We have a series Customer Case Studies, in which we take your stories and share your challenges and successes as a learning tool for other RunSignup users. This Case Study focuses on how a Running Store, Training Programs, and a Racing Company support each other.
Fleet Feet Sports Rochester & Buffalo and YellowJacket Racing use RunSignup to tie together the 3 legs of their business and support a robust running community.
About Fleet Feet Sports Rochester & Buffalo and YellowJacket Racing
Ellen Brenner-Boutillier and David Boutillier (Boots) own both YellowJacket Racing and 3 Fleet Feet Sports in NY (2 in Rochester, and one in Buffalo). Boots founded YellowJacket Racing in 1998; he was joined by now-wife Ellen in 2001, and they opened their first Fleet Feet Rochester in 2004. Today, their businesses support and enhance each other to provide a better experience to Western New York residents.
A Triangle Approach to a Running Store
When Boots & Ellen first opened Fleet Feet Rochester, they went it with a Triangle approach of 3 interconnected sets of services:
- Running Store (for runners to acquire their training and racing gear)
- Racing Company (to produce races for runners to run, and provide Timing services to additional local Race Directors)
- Training Programs (to offer training for runners to prepare for races)
Some customers may only be interested in one of those, but many participate in 2 or 3 of their offerings, and all three are integral parts of their business strategy.
Training Programs and RunSignup
The Rochester Fleet Feet Stores have a robust set of Training Programs to meet the needs of runners of all levels. These include:
- Training Center Classes and Clinics like Core Class, Yoga, Good Form Running Clinics, and Ton of Fun Weight Loss Challenge.
- Training Programs for Beginner and Intermediate Runners, as well as specific events like the Boston Marathon or their own Sehgahunda Trail Marathon.
Some programs are free, whereas others have an associated charge, but they all track their
registrations on RunSignup. Free programs do not incur any processing fees (for Fleet Feet or the runner) because there is no payment to process. They set up each training program as a “Race”; free programs just have a $0 registration fee. This setup allows them to keep track of numbers for programs and enforce participant caps.
To avoid confusion for runner registering, the word “Race” has been set to default to “Training Program” throughout the Race Info Page.
To keep track of the programs and help runners register for the appropriate race, they label each “race” with their Title, the season, and the store they are affiliated with.
On occasion, the stores do have to take a paper registration for a program because of a long-standing Voucher system, but they try to keep registrations online whenever possible.
YellowJacket Racing and RunSignup
In addition to Fleet Feet’s Training Program “races” on RunSignup, YellowJacket Racing also uses the system for the 30 or so races they produce.
YellowJacket Race Series’
Among their many events, YellowJacket puts on a “Dirt Cheap” and a “Snow Cheap” Series: evening, bare-bones races for just $12 each, or $65 for all. To handle registrations for the series, they have each Race Day set up as a Separate Event on a single Race, with the Full series as an additional Event option.
Results for both the individual races and the full series can then be found from the Results Tab on a single Race on RunSignup.
YellowJacket Racing has even added video results to their Dirt Cheap Series – not a bad added-value for a $12 race!
For Boots & Ellen, the benefit of RunSignup is having all their data for both Training Programs and Races in a single system. Previously, they had to use two separate systems for the types of signups; keeping it all on RunSignup brings cohesion to the separate branches in their Triangle approach.
If you have a success story about your race, store or club, big or small, email us
…we’d love to explore a Case Study on your topic!