Counting participants tells you nothing
When race directors report success, they almost always lead with "X participants." That number, alone, is meaningless. 1000 participants at a poorly-run event is worse than 400 at an excellent event — the former creates lifelong detractors, the latter creates evangelists.
Here are the metrics that actually matter.
Metric 1: Finish rate
Finishers ÷ Starters.
For each distance, what percentage of starters finished? If it's dramatically lower than industry benchmarks (2-15% depending on distance), you have a problem — probably course design, cutoffs, weather response, or participant mismatch.
Healthy finish rate is a trust signal. Next year's registrations come from "I heard it's a well-run race."
Metric 2: NPS (Net Promoter Score)
"How likely are you to recommend this race to a friend?" (0-10 scale). Send to all participants within 3 days of the race.
- Promoters (9-10): subtract count
- Detractors (0-6): subtract count
- NPS = (Promoters - Detractors) / Total × 100
NPS benchmarks for running events:
- Below 30: serious problems
- 30-50: average
- 50-70: good
- 70+: elite
Ask ONE open-ended question: "What's the one thing we should change for next year?" Answers here are gold.
Metric 3: Repeat rate
Of this year's finishers, what percentage were repeat participants from last year?
- Below 20%: relationship-building problem
- 20-40%: typical for regional events
- 40-60%: strong event with annual audience
- 60%+: you have a franchise
Repeat rate compounds. A race with 50% repeat rate can grow every year just by maintaining + adding new participants. Below 30% repeat, every year you're rebuilding from near-scratch.
Metric 4: Registration funnel
For each event:
- Unique visitors to event page
- Visitors who started registration form
- Visitors who completed Step 1
- Visitors who reached payment
- Visitors who completed payment
- Completed registrations
Each step has a drop-off. Where is yours biggest?
- Visitor → form start: page isn't selling the event
- Step 1 → Step 2: form is too long or unclear
- Payment → completion: gateway/checkout friction
Fix the biggest drop-off first. Time-Monkey's analytics panel shows this funnel.
Metric 5: Time from registration to completion
How long does it take a visitor to complete registration, once they start?
- <2 minutes: excellent UX
- 2-5 minutes: normal
- 5-10 minutes: too long
- 10+ minutes: form redesign urgent
Long completion times correlate with abandonment.
Metric 6: Day-of-event NPS
Separate from the post-race NPS, optionally collect satisfaction DURING the event via signage with QR code: "How's your experience so far? Scan to rate."
Low scores during the event let you triage real-time (not after the fact).
Metric 7: Revenue per participant
Total revenue (registrations + merchandise + hospitality) ÷ participant count.
Tracks upselling health. If RPP is trending down, you're either under-pricing or not cross-selling effectively.
Metric 8: Volunteer NPS
Survey your volunteers too. Happy volunteers return and recruit friends. Unhappy volunteers don't return and spread the word. Volunteer attrition is expensive.
Metric 9: Cost per registrant
Total marketing spend (ads, content, social, email) ÷ new registrations acquired.
If you're spending 10 EUR per new registration but they pay 25 EUR to register, it's profitable. If you're spending 20 EUR and they pay 25, you're losing money unless they return (LTV matters).
Metric 10: Demographic distribution
Gender split, age distribution, local vs international ratio.
Track shifts year-over-year. If your race is becoming dominated by one demographic, is that intentional or accidental? Is the community diverging from your target?
What NOT to obsess over
- Vanity social media metrics (followers, likes) — not causal to registrations
- Press coverage count — nice, but doesn't pay bills
- Total hours of content produced — effort doesn't equal impact
Using the data
Every metric above points to a specific action:
- Low finish rate → course/cutoff audit
- Low NPS → open-ended survey responses tell you what to fix
- Low repeat rate → post-event email sequence, next-year early bird push
- High funnel drop-off → specific checkout optimisation
- High volunteer attrition → volunteer experience redesign
Run the analysis within 7 days of the race. Document findings. Implement the top 3 changes for next year. Repeat.
Time-Monkey analytics
Time-Monkey's admin dashboard shows participant count (yes), but also: registration funnel, average completion time, payment method breakdown, repeat participant rate (for events you've run before on the platform), and integration with Google Analytics for full funnel.