.uk
and promote your own race but
it would be sensible to get help
from an independent consultant
to guide you and look after your
investment. It is a riskier way to
go but the rewards could be great.
“In the first year you might be able
to charge £35-£50 per ticket,” says
Leinster. “While established races
can achieve £60-£80 per head,
racers won’t spend that much on
an untested course. That said, you
are likely to get the numbers. As I
mentioned before, a new course is
a huge draw and you should expect
lots of people to turn up as they will
want to check it out. Providing your
course and race event is a success
you can hope to achieve around £70
per ticket in subsequent years.
“You don’t want to put all the
effort into creating a course only for
it to be used once a year. I usually
suggest holding two races at least
– Summer and Winter, although
you could go to four to maximise on
your investment.”
A successful event obviously
TOUGH MUDDER LLC
needs innovative course design,
great promotion, a thorough health
and safety policy and infrastructure
that works. “You need to provide
value for money for the racer’s
ticket,” says Leinster. “Go to other
events and see what works and
what doesn’t, visit the forums and
get to know the things that matter
to racers. This is where a consultant
is worth their weight; they have
all the experience you may lack
and can help you get it right first
time. They may also bring ideas
to the table that you or other race
promoters may not have thought of.
“Another revenue stream that
can be available year round is OCR
training. If you have a spare barn,
then why not put a few training
elements in it and create a training
venue? You could also make your
course available for people to use
outside of the actual races and use
this as a unique selling point – ‘train
on the course you can then race on
four times a year’.”
Although there are enough races
in the UK now that the devoted
racer could attend two in a day
(yes, there are people mad enough
to want to do this), many of these
races are owned by the same
promoter, and the time could be
right for some new blood. “There is
definitely room for new races, and
certainly in areas outside of the
South East – we are crying out for
more! As people enter at the rate
anticipated, demand for fresh new
land and races will only increase,
so it is a great opportunity for
landowners to become involved,”
says Leinster.
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