Fun run risk assessment: route, marshals and medical cover

A fun run's risk assessment is really a route assessment with people attached. Most of what can go wrong is a property of the course — crossings, surfaces, pinch points — plus the two universals of running events: hearts and heat.

Walk the route with a clipboard

Do the whole course at walking pace, ideally at the same time of day as the event. Note:

• Every road interaction — crossings, sections on carriageway, car park exits that open onto the route. Each one needs a plan: marshal, signage, closure or re-route. Anything on the highway itself means talking to the council early — see our traffic management guide.
• Surfaces — tree roots, kerbs, gravel, wet grass, cattle grids. You can't fix a field, but you can sign it, light it or route around the worst.
• Pinch points — gates, bridges, narrow paths. Runners bunch at the start; a gate 400m in is a collision generator. Consider a staggered start.
• Water hazards and drops — riverbanks, ponds, steep edges near the line of running.

Marshals: the control measure for almost everything

Your marshal plan should show a name at every decision point (junctions, crossings, anywhere runners could go wrong) and every hazard you flagged on the walk. Brief them in writing: where to stand, what to wear (hi-vis, always), what their job is and isn't — a marshal indicates the route and reports problems; they don't stop traffic unless that's been specifically arranged and they're equipped to do it.

Give every marshal a way to reach event control that isn't 'shout'. Phones are fine if you've checked signal on the course; radios if not.

Medical: plan for the two big ones

Running events carry a small but real risk of cardiac arrest, and a much larger risk of heat illness, sprains and falls. Proportionate cover for a small fun run typically means qualified first aiders with a defibrillator on site, positioned where they can reach the course quickly, plus a way to direct an ambulance to any point on the route — course maps with grid references or what3words locations for gates solve this neatly.

For bigger fields or longer distances, talk to an event medical provider about appropriate cover. Whatever you decide, show your reasoning in the assessment.

Weather calls and welfare

• Heat — set a temperature at which you add water stations, shorten the course or cancel, and decide it before race week, not on the morning.
• Cold and wet — hypothermia is a finisher's problem: people stand around soaked. Somewhere warm and dry for after matters.
• Water stations — for anything beyond a short course, plan cups, litter picking and a table that doesn't block the route.
• Children — junior races need entry-form consent, a bib-to-guardian reunion procedure, and a course they can't wander off.

The general method — five steps, table format, honest scoring — is in our risk assessment guide.

Permissions you might not have thought of

Landowner permission for every inch of the course — parks, farmland, and especially anything managed by a third party like a country park trust. If any part is on the public highway, the council's events or highways team needs to be involved months ahead. And tell the police and ambulance service the event is happening even where no formal requirement exists: an ambulance crew that knows about your event finds your casualty faster.

Common questions

Do we need a licence to hold a fun run?

Generally no licence is needed for the running itself, but you need landowner permission, and formal arrangements for anything on the highway. Competitive races often take a permit from a body like UK Athletics — optional for informal fun runs, but it brings insurance and rules that many organisers find worth having.

How many marshals do we need?

As many as your route walk says — one at every junction, crossing and flagged hazard, plus start and finish. There's no magic national ratio; the number that matters is zero unmarshalled decision points.

What if someone refuses to stop when we cancel for weather?

You can't physically stop them, but your assessment should show the event's response: announce clearly, sweep the course, record who declined. Once the event is cancelled and communicated, a runner continuing is making a private decision on their own responsibility.