RRCA Insurance

The RRCA insurance program is one of the major benefits membership.

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We believe that insurance is essential for the operations of clubs and events and should never be an afterthought in the planning process. If a claim arises from a club or event activity, defending the claim can generate extraordinary legal expenses. The RRCA’s general liability insurance program covers the cost of litigation as well as any related settlement costs. We do not provide “insurance quotes.” Fees are outlined in our membership section, and the rates are non-negotiable. You must join the RRCA to utilize the insurance program. RRCA member organizations MUST carry general liability insurance. RRCA nonprofit clubs and events must carry D&O insurance. Members who choose not to participate in the RRCA insurance program must furnish a copy of their Certificate of Insurance (COI) from another insurer showing similar coverage. RRCA Certified Coaches seeking liability insurance coverage should visit the For Certified Coaches Only section. Waiting until the last minute to insure events (less than 14-days) is STRONGLY discouraged.

General Liability Insurance Details

Risk Management Guidelines

All events insured by the RRCA are expected to follow our Safe Events Guidelines. Risk management is one of the primary responsibilities of a race director or club leader. It is a shared responsibility of race directors to ensure they are doing everything possible to deliver a safe, well-planned event for their participants.

The RRCA insurance program is a group policy and poor planning by one can affect the program for all.

The RRCA also expects all race directors to follow our Race Director Code of Ethics in the conduct of their events.

While activities including animals, adaptive devices (wheel chairs, push-chairs, etc.), and strollers are not excluded from the insurance policy, additional policies and procedures should have been put in place to minimize the risks associated with their inclusion, especially if pet dogs are allowed.

Bicycles may only be included in events as official vehicles for leading the front of the race, as on course medical and general course support, and as a back-of-the-pack vehicle to monitor final finishers. Other participants beyond official race personnel on bicycles or scooters at events are prohibited.

Note about the use of headphones, strollers, and dogs. The RRCA has a written guideline against the use of personal music devices in running events and group training runs. Race directors and group run should strongly discourage the use of headphones, strollers and pets in races and group runs.

As part of the annual renewal process, RRCA members are required to review the RRCA’s:

Safe Event Guidelines,
Safe Group Run Guidelines,
Race Director Code of Ethics, and
Music Licensing Information and attest to having read this information. As part of the insurance program,
ALL RRCA member clubs are required to obtain waivers from their members, event participants, and club guests.

General Liability Insurance Coverage Details

The RRCA offers a tiered liability insurance program that provides:

$1 million per occurrence policy with a $5 million aggregate limit per event hosted by a member club, event, or event management company (our standard policy), or
$2 million per occurrence policy with a $5 million aggregate limit per event hosted by a member club, event, or event management company limit
Visit the Membership section for detailed rate information for:
- Clubs
- Events & Event Management Companies

We recommend members select the $1 million per occurrence liability option if they are not required by their local government to insure their activities for $2 million or more.

If an event needs additional coverage per incident above $2 million, Insurance Management Group can provide this coverage for $1,500 per additional million requested. Email Margaret at [email protected].

For all three membership classes, general liability insurance coverage includes:

Occasionally, a municipality, property owner, or a sponsors requests to become an additional insured under an existing insurance policy. These “additional insured certificates” are provided at no additional costs by submitting a request to the Insurance Management Group (IMG). IMG will contact you if the additional party cannot be covered, as some exclusions may apply. Learn more >>

Timing companies, police departments, and others contractors cannot be named as additional insured parties. They should provide proof of their own general liability insurance.

Event Management Companies who own more than one event annually may request additional insured certificates, but they must pay the liability premium for each event before making the request for additional insured certificates.

RRCA insurance is non-transferable!

RRCA clubs and event management companies that assist other organizations with events may NOT extend insurance coverage to these organizations.

If the club or race director does not own the race or manage all aspects of the event, it is not an insured event of the club or race directing company. In this case, the organization receiving the assistance must join the RRCA as an event member to obtain insurance for their event.

Race directing companies may insure an event through the RRCA if they OWN the race and direct all aspects of the race. If the race directing company is assisting another organization with timing or finish line services, this event is not owned by the race directing company and not insured.

Transferring or selling of the RRCA insurance by clubs or race directing companies to other events is FRAUD.

For more information read see “Covered Activities”

Directors & Officers Insurance Coverage Details

For Nonprofit Organizations Only – Premium $200

Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance extends a safety net beyond the classic tort, or negligence situation, which might generate a claim against a member organization. Our comprehensive general liability policy offers insurance for an “occurrence” which is generally defined as an act or omission, which gives rise to liability in the area of “torts”. A classic illustration of this type of occurrence is a negligence action resulting in personal injury. D&O coverage will protect the officers and directors of nonprofit clubs and events from certain situations where the member might find itself subjected to a claim as a result of an error in judgment or challenged matter of policy. Some specific illustrations of errors and omissions occurrences are as follows:

A claim of discrimination against a club as a result if barring a runner from participating in an event (e.g. male runner files a suit when barred from a women’s only race).
A violation of someone’s constitutional rights as a result of policy or procedure taken by a member club.
An occurrence of age or disability discrimination.
A decision by a race director to cancel a race (inclement weather), which results in a monetary loss to a runner.

The RRCA believes that the additional insurance coverage afforded by D&O coverage is very necessary in a day and age when some clubs have already found themselves and their officers subjected to allegations of discrimination, defamation, and sexual harassment as a result of policies and procedure. Even if the claim is a questionable one, to have to defend a tenuous claim in court can generate extraordinary legal expense. Nonprofit RRCA members are required to carry D&O Insurance. If a member holds a D&O policy with another insurance provider, this fee can be refunded by providing a copy of the insurance certificate to the RRCA. D&O insurance does not extend to for-profit business entities, LLCs, or sole proprietor entities that own and direct races or training programs. Individuals that own races and direct races for a profit are highly encouraged to obtain their own business liability insurance to ensure that their business activities are covered.

Covered Activities UNDER GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

RRCA general liability insurance covers for the activities conducted by each membership class:

For events and event management companies, review the the membership section along with the Insurance Program FAQs to understand coverage for event members. For clubs that own events and conduct training programs, group runs, etc., review below to understand covered activities.

For all membership categories the following items are covered:

The policy protects its members against claims arising from incidents, accidents, or random acts of violence that occur and affect participants resulting in a claim being filed against a member organization.
The policy does protect the RRCA and its members against spectator claims as long as the claim does not involve an excluded condition (see below). If a spectator is injured, the accident medical coverage may cover for a claim.
Volunteers working on behalf of the RRCA member are included. For example, if a volunteer is named in a liability suit while working a member race, the insurance would protect the volunteer. If a volunteer is injured, the accident medical coverage may cover for a claim.
Covered events include traditional road races, trail/ultra runs that do not contain man-made obstacles, cross country events following IAAF/USATF course guidelines, and track events that exclude jumps and throwing events (steeple events are excluded). Traditional road races that include runners in costume or events that throw/launch Holi powder (colored powder) are included. Soap or bubble runs that create a man-made slippery course are excluded. Review the exclusions below to learn about event formats that are excluded. If in doubt about a wacky event format, ask before insuring the event with RRCA, email [email protected]

Covered activities for a running clubs include:

Training programs that meet multiple times per week during the year,
Youth running programs that comply with the SafeSport Act,
Walking programs,
Club-organized group runs, track workouts (running only), social activities, meetings, banquets, community volunteering,
Fun runs, low-key club races, all the way up to large road and trail races.

A “club” with a small membership (10-25 people) and no training programs or weekly group runs claiming to organize a road race in excess of 5,000 people must review their organization structure with the RRCA. The RRCA reserves the right to dictate membership classification, and clubs found to be event management companies will be classified as such and must pay the dues and insurance fees according to that membership category.

Understanding “Club-Owned” Events

Club-owned events are covered through the general liability insurance policy so long as the club has oversight over all aspects of the event. Below are questions to determine if a race is club-owned. If you answer “yes” to most of the questions, it is a club-owned race.

Does the club name appear in the race name? i.e. “Road Runners Club 5K for Heart Health”
Does the club designated a volunteer or paid race director for the event that reports directly to the club’s board of directors?
Does the club’s board have final oversight of the event and hold discussions about its status at board meetings?
Is the race referred to in club minutes as a club-owned race?
Is the club, or its duly authorized race director, involved at each planning stage of the race including obtaining a permit, maintaining a certificate of insurance on file, safety planning, and risk management?
Does the club train and supervise, or hire a race director to train and supervise, the volunteers on the course, at the aid stations, and at the start and finish of the race?
Do the registration and sponsorship funds run through the club’s bank account or event specific account under the control of the club board?
Could another organization assisting with the event be named in a lawsuit as the responsible party arising from an incident occurring at the event? (If yes, consult with the RRCA)
If another party, not considered a sponsor, elected not to assist with the organization of the event, would the club still operate the event? If the answer is “no,” the event is most likely NOT a club-owned event.

If you answer “no” to most of the questions, it is not a club-owned event. The actual event owner should become an RRCA member to properly insure the race.

If your club is hired by a third-party to conduct an event on behalf of another organization, it is NOT a club-owned. The third-party should show proof of insurance from either RRCA,USATF or another insurer.

Clubs that engage in event management services should review the information on the Certified Race Director Insurance Program page. Clubs that report non-owned races for the purposes of insurance coverage will come under the RRCA’s Member Accountability Process.

EXCLUDED Activities Under General Liability Insurance

The RRCA group liability policy does not include high risk events that include:

Overnight relay races run on open roads with no police support, no road closures, or separate lanes for participants. Overnight relay races held on trails ARE included in coverage.
High risk events commonly referred to as mud-runs, “warrior dashes”, urbanathons, MOB (mud, obstacle, beer) that include man-made obstacles such as, man-made mud pits, man-made slippery slopes, wall climbs, tunnel crawls, or other similar man-made obstacles.
Events run on man-made trails or cross country courses that do not include man-made obstacles ARE included in coverage, but the course cannot be altered to create man-made obstacles such as watering-down a dry trail or cross country course with a hose to make it muddy. Snowshoe races ARE included but skiing and snowboard races are NOT included.
As the use of drones to take aerial videos for marketing purposes increases, the RRCA’s position on drone use at events, per our insurance underwriter, is that events should not allow them to be flown by volunteer operators.
Amusement devices such as moonbounces or bounce houses, dunk tanks, and pools are excluded from the policy.
Multisport training programs and events (triathlons, biathlons, etc.) are excluded.
Fireworks, terrorism, fungi or bacteria, pollution and asbestos are excluded.

The RRCA reserves the right to deny access to the insurance program for activities it deems beyond the scope of the covered activities of policy, which is designed to covers for risks associated with traditional road races, trail/ultra runs with no man-made alterations, and cross country events. Each member should review and understand the details of the general liability program prior to obtaining coverage.

Special note about the use of headphones, strollers, and dogs

The RRCA understands that discouraging or banning these items in a race can be a challenge for race directors.

Because of this, the use of headphones, strollers and dogs is not excluded from the insurance policy. This means that if a race director bans the use of headphones or strollers during a race, and a participant uses headphones or a stroller anyway, and is involved in an accident, the insurance policy will cover the cost of litigation defense and any potential settlement arising from a claim.

While the insurance policy does not exclude headphones, and the RRCA does not have an outright ban on their use during races, RRCA members taking advantage of the group general liability and Directors & Officers insurance benefit may not actively promote that headphones are welcome at RRCA insured events.

Optional Insurance Details

Volunteer Medical Liability Insurance

$250 for the $1 million policy $300 for the $2 million policy Coverage for volunteer medical personnel can be added by members covered under the RRCA’s general liability insurance program using our clearly-stated, flat-rate fee. The Volunteer Medical Personnel Endorsement covers emergency first aid and/or on-course medical treatment by properly licensed medical personnel working on a voluntary basis. Paid medical staff are not covered under this endorsement. Medical volunteers who provide service at running events typically have professional liability coverage already in place to protect themselves against malpractice claims. The RRCA Volunteer Medical Personnel Endorsement is considered insurance over and above any other insurance held by the medical professional. It does, however, provide coverage when a professional liability policy does not extend coverage to emergency medical professionals volunteering at events held outside of a workplace facility. Coverage limits for medical volunteers are the same as the RRCA’s General Liability policy, either $1 million or $2 million per occurrence in coverage. The cost of this optional endorsement is either $250 if you insure your organization with the $1 million liability policy or $300 if you insure your organization with the $2 million liability policy. For clubs electing this coverage, it covers for all activities during the course of the membership term. For an event member, the policy covers for the event. For event management companies, the policy and fee covers for all events reported during the course of the year; meaning you pay one annual fee for this coverage and not per event.

Operations Insurance

Premium – $750*

The insurance program also offers the optional Operations Package, which provides for basic business type insurance coverage for your club or event management companies. This insurance covers for items such as timing clocks, club or event owned computers, etc. It also helps cover clubs in the event that a volunteer or employee embezzles funds from the club or event through theft, forgery, or alterations of documents. Clubs and events MUST have documented evidence that RRCA recommended financial policies and procedures are in place in advance of a claim.

$25,000 business income loss
$5,000 miscellaneous equipment coverage (in-land marine policy for off-site/out of office equipment)
$75,000 business personal property coverage (in-office equipment and property)
$10,000 hardware/software coverage
$25,000 employee/volunteer dishonesty coverage – must have RRCA recommended financial policies and procedures in place for your club or event management company.
$25,000 forgery and alterations
$10,000 theft, disappearance, and destruction

*Exclusions include wind, hail, earthquake, and flooding as a peril. To include coverage for these perils, contact Star Insurance for a quote.

Cyber Liability Insurance

Premium – $270*

Running clubs and events continue to expand their use of technology. Whether it is posting pictures and information through social media, electronic signatures, dates of birth, and other personally identifiable information, or utilization of third-party vendors for race registration and other data resources, it is vitally important that your organization take proactive steps to protect itself when there is a cyber breach or a cybercrime that affects your Board of Directors, your members, and participants. The RRCA has partnered with Insurance Management Group to offer our members a comprehensive and affordable layer of protection against Ransomware, phishing scams, and other cybercrimes that now affect over 50% of organizations nationwide:

Know the Facts:

$36,295 was the average cost of a Ransomware payment in 2019
Hacked cardholder data was available via the Dark Web for 127 days
52% of organizations were breached through remote access
There was a 300% increase in identity fraud from 2018 – 2019
Your organization is obligated to notify any customer that their information has been potentially exposed or breached, even if that breach occurred by your race registration company which you contracted with.

The limit of coverage provided is $250,000 with a $1,500 deductible.

When electing this coverage with your RRCA membership, you will be required to answer the following questions*:

Please provide your prior fiscal year end (FYE) revenue (i.e., your previous year’s total revenue). Please round up to the nearest dollar. (RRCA note: This information is required by the underwriters of the this policy as a condition of coverage.)
Do “You”, or an outsourced firm, back up your data and systems at least once a week, and store these backups in an offsite location?
Do “You” have anti-virus software and firewalls in place that are regularly updated (at least quarterly)?
After inquiry of the “Control Group”, as defined, are “You” aware of any or have any grounds for suspecting any circumstances which might give rise to a claim? (RRCA note: “Control Group” means the board of director members, executive officers, Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer, Risk Manager and General Counsel or their functional equivalents of “Your Organization”. This does not include any administrative staff who work in the offices of these named positions.)
Within the last 5 years, has “Your Organization” suffered any system intrusions, tampering, virus or malicious code attacks, loss of data, loss of portable media, hacking incidents, extortion attempts, or data theft, resulting in a claim in excess of $25,000 that would be covered by this insurance?

* With respect to the information required to be disclosed in response to the questions above (and in the membership system), the proposed insurance will not afford coverage for any claim arising from any fact, circumstance, situation, event or act about which any member of the “Control Group” of the “Applicant” had knowledge prior to the issuance of the proposed policy, nor for any person or entity who knew of such fact, circumstance, situation, event or act prior to the issuance of the proposed policy.

Equipment Insurance

RRCA offers equipment coverage through National Casualty Company at the rate of $2.55 per $100.00 of equipment replacement value. The policy is effective from the date the check is received through 12/31/2021.

The Equipment must be insured to 100% of value. Coverage only applies to clubs who have paid a premium and have been endorsed to the policy. Minimum premium for coverage is $100.00. A $500.00 deductible applies to each loss. This coverage is for direct loss or damage to equipment due to fire, theft, vandalism or other covered causes excluding earthquake and flood (subject to the actual policy terms and conditions).

Download the RRCA Equipment Application to be completed should you desire to obtain or renew coverage on your equipment. Please forward the completed application with your check made payable to Insurance Management Group.

Mail to: Insurance Management Group Attn: Margaret Mayers

12730 Coldwater Road, Suite 103, Fort Wayne, IN 46845 (260) 338-2434

Insurance FAQs

You have more questions, we have the answers!

Request Additional Insured Certificate

RRCA members can add additional insured (AI) at no additional cost.

Incident Reporting

From time to time incidents do happen at races and group training runs.