Development of the "Guide to Marathon Weekend"

Since the beginning of this semester, I have stepped away from the poster design and have started to develop the "Guide to Marathon Weekend". This is an informational program that tells the viewer/participant all the information they will need to know for the race. Last years included the different race distances, entry fees and deadlines, start times, hotels, restaurants, the course map, information about volunteering and the health and fitness expo and about "Conquered", the official after-party of the Detroit Marathon)

I have been going through the guide from last year as well as the current website and deciding what needs to go in such a manual and what can be cut. There is a lot of information that I believe would be beneficial to have in this program that is not in there currently.

Some of the things that I think would be beneficial are specific information about each different distance, more specific information about packet pick-up, race time limits, race restrictions, more unique aspects about the race (like first time marathoners getting a special bib color), etc.

Last years version seems very wordy without really telling the viewer anything important. The website has tons of information that I think could be conveyed to the viewer in this program in a simple and memorable way.  This is what I hope to accomplish with my version.

I also want to try and go beyond the current methods of race promotion. I want to make the program much more interactive. It will still be a printed material but will entice the participant to use it in a unique way.

In my experience, I have seen many runners, experienced and beginners alike, use a training log to record their progress while training for a race. My idea is to include a year-long training log/calendar in this program as a way to get the participant to constantly use and look at it. This will in turn, make them become more excited about the race while learning more about the race with each use.

I created a mock-up for how the program would look and work. My idea is that it will be a  12-page, 5" x 7" booklet that folds open into a 42" x 10" year-long training log/calendar. In order to save costs, everything that a participant would need to know or have would be included in this program. There were be a cover, 6 pages of information, 4 pages of maps and their keys, and 12 pages of training log on the back.

A few things I am currently wondering are if the idea of including a training log is practical and how much space is needed by the participant to write in for each day. I also am wondering if 3 and half feet is too long when it is completely unfolded. I hope to answer these questions by asking some runners to test the product and give me feedback.

Here are some examples of the structure of the booklet and an example of a page of the training log.

That is all for now. Much more to come.