Rat Race’s Man vs Coast is an annual race in Cornwall, UK, designed to test over 2,500 participants’ mental and physical endurance. This full-day event is far from a standard road-race – set on rugged ground, it involves competitors doing rock scrambling, jumps and short swims.
We spoke to its Production Manager, Andras Palinkas, about the meticulous planning required for the Man vs Coast event, from health and safety to careful route plotting and crowd control for spectators and vendors.
Photos © Rat Race
Switching to OnePlan for a Simpler Solution
Having previously used non-specialist tools including google maps and powerpoint, Andras switched to OnePlan to enable accurate route planning for the 22 miles of terrain and to ensure an effective way to organise the crowd at the start and finish points.
“OnePlan is quick, easy to use, and is an excellent visual aid to share with stakeholders.”
Andras Palinkas
Production Manager, Rat Race
He’s found the platform essential as a way of interacting with stakeholders, including his production team and the wider race team, as well as medics, food vendors and suppliers of the marquees and infrastructure. “OnePlan is quick, easy to use, and is an excellent visual aid to share with stakeholders,” Andras says.
A single source of truth for multiple events
Set in a beautiful location, the race encourages runners to bring friends and family to ‘stay for a while and experience Cornwall in the height of summer’. As such, there’s a broad range of infrastructure needed to run the event.
Andras continues, “There are a number of locations for this event – the main one being a field next to Land’s End Landmark attraction. We have a 12×24 marquee, bar, food vendors, toilet facilities, and drinking water on site. This field is also home for one of our campsites and the next field over is a car park for the participants.”
“OnePlan is the ideal, all-in-one solution for us.”
Andras Palinkas
Production Manager, Rat Race
Following the impact of covid postponing last year’s Man vs Coast event, the Rat Race team has doubled its efforts this year. “Because we are running two events back-to-back this year, we have to run two campsites and two car parks instead of one,” Andras explains.
Andras has used a broad suite of tools in OnePlan, including designing the event site with the right infrastructure, catering, traffic management and crowd flow to have a single source of truth to streamline the back-to-back events. “OnePlan is the ideal, all-in-one solution for us,” he says.
One accurate platform for a multi-terrain event
The Man vs Coast team use multiple features in OnePlan to deliver the event. This includes measuring distances and areas, calculating the number of crowd barriers and fencing, as well as optimising car park capacity. In all cases, accuracy in the event plan is vitally important for when they move on-site.
“We really benefit from how accurate OnePlan is,” says Andras. “It allows us to collaborate across our team and with our suppliers, partners and volunteers to ensure the event is set up correctly and as planned.”
The Rat Race team shares the event plan easily with stakeholders and sub-contractors, who increase in number as the event gets nearer and who can now instantly understand the event plan. “Having one, all-encompassing event plan for any stakeholder to view, streamlines our process and saves us a lot of time,” says Andras.
Having one, all-encompassing event plan for any stakeholder to view, streamlines our process and saves us a lot of time.”
Andras Palinkas
Production Manager, Rat Race
Given the nature of the event across rugged ground and water, Andras and his team have also found value using OnePlan to manage staff and medics. On top of the risk assessment planning, the Man vs Coast team also plots medical staff and ambulances along the route, and are able to live track the positions of medics using the Live Staff feature. Any incidents can be reported in real-time ensuring a safe and efficient event.
“OnePlan is the ideal, all-in-one solution for us. It saves us time and money, reduces risk and improves how we manage our event stakeholders,” says Andras.
To try OnePlan for your next event, click here to sign up and start planning!
