Fun Run Course and Volunteer Planner

What the fun run course planner answers

On a route run, everyone leaves together and the finish goes from empty to crowded and back. The planner answers three questions from your crowd, course and paces: when the first runner and last walker arrive, how many cross the line per minute at peak, and how many volunteers each job takes.

It is built for routes where people start together and finish once. For loops where participants run laps, use the jog-a-thon course planner for loop geometry and the lap calculator for laps per mile. The design side of a route (measuring, marking, crossings, the finish chute) is covered in fun run course planning. The starting values in the tool are illustrations, not typical results.

How to use it, step by step

1. Pick the distance (1 mile, 2 miles, 5K or a custom length), participants, crowd and start time.
2. Split the field into runners, joggers and walkers. Shares that do not add to 100% are rescaled.
3. Open "Pace ranges" and replace the planning paces with ones you have timed.
4. Describe the course: crossings, turns, water spacing and staffing per station.
5. Set the staffing rates, then copy or print the results for your volunteer lead.

What each input means and how to choose it

Input	What it does	How to set it
Distance / custom distance	Course length in miles (custom 0.1 to 13.1)	Measured length.
Participants	Everyone on the course	Registrations plus expected walk-ups.
Crowd	Loads a set of starting paces	Switching it resets the paces, including any you edited.
Runners / joggers / walkers	How the field splits	Strollers and young children raise the walker share.
Pace ranges	Fastest and slowest minutes per mile for each group	Time them (see below).
Street crossings	Points where the route meets traffic	Each one gets your marshals-per-crossing count.
Turns and confusing spots	Places someone could go the wrong way	One marshal each.
Water station every	Miles between on-course stations	Finish water is counted separately.
Finishers per recorder per minute	How fast one person can log finishers by hand	Time a rehearsal with a clipboard.
Check-ins per volunteer	Participants one check-in volunteer handles	Lower it if shirts go out there too.
First aid responders	Trained people at the first aid post	Follow your medical plan and venue rules.
Finish water: one volunteer per	People served per finish water volunteer (default 150)	A planning assumption; at least 2 are counted.
Lead and sweep volunteers	One ahead of the first runner, one behind the last walker (default 2)	Add one where the course splits.

The starting paces, in minutes per mile, are planning assumptions:

Group	Families and adults	Mostly children
Runners	7 to 10	8 to 11
Joggers	10 to 14	11 to 15
Walkers	16 to 24	18 to 26

Setting paces from a practice walk

Time a few volunteers over a measured stretch: a quick adult, a child who jogs and stops, a parent with a stroller, a slow walker. Minutes ÷ miles is the pace. The slowest realistic walker sets how long the finish, water and first aid stay staffed.

How the fun run finish times and volunteer counts are calculated

• Group sizes = participants × each share, rounded; any rounding remainder goes to the largest group.
• Finish window for a group runs from fastest pace × miles to slowest pace × miles. The first finisher is the earliest start of any window; the last walker is the latest end.
• Finishers per minute: each group's arrivals are spread evenly across its window (group size ÷ window length) and the groups are added minute by minute. The tool reports the peak rate and the busiest stretch: every minute running at 98% of the peak or more, "from about X to Y minutes".
• Finish-line recorders = busiest-minute finishers ÷ finishers one recorder can log per minute, rounded up, at least 1.
• Water stations on course = distance ÷ spacing, rounded down, and only when the course is longer than the spacing.
• Other roles: crossings × marshals per crossing; one marshal per turn; lead and sweep = your number; stations × volunteers per station; finish water and snacks = participants ÷ people per finish water volunteer, rounded up, at least 2; check-in = participants ÷ check-ins per volunteer, rounded up, at least 2; first aid = your number, at least 1.

The water default of every 2 miles follows the Road Runners Club of America's Safe Event Guidelines, which recommend water at least every 2 miles in races longer than 5K and, for a 5K in hot weather, water at mile 2 and the finish, with water at the start when hot. The same guidelines call on-site medical assistance mandatory regardless of race size or distance, and say police should control all stop-light intersections. RRCA's 2025 guidelines PDF adds that minors should never be traffic marshals without direct adult supervision. Count only adults in the crossing and turn marshal roles; teen volunteers fit water stations, cheer points, or check-in with an adult lead.

Worked example: a 1-mile family fun run

Illustrative: the tool's starting values. 300 participants on 1 mile, families and adults, 30% runners, 40% joggers, 30% walkers, a 9:00 start, 2 crossings with 2 marshals each, 4 turns, water every 2 miles, 10 finishers per recorder per minute, 100 check-ins per volunteer, 2 first aid responders, one finish water volunteer per 150 people and 2 for lead and sweep.

• First finisher: 7 minutes (9:07 am). Last walker: 24 minutes (9:24 am).
• Finish windows: 90 runners from minute 7 to 10, 120 joggers from 10 to 14, 90 walkers from 16 to 24.
• Busiest point: 30 finishers per minute, from about 7 to 14 minutes. Runners (90 over 3 minutes) and joggers (120 over 4 minutes) both arrive at that rate; the line then goes quiet and takes walkers at about 11 a minute.
• Water on course: 0, since the course is shorter than the 2-mile spacing.

Role	People
Intersection and crossing marshals	4
Turn and course marshals	4
Lead and sweep	2
Finish-line recorders (30 ÷ 10)	3
On-course water stations	0
Finish water and snacks	2
Check-in and bib pickup (300 ÷ 100)	3
First aid post	2
Total	20

Switch the same crowd to a 5K and the picture changes: first finisher about 22 minutes (9:22 am), last walker about 75 minutes (10:15 am), roughly 9.7 finishers per minute from about 22 to 43 minutes, one recorder, one water station with 3 volunteers, and 21 volunteers in all. A longer course spreads the finish but keeps everyone on site longer.

What the planner cannot tell you

• Real arrival patterns. Real finishes bunch in the middle of each window; use the busiest stretch for sizing, not as a forecast.
• Start-line delay and waves. Everyone is assumed to cross the start together; waves shift each window.
• Whether police are required. Your city decides; see the community fun run guide.
• Every job. Setup, teardown, announcer and photos are not counted, and the total is shown "before backups"; recruit spares for no-shows. The printable volunteer sign-up sheet lists these roles with shift and contact columns. The fun run volunteer roles guide describes each job.
• Your medical plan. Set the first aid count with your nurse, medical lead or venue.

Privacy and saving your plan

The planner runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere, printing included, and there is no account. Settings are saved in this browser's local storage so your course is still there next time; clearing site data removes them. "Copy plan" writes a text version to your clipboard, and "Print" gives a one-page plan with both tables for the volunteer table on event day.