Choosing Your Next Race? BibRave Takes out the Guesswork - With Tim Murphy

Have you ever trained hard for a race, paid the entry and travel fees, only to have a bad experience because the race wasn't what you expected? Enter BibRave. Tim Murphy and his wife Jessica are both avid runners who founded BibRave back in 2011 with the desire to separate the good races from the bad so runners wouldn't have to take chances. BibRave is an online running community that allows runners to research, recommend, and leave feedback on races. This of course makes the website important to not only runners but to race coordinators and directors as well, and that's why Tim and Jessica also help races improve and better promote themselves. Whether you're trying to figure out where to race next or maybe you're thinking of conducting an event of your own, this episode's for you. And if you're in the US (or you've raced in the US), be sure to nominate your favorite race for the BibRave 100 - a definitive list of the best races in America. Voting ends August 20, 2017. Questions Tim is asked: 3:11 How did you first get into running? 5:45 How did you like Chicago as your first marathon? 6:39 What led you and Jessica to start the company back in 2011 and what was your mission? 9:42 What does your day-to-day work look like at BibRave? 12:51 When will the BibRave 100 results be published? 14:59 How does the BibRave community function - can runners simply leave reviews and tell other runners a little about their own race day experience? 17:00 What are some of the biggest mistakes you've seen people make when organizing an event? 19:28 What are some social media trends and how can people in the running industry take advantage of these trends? 22:07 What does BibRave offer for smaller events with limited resources? 25:57 Is a new brand featured on each BibChat? 27:02 Can you share any tips you have on how people can use social media to build themselves a brand? 31:22 How can race directors start educating themselves about social media and engagement with runners? 35:00 What tips do you have for how people can choose an event that is conducive to their goals? 37:25 What's next for you and BibRave? Quotes by Tim: "The mission was to create a better place to learn about races, to further enable runners to talk to one another about what races are doing well and to create a more informed running community." "We have some power users that it's just incredible how many races people do on a monthly and even sometimes on a weekly basis, and then are super diligent about contributing those reviews to help other runners decide what races to run." "I'm really sympathetic to the things races can and can't control." "It's so important for races to be overly communicative with their runners. It's almost as important as where the cones go and where everybody lines up." "I always like to start when I'm talking with event directors or event producers by distinguishing the difference between digital marketing and social media, or social media marketing and social media engagement." "In any brand exercise, the most important thing is clarity of vision and mission. So knowing who you want to be and what you want to be right from the get-go." "If you're a race director and you have really enthusiastic people who are signing up for your race every year, talk to them." Take a Listen on Your Next Run Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel Mentioned in this podcast: BibRave Website The BibRave 100 Nomination Form - Vote Thru August 20, 2017 BibRave Pros BibRave for Races BibRave for Brands The BibRave Podcast BibChat on Twitter Follow Tim on Twitter Follow BibRave on Twitter We really hope you've enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top. The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use. If more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, it means I can reach out to and get through to the top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you! -- Thank you to our sponsor for supporting Run to the Top Send an email to info@pacifichealthlabs.com with the subject line "Run to the Top" and ask for your FREE Accel Gel samples. Don't forget to include your address!