Head Start

About Head Start

Head Start is a podcast for race directors and anyone involved in the business of putting on races. It doesn't matter where you're based or how many years experience you have or whether you're putting on a running race, a triathlon, an obstacle race or whatever. If you’ve got an interest in planning, organizing and growing endurance events, this is the podcast for you. The focus of the podcast is twofold: 1) we bring you the latest and coolest innovations hitting the mass-participation endurance events industry, and 2) we bring you tips and actionable advice from industry experts to help you improve your race - one episode at a time. Head Start is produced by RaceDirectorsHQ.com, an online resource platform and community network for race directors and race management professionals.

Publisher

Race Directors HQ

Category

sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Apr 2021

Latest episode

21 May 2026

Latest episodes

96 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 May 2026

   Building Africa's First Marathon Major

   Welcome to “The Future of Running” podcast on Head Start presented by Brooksee and hosted by Phil Dumontet. In this episode, Phil sits down with Clark Gardner, CEO of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, for a conversation about leadership, resilience, and the ambition to bring the Abbott World Marathon Majors to Africa for the very first time. With Eliud Kipchoge preparing to race his first marathon on African soil and the eyes of the running world fixed on Cape Town, the stakes for this moment c...

2. 

   12 May 2026

   Marathons as Public Healthcare

   Welcome to “The Future of Running” podcast on Head Start presented by Brooksee and hosted by Phil Dumontet. In this episode, Phil sits down with Chris Robb, CEO of Mass Participation World and one of the most influential global voices in endurance events, for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of mass participation events. What if governments treated marathons as public healthcare infrastructure? What if the most important person at your event isn’t the runner, but the spectat...

3. 

   23 Apr 2026

   The Future of Race Experience

   Welcome to “The Future of Running” podcast on Head Start presented by Brooksee and hosted by Phil Dumontet. In this episode, Phil sits down with Ted Metellus, Chief Event Production Officer and race director at New York Road Runners — the team behind the TCS New York City Marathon — for one of the most practical and insight-packed conversations on the podcast. With 27 years of experience producing events of every size, Ted shares what it really takes to create races that resonate far beyond r...

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

16 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 31 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

28

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

82

Contact Head Start

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Head Start