Scheduling and Sending a Pre-Race Email

Pre-Race emails are a great way to make sure your participants have all of the information they need prior to race day. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create, schedule, and send a pre-race email.

Create an Email

First, you’re going to have to draft your email. You can do this under the email marketing tab of the Race Dashboard. For more information on how to create an email, you can view our email marketing webinar or our slide deck. You’re going to want to give your email a name (only visible to you), and a subject line that clearly indicates that the email contains important pre-race information (visible to all recipients). Here are some examples:

• Important Pre-Race Information
• Race Day Info for [Your Race Name]
• Let’s do this! Everything you need to know for Race Day.

Select Recipients

Select all current participants as recipients. This list is dynamic, meaning if you schedule the email to send later, the list of current participants will automatically include anyone who registered between when you created the email and when it is sent.

Add the QR Code

QR Codes are a great way to speed up your registration process. RunSignup automatically generates and sends a unique QR code in every registration confirmation email.

On Race Day, you’ll be able to scan the QR code to check runners in with ease using RunSignup’s CheckIn App.

You should include the QR code at the beginning of the pre-race email so your participants have it on hand on race day. You can easily include each runner’s unique QR code by using a replacement tag. The replacement tag for QR codes is %REGISTRATION_ID_QRCODE%. Remember, replacement tags are case sensitive, so be sure to copy the tag exactly as provided.

Once the email is sent, the replacement tag will display like this:

Bib Replacement Tags

In addition to a QR Code replacement tag, you can also include a bib replacement tag. This will automatically be replaced with the participant’s bib number. The replacement tag for a bib number is %BIB_NUMBER%. Again, this tag is case sensitive, so be sure you copy it exactly.

Additional Email Content

Some content you may want to include in your pre race email includes:

• Parking information
• CheckIn Instructions
• Race Day Schedule
• Any other important details

Schedule your Email

If you’re not ready to send your email immediately, you can set the email to “send email later” under the email settings section. Pick the date and time to send the email and your message will be sent to your participants within 5 minutes of the scheduled send time.

Here’s an example of a great pre-race email!

If you want to learn more about RunSignup’s general email marketing platform, you can check out our webinar. Webinars not for you? We’ve also condensed it into a slide-share available for free here.