How To Put On An Unsanctioned Race

Racing was born permissionless#

You do not need a federation, a sanctioning body, or a six-figure budget to put on a real race. The Speed Project, Take the Bridge, Orchard Street Runners, every backyard ultra on earth. None of it needed permission. Here is how to do your own, and time it, from a phone.

Plot the course#

Pick a format and drop your waypoints. That is your course and your timing in one.

Set a start zone, drop your waypoints, add a finish line. On ALLEYKAT that map is the race: every waypoint is a GPS gate a runner has to cross for the run to count. No Garmin, no timing mats, no marshals marking every turn.

Pick a format people can explain in one sentence:

• Point-to-Point.A sequential course from start to finish.
• Alleycat.Every waypoint, any order. Route choice is the sport.
• Scavenger.A hidden course, revealed one waypoint at a time.
• Relay.Teams take turns on the course.
• Loop.The most laps inside a set time window.
• Backyard Ultra.A loop before each bell, last one standing.

A format people can explain in one sentence spreads. A 10K does not. Pick the one that makes someone want to tell a friend.

Think small#

Start at 10 to 20. Grow by word of mouth.

Fewer runners, more fun, less stress. Scarcity is the marketing. Run your first one small, take good videos, and ask everyone who came to post it to their story. That is what fills the next one, and the one after that.

Get the word out#

Pick a date, drop the link, let the app do the rest.

Start posting about it 4 to 6 weeks out, and post as much as you can: the date, the course, the flyer, the video, and reminders as spots fill up. Every post is another chance for someone to see it. Post the date to your run club and your group chat with your ALLEYKAT link. Registration, the waiver, and payment all live in the app, so you are not chasing paper or doing Venmo forensics the night before. You keep the money and the culture.

Give people something to share:

• A flyer.Make one strong image with the name, date, format, and cap. Upload it as your race cover so it rides on the race page and every share preview, then post it where your people are. A good flyer gets reposted for free. Want it done for you? Our in-house design team can make it: let us know and we will work with you on it.
• A short video.Thirty seconds on what the race actually is: the format, the one constraint, why it is fun. An explainer video travels further than any caption and answers "what even is this" before anyone has to ask.

Hang out after#

Give the race a real ending. Everyone sitting down together is the whole point.

Do something fun when the running is done. Sit down together and actually talk about it. A bar, a stretch in the park, coffee, some NA beers, whatever fits your crew. Results are already live on everyone's phone, so there is nothing to pack up. This is where the community forms, and where you float the next date before anyone leaves.

The short list#