# The Email Builder for Race Directors > Race emails that fill in your race's details for you: live prices, countdowns, spots left and directions, plus 17 templates and your own saved ones. - **Author:** Kelby Dover, Founder, Run This - **Published:** 2026-10-28 - **Category:** Race Directors - **Topics:** Race emails, Email marketing, Email templates, Race directors, Race marketing, Registration, Countdown - **Reading time:** 7 min - **Article:** https://runthis.run/articles/the-email-builder-for-race-directors You write the "prices go up Friday" email on Monday. By Friday, something on it is wrong. Race emails go stale fast. A start time moves. The 10K sells out. Packet pickup changes rooms. In the Run This email builder, you write the words and Run This fills in your race's details: dates, prices, start times, spots left. They stay up to date until the moment the email sends. ### What's in it - **Run This blocks.** Over 20 pieces that fill themselves in from your race: dates, prices, start times, spots left, directions, results. - **A countdown that ticks.** A live clock that counts down while people read. - **17 race templates.** From "Registration is open" to "Thank you + results". - **Your own templates.** Save a design once, and use it at every race you direct. - **My blocks.** Save any section and drop it into your next email. - **The right people.** This year's runners, past runners, volunteers or one distance, minus anyone you leave out. - **No monthly fee.** It comes with Run This. No separate email tool to pay for. ### Your race details, filled in for you Most of what goes in a race email you already typed into Run This when you set up your race: the date, the place, the distances, the prices, the schedule. Run This blocks drop those details into your email, so there's nothing to copy and paste. They fill in when the email sends, not when you write it. Change a start time for your race and every unsent email has the new time. A scheduled email fills itself in at the moment it goes out, so the price and the countdown are right on delivery day. A template with Run This blocks, filled in with the race's details. ### Over 20 blocks that fill themselves in Open the Run This panel and drag in what you need: - **Event info:** when, where, which races and the starting price, as a grid, a dark race ticket or one thin strip. - **Races and start times**, wave starts included, and your **event schedule** as a timeline. - **Location and directions:** buttons that open Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze, or a map picture. - **Add to calendar** for Apple, Google and Outlook. - **Pricing:** today's price and the next change, for each distance. - **Spots left:** how close your capped races are to full. - **Your course map** from Course Studio, as a picture. - **Race photos and results** from your Photos and Results pages. - **Sponsors, social links, fundraising progress** and Register, Volunteer and Donate buttons. - **Any section of your race page,** like Packet pickup, Parking or the FAQ. Fix a typo on the race page and every unsent email has the fix. A block only shows up when your race can use it. No donation box on a race without donations. How it lands on a phone: every block filled in from the race. ### A countdown that actually ticks Count down to race day, registration closing, the next price increase, or any date you pick. Show it as a big number, as a banner like "Prices go up in 3 days", or as a live clock that ticks while people read. The live clock is drawn fresh each time the email is opened, so it starts from the right second. A big number or banner whose moment has already passed when the email sends leaves the email on its own. Spots left works the same way: if no race is close to full when it sends, the banner stays out. ### Change one detail. Keep the rest live. Click any block and its settings open on the right. Every box shows your race's current details. Type over one to change it in this email only. It shows Changed, with a Reset link, and everything you left alone keeps updating. Nothing you change in an email changes your race. Pick a look, then change only what this email needs. ### 17 templates, written for races Click Templates and pick the email you need, grouped by when you'd send it: - **Get registered:** Registration is open, Price going up, Last call, Save the date, The course is set. - **Before race day:** One month to go, Race week guide, Packet pickup, The night before. - **After the race:** Thank you + results, Thank our sponsors. - **Volunteers, fundraising and anytime:** Volunteers wanted, Volunteer briefing, Help us reach our goal, Heads up: a change, Announcement. Each one fits itself to your race when you load it, and fills in the subject line and preview text. Where a line tells you what to write, like "Say in two sentences why this race is worth running", you type your own words. Forget one, and the send screen points it out. Templates grouped by when you'd send them. ### Save it once. Use it every year. Built an email you love? Save it as your own template. It follows you to every race you direct. Load it on another race and the name, date, icon, sponsors and links all switch to that race. The only thing left to update is the words you typed yourself. Need just one piece again? Select any section and click Save as block. Your packet pickup details, your sponsor thank-you, your "how to find us" box: they wait in My blocks, ready for any email at any race. The Run This blocks inside them stay live. My blocks: your own pieces, ready for the next email. ### Send it to the right people Pick who gets it: this year's runners, past runners, volunteers or one volunteer group, people who bookmarked your race, or one distance. Then leave people out, like everyone who already signed up this year. A live count tells you exactly how many people the email will reach. Race-week details go out as essential info, so they reach every runner. Promotions skip anyone who unsubscribed and carry an unsubscribe link. For essential emails, one switch also sends it to anyone who registers later, right up to the start. Past runners, minus anyone already registered this year. ### Check it before it goes Click the eye to see the email exactly as it sends, on a computer and a phone side by side, and how it looks in an inbox list. Send yourself a test, and send one to your co-directors with a click. Review and send never sends in one click. It shows the subject and the exact number of people first. Send now or schedule it. Put your race's name in the From line and your own address in Reply-to, so replies come straight to you. Each sent email shows deliveries, opens and clicks. Desktop and phone, side by side, before you send. ### The one email you never write When someone starts registering and doesn't finish, Run This emails them a reminder with a button back to checkout. It's on by default. Pick how many days later it goes out and at what time, or build your own version of it in the same builder. ### Send your first email in five minutes - Open your race's dashboard and click **Emails** in the sidebar. - Click **Create new email**. - Click **Templates** and pick one, like Registration is open. - Replace the lines that tell you what to write with your own words. - Click the eye to preview it, then **Test** to send yourself a copy. - Click **Review & send**, pick your recipients, and send it now or schedule it. The builder runs on the website. In the Run This app, you can write a simple email to your runners, past runners, bookmarkers or volunteers, and send or schedule it. ### Five emails to schedule today - **Registration is open,** to past runners, minus anyone already registered. - **Price going up,** a few days before your next price change. The countdown does the urgency. - **Race week guide,** with the schedule, directions and packet pickup, all live. - **The night before,** to every runner, as essential info. - **Thank you + results,** the day after, with your results, plus race photos once they're up. ### Ready? Open your [race dashboard](https://runthis.run/director/events) and click Emails. The full guide is in the [help center](https://runthis.run/help/directors/emails). Want to bring last year's runners back? Read [The Run This CRM](https://runthis.run/articles/the-run-this-crm-know-every-runner-every-year). New to Run This? [Create your race](https://runthis.run/create-event), or [book a walkthrough](https://runthis.run/demo). Something you wish it did? [Tell me](https://runthis.run/contact). I read every one. --- Source: [https://runthis.run/articles/the-email-builder-for-race-directors](https://runthis.run/articles/the-email-builder-for-race-directors) — data from Run This (runthis.run).