The Top Race Calendars Your Event Should Be Listed In
30% of Race Participants say they use online Race Calendars to find new races. That is some great potential traffic and new racers you do not want to miss out on as a Race Organizer! However, it can be hard to find the right calendars to be featured in. Many race calendars on the internet are outdated and incomplete…
In this article, we list the major international race calendars you should be on, and point out a few sports-specific calendars as these are important to niche markets. It can be a little bit of a hassle keeping your race up to date in all of these calendars, but it is well worth it to increase visibility and your chances of getting new participants you otherwise would not reach. Moreover, it is almost always free to be listed in these calendars as the providers want to offer a complete and useful search service to their visitors. In other words, it’s a very cheap and effective marketing tactic.
Data from RaceID Participant Survey 2022.
International Race Calendars
Ahotu by World Sports Group
Ahotu has done a great job of collecting races from all corners of the world and neatly organized them into sports categories. I wouldn’t be surprised if your race is already there. If it is not, make sure you add your race by visiting this link (requires creating an account).
Website: https://www.ahotu.com/
Race-Calendar.com
Race-calendar.com is mainly listing running races across the world. Users can search for races in different continents and countries. The website design has a long way to go (in my opinion), but for many racers, it does the job well enough. If your race is not listed, you can do it here.
Website: https://www.race-calendar.com
Race-Find
If your race is located in the US or Canada, make sure it appears on Race-Find. This calendar lets users click on any state or place on the map, and instantly gives you all races available in the area. This calendar is focusing on the US and Canada, so if your race is in Europe you can skip this one.
Website: https://race-find.com/
Show Your Race on Google Event Search
A new feature of Google, is that you can search for Events specifically in Google Event Search. I believe this service is rolled out in specific countries (at least I can use it here in the US!). To make sure your event is automatically listed in Google Events, you need to follow the developer guidelines and structure your code so that Google can pick up that you have information about an event. This can be a bit tricky, so you can usually rely on your registration provider to have an optimized website for Google events, then your events will show up with a link to register (or get tickets as Google calls it) like this:
Leverage Reviews with RaceCheck
List your event on Racecheck to show up when people search for reviews of your race. Racecheck is not really a calendar per se, but it can greatly help you get better search results for your race if you start collecting reviews through this platform. Check out the RaceCheck organizer information for all the details.
Website: https://organisers.racecheck.com/
And Finally….RaceID.com and the RaceID App
Of course, we have certain biases when writing an article such as this. If you want your race listed in the most good-looking and useful calendar and app, then look no further…? Make sure your race is added to the International RaceID Calendar. It’s over 8000 races and growing quickly. Add your race by creating a fre account and follow a few easy steps.
Website: raceid.com
Download the RaceID Participant App
Sports- and Race-Specific Calendars
Many participants are die-hard fans of one sport and are living in the world of only that sport. In this case, it is a good idea for you to leverage niched calendars that only list races in a specific sport or type of race. Below we list a few examples of international calendars for common Grit (aka; outdoor endurance) sports:
- Trail Running: https://itra.run/Races/Calendar
- Open Water Swimming: https://www.openwaterswimming.com/
- Cycling, MTB: https://mtbdata.com/calendar
- Cycling, all: https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/calendar/
- OCR (Obstacle Course Racing): https://ocrbuddy.com/
- Marathons: http://www.marathonguide.com/races/races.cfm?place=intl
- Marathons: https://aims-worldrunning.org/calendar.html
Country-Specific Race Calendars
Most of the calendars above are international and include all countries. When you plan your marketing and online visibility, also make sure you look for local calendars in your language, both in your country but also your city, state or region. Check for example, if your sports federation in your country has a calendar you should be listed on (if you are federated). It can make a big difference to be visible in your nearest community, as racers living close to you don’t need to travel so far to your event. No logistical excuses to not sign up!
Keep your Calendar Entries Up to Date
We hope you found this article useful. Now go ahead and make sure your race is visible in all corners of the world! It requires some effort to add info into the calendars, but it will be worth it when you reel in those extra participants.
Pro tip: put a reminder in your personal calendar or to-do list every year when you have the date confirmed for your race, to go in and update information on each race calendar. Also, keep an easy copy-paste document with information about your race so you can easily and constantly add the right info to each calendar space. Good luck!
PS. Don’t forget, you can add your race to RaceID right here if you haven’t already. It’s fast and free.
