National Race Director Summit

Saturday January 20, 2024

Centennial College Event Centre

Again in 2023, Athletics Ontario is excited to welcome race directors and key influencers in our running community to collaborate on best practices in effective event hosting, marketing, management, safety and execution in the running industry.

Hosted at the beautiful Centennial College Event Center, with delicious food, and elaborate space to allow for a comfortable and collaborative day filled with knowledge sharing to help you execute the best race possible.

As always, the day will end with a social cocktail hour, sponsored this year by WealthSense!

Location: Centennial College Event Centre

Price: (includes HST; also light breakfast, lunch, refreshments, cocktail hour and snacks)

$110.00 Until January 20, 2024

Live Streaming Option

We know that nothing beats in-person collaboration for its opportunity to interact, engage, and collaborate. We also know that not everyone can attend in person. To ensure all those interested can benefit from the workshops/sessions, we are offering a live streaming option for those unable to join us in Toronto.

$40 Live Virtual Access (recording will be made available for both virtual and in person registrants)

Topics

The format will be a combination of presentations and breakout sessions. Below (not limited to) are the general topics to be discussed:

• Sponsorship
• Marketing (social media, Google Ads, email campaigns)
• Event Safety
• Breakout sessions (road specific and trail specific)
• Race Certification/Sanctioning (Provincial, National, World)
• Inclusivity
• Re-imagining and getting more out of the "Kids Run"
• Q&A

Trail Running Breakout

Facilitated by Jeff Rowthorne – Happy Trails Racing

Road Running Breakout

Facilitated Virtually: by Chris Winter, Athletics Canada & Alessio Punzi (TBD), World Athletics

In-person: Sheryl Preston, Paul Osland Athletics Ontario

In-person: Kevin Jones and Charlotte Brookes "Ask me Anything"

General Timeline

Final Schedule will be sent to all registered participants on Thursday January 18, 2024

8:00am: Registration, light breakfast, mix and mingle

12:30pm Full Lunch

5:00pm Group Photo

5:00-7:00pm Cocktails and appetizers, mix and mingle sponsored by WealthSense

Emcee

Steve Fleck, Race and Event Announcer

Steve Fleck is one of the leading Endurance Sports Race/Event Announcers in North America. Each year he is on the Microphone at over 35 running, cycling and triathlon races. He's also an in-demand Commentator in the fast-growing Live Streaming Sports webcasting business, for running, and cycling races - working closely with both Athletics Canada and Cycling Canada in this area. He's been involved in running, triathlon and cycling in one way or another since his mid-teens, as a participant/competitor and in business. He lives in Aurora, Ontario with his wife

Facilitators

Ronald Caughlin - President and Managing Partner at BRAND>eD

Ron has over 25 years of marketing, digital and brand experience in both the agency and client side of the business working with Destination Ontario (OTMPC)/ Director, Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) / Director, DQ /VP and The TDL Group Corp. (Tim Hortons) Regional Director. His area of expertise includes marketing, brand strategy, digital, public relations, sports marketing, and social media. Ron is currently a Professor at George Brown College and the President and Managing Partner at BRAND>eD, a brand marketing and digital marketing agency. Ron works with many Travel Tourism and Sports organizations as a strategic brand and digital resource. Ron led some very notable clients, including McDonald’s, DQ, and Microsoft Xbox 360, Moosehead, GoodLife Fitness, Laura Secord, CTC, RIM, Atlantic Lotteries and Parks Canada. Ron is no stranger to Athletics Ontario, as a 4-time OUAA Triple Jump and Team Champion, 2-time CIAU champion and silver medalist and gold medalist at the Ontario Summer Games.

Ed Byers, https://canrevcollab.com/ CHRP, CMP, CAE has driven over $20M of new revenue for associations, charities and not-for-profits. Ed is also the founder of CANRev Collaborative, a company that helps Charities, Associations and Not-for-Profits increase their revenues so they can increase their impact.Ed has worked with organizations such as Wheelchair Basketball Canada, Special Olympics Ontario, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.

Mitch Thompson - Co-Founder & CEO, PandoPartner

Mitch Thompson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthompson88/) spent the first decade of his career working in sponsorship consulting at Lumency, T1, and IMG - helping brands and properties with strategy, valuation, and measurement challenges.

After diving into the world of data analytics - completing a masters degree in management analytics and working in the Analytics and Technology practice at Bond Brand Loyalty - he has returned to the sponsorship industry on a mission to help modernize sponsorship management. PandoPartner, a new software platform that Mitch and a team of tech and SaaS experts launched in 2022, is a simple yet robust tool that helps sports, entertainment, and cultural properties to manage their sponsorship workloads.

Peter Cosentino - DEC Sports & Entertainment

Peter Cosentino is the Founder of DEC Sports & Entertainment, a specialized sponsorship agency that designs partnership platforms with lifestyle properties to sell to brands. DEC also provides sponsorship valuations and insights to assist properties in packaging and selling their sponsorship offerings to brands seeking a specific market segment. Cosentino established the company in 2003 following an 11-year tenure in the mass marketing of sports and entertainment world with the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club under the Labatt and Rogers ownership groups. DEC has worked across several verticals, including Action Sports and Endurance Sports, Arts & Culture all while collaborating with prominent properties such as Canada Running Series, Speed Skating Canada, OUA, Canada Snowboard, Crankworx, World Ski & Snowboard Festival, Red Bull Crashed Ice, Cycling Canada, Canadian Opera Company and the House of Blues.

In 2020, Cosentino co-founded Inspire Athlete Management during the pandemic, which has a focus on the cycling industry. Inspire Athlete Management represents 15 cyclists from Canada, the USA and Great Britain who have achieved notable success on the global stage competing in Olympic Games, UCI World Tour Cycling and UCI World Cups.

Cosentino is an active volunteer with the Black Talent Initiative and currently resides in Toronto, Ontario, with his spouse Amy and daughter Dominique.

Kevin Jones, Odyssey Medical

Kevin Jones is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Odyssey Medical. Odyssey provides event medical and risk management services for the mass gathering industry in Canada. Kevin has extensive experience in risk management, emergency communication and event operations. Kevin’s experience spans from remote wilderness expeditions to large scale urban events. He has lead event medical programs for many large obstacle course events, live music events and triathlons. Building on a background in insurance and education, he is committed to evidence based decision making and systems development.

David Basacco - Race Roster, VP of Marketing & Growth - State of the Industry

After spending six years working with Race Directors at an agency level, David joined Race Roster in April of 2022. In addition to overseeing Race Roster’s marketing efforts, he is focused on the development of new strategies and initiatives that will assist in driving growth for our customers’ events.

Charlotte Brookes, National Event Director - Canada Running Series

Since 2012, Charlotte Brookes has been the Event Director for the Canada Running Series and climbed her way up from Participant Services in 2005 to this role. She is responsible for organizing and managing the entire event and the CRS team across the country, which includes the IAAF Gold Label TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. To successfully manage the event, her main focus, and role on race day is Emergency Management, Crisis Communication and Event Dispatchers through their Event Operation Centres. It is the only Command Centre in Toronto that is operated by a private company and brings together all the different City agencies into one room to make quick and collaborative decisions on race day. Most recently, she received the Industry Leader Under 40 Award from the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security at the National Sports Safety Conference in July 2017 and has been asked to be on a panel for Safety and Security at the Running USA conference this coming February.

Jeff Rowthorn - Race Director, Happy Trails Racing

Jeff Rowthorn is an ultramarathon trail runner and the Race Director at Happy Trails Racing. With the help of an incredible team of loyal volunteers, he organizes 10 trail races across Ontario each year. Happy Trails Racing is proud to put on inclusive races where all runners have a place to explore the trails. Since their first event in 2017, Jeff and his team have witnessed a great deal of growth in the sport of trail running and are committed to providing trail enthusiasts with safe and welcoming opportunities where they can connect with the community and have a great time racing.

Sasha Gollish, (Virtually Presenting), Director of Community Engagement and Knowledge Translation, University of Toronto

Dr Sasja Gollish, is a trailblazer in every sense of the word as a Canadian distance running sensation and an advocate for gender equity. With notable achievements on the road, the track and the trails, Sasha is a force to be reckoned with. Beyond Athletics, her academic prowess as a civil engineer with a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto reflects her multifaceted brilliance. As an Athletics Ontario Road & Trail Ambassador, Sasha embodies a spirit of excellence, promoting the sport while breaking down barriers. Sasha continues to use the trails in all her training, from easy days to hard hills – and is here to encourage more of people to come play on the trails with her. Photo credit: Nikki Ross

Vincent Kuber is a coach, founder, speaker, and community builder. A mover and shaker in the fitness and sports community, Vincent is also the founder of Steel Town Athletic Club (STAC) in Hamilton (Ontario), an organization dedicated to uplifting equity-deserving youth through sports, running and education. Originally from Fiji, Vincent lives, works and runs in Hamilton. He serves as the Executive Director for STAC Hamilton, bringing running opportunities to folks of all ages and levels with a focus on equity-deserving communities and youths to empower them to be involved with Athletics both recreationally and competitively. His ultimate goal is to enrich youth to receive the benefits that support them to live better lives and fulfill their dreams, including scholarship opportunities.

Lily Wu - Discover Dino Run and take part in a facilitated discussion on reimagining, improving, and getting more out of the Kids Run!

Oluseyi Smith - P.Eng, MBA, OLY - Sport & Sustainability - Easy First Steps to greening your event

Oluseyi (Seyi) Smith is a retired two-time summer and winter Olympian in athletics and bobsleigh. His sporting career spanned 16 years and included representing Canada multiple times beyond the Olympic Games.

Outside of sport, Seyi is a professional engineer with a specialty in the construction of major utility scale projects including renewable energy interconnections, transit projects and electrical infrastructure upgrades.

Seyi has a passion for environmental sustainability along with his love for sport. He is the founder of Racing to Zero, a sports focused environmental sustainability consultancy. They offer sustainable education, carbon inventories and sustainability strategy support to local, regional and national sports organizations in Canada.

Paul Osland, CEO Athletics Ontario

Paul has been a competitive athlete in the sport of Athletics for a number of years. He was a member of the Canadian National team (1987-1992) at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games and many other international events. He currently holds the Ontario Open Indoor 600m record, which he set back in 1985.

Paul brings a wide-range of experience in business development and corporate experience combined with his entrepreneurial venture capital experience, and these skills will help him drive the continued development and promotion of athletics in Ontario. Additionally, he has 25 plus years of progressively responsible leadership roles in both the business world and athletics community.

Sheryl Preston, Associate Manager Road & Trail Running Athletics Ontario

Sheryl is the organizer of this event. With Athletics Ontario, Sheryl helps to build bridges in the Road and Trail running community provincially, and nationally. She connects race directors, clubs, athletes and members with credible resources to ensure the safety and accuracy of events with the ultimate goal to increase participation in our sport of running. Providing provincial sanctioning and race day insurance is also a large portion of her role. As a retired Canadian national team rower and having completed over 20 road marathons/ultramarathons throughout Canada and the US, and as a member of a few running clubs in Ontario and BC, Sheryl deeply appreciates the positive impact that races and our connected running community can have.