A couple of episodes back, we looked at event liability insurance: why it’s important that your race is covered by a robust liability insurance policy, the circumstances under which a liability policy would kick in, and what happens when it does.

But there was a significant part of that discussion we only briefly touched on in that episode, and that was the importance of supporting your liability protection with the use of a liability waiver.

So, what is a liability waiver? What needs to be in it? And how does a waiver protect you, the organizer, should a participant or volunteer decide to pursue legal action against you?

That’s what we’re discussing today with my guest, industry veteran Laurel Park. Laurel is not only an experienced academic researcher in data analysis and survey design, but also an incredibly active member of our industry, having served as the President of the Ann Arbor Track Club and a long-time contributor to Road Race Management. 

During her work, Laurel has developed a keen interest and expertise in liability waivers for races and with her help we’ll take a look at what waivers can and cannot protect you against, the different aspects involved in drafting a solid liability waiver, and how waivers work alongside your liability insurance policy to deter and defend against frivolous litigation directed against you and your company.

In this episode:

• Waivers: your first line of defense
• Waivers in contract law 
• Participant waivers vs volunteer waivers
• Understanding and laying out your event's "inherent risks"
• Waivers for minors and kids runs
• The legal enforceability (or un-enforceability) of waivers
• Ordinary negligence vs gross negligence
• Waivers and insurance: one or the other, or both?
• Using waivers to support insurance claims
• Are online waiver signatures as good as paper waiver signatures?
• The pros and cons of using waiver templates

Many thanks to our podcast sponsors, RunSignup and Brooksee, for supporting our efforts to provide great, free content to the race director community:

RunSignup are the leading all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events. More than 28,000 events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. Find out more at https://runsignup.com/.

Brooksee are the timing technology industry-leader, bringing affordable real-time tracking and timing checkpoints to races with their patented iPhone-sized micro checkpoints. Find out more and get 50% off your timing for your next event at https://www.brooksee.com/headstart.

You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.

You can also share your questions about liability waivers or anything else in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/racedirectorshq/