Ever been intimidated by the thought of standing next to hundreds of well-trained runners, at the starting line of a race? Or perhaps you’d rather run a race in the comforts of your home. You’re not alone and U.S. Road Running might be perfect for you. You run races, get times, earn medals, win prizes, and move up in the ranks…all on the internet with people you never actually need to worry about meeting up with. It’s the most flexible race schedule ever; you run when you want and where you want. All you have to do is record your time and distance.
Brandon Parks created U.S. Road Running after he realized how much he loved to run (his wife made him start running 5 years ago). Parks spent his career as a professional pilot for 19 years until this year, USRR grew so fast, that he decided to make it his full time job. We had the opportunity to chat with Brandon about his innovative speedy program.
The Clymb: How does it work?
Brandon Parks: You can do a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon or just set a goal for the month. It can be an actual race or a race that you design on your own. We also post results and age group standing for each of our races, so you can see how you are doing. All you have to do is sign up online and post your finish time. We mail out the medals each month.
The Clymb: Is USRR only an online program?
Brandon Parks: No. We put on the Movie Madness Half Marathon Series, and the Shoe House 5 Miler Series. We just added to or events this year a Turkey Trot and Jingle Bell run. We are planning to add six more races in 2014. Most of the races can be run virtually also. We also do race management, timing and help others promote their races. We have teamed up with a few running club and help manage their web pages. They include the York Road Running Club, Harrisburg Area Road Runners Club and SOYO trail blazers.
The Clymb: What are some of the best prizes USRR has given away?
Brandon Parks: I think the best prize is the Garmin Forerunner 310. We will be giving away one every month until the end of the year. We have an Ambassador program also which is headed by Angela Singleton from Gainesville, FL. The Ambassadors work with race directors to help promote their events and in exchange, we receive two race registrations to their race that we give out on our facebook group page.
The Clymb: The running program of the site seems to be more popular than the cycling or swimming programs, why do you think that is?
Brandon Parks: Yes, we just started US Road Cycling and the Get In and Swim Program. This was requested by our runners. I’m hoping they’ll grow like our running programs. Hopefully in another year, US Road Cycling will be the same size as US Road Running is now.
The Clymb: What is the most popular month for USRR in the year?
Brandon Parks: We just started in January, and every month it has been getting bigger! In October we have had over 2000 runners sign up for virtual programs. We started with 42 runners in January. We also have a great Facebook community where runners post their runs and photos. I love to see photos of groups and families that are using are programs to Get Out and Run!
The Clymb: Is it easy to get involved with USRR? Do you have to pay anything?
Brandon Parks: The US Road Running Get Out and Run monthly Program is free to join or you can sign up for $14.99 and receive a three inch 3D medal with your name, distance and finish time on it. All you do it sign up online and post your time. It’s your race, your location and on your time. We also have the Get Out and Run Team Challenge every month which is $10.00 per runner and includes the online fee. The team Challenge has been great for running clubs, running groups and family events. In October we had over 1200 runners sign up for the Team Challenge and over 600 for the monthly Get Out and Run Program.
Learn more about running from the comforts of your home at http://USRoadRunning.com.
