Sobering story about an English race director

 

There is a sobering story about the pressures of organising a major running event and its impact on individuals. It also gives an insight into dealing with an American 'for profit' company.

Rob Griffiths was the race director of the English Half-Marathon in Warrington and his story was covered in the Warrington Worldwide website on Wednesday.

Here are a few key extracts...

"The last few years of delivering the event has taken its toll on me and the awful year with the American company had left me with nothing. I had not admitted to myself that I have been suffering with depression for some time.

I believed the most honourable solution to this situation was to end my own life – which I was moments away from doing, before being stopped by a friend. My justification was knowing what the response would be if the event did not go ahead.

My perspective had been lost. I had put the race ahead of my children, partner and family – which is something that I know they are struggling with. And so am I."

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"Not many people know that the event was actually owned by an American company based out of Denver in 2017 and 2018. Myself and the team were retained to deliver the event. That relationship broke down prior to the 2018 event and it was clear that they did see the event as part of their global portfolio of events, however I had the opportunity to take back the event which I did from November of last year.

The event came back to us, not in the same shape as it previously left us. Not all suppliers had been paid, entries were down, we were without a website to market ourselves – but I believed in the event and I wanted to make sure my team still had a job.

This event has never been a big money earner for anyone, it has always been subsidised by other parts of our business such as delivering Rock n Roll Liverpool and Dublin for third parties. Entry fees alone have never been able to cover the cost of delivering the event but that has always been managed as part of a bigger business."

You can read the full article HERE