Just as every race is unique, so, too, are DMSE's responsibilities with each event. Below is a sampling of our involvement
Responsible for all technical and logistical aspects of the oldest and most prestigious marathon in the world, Dave McGillivray as race director and his team at DMSE Sports oversee an Organizing Committee of more than 75 experts, consultants and vendors to make the marathon a reality. In addition to managing the race, McGillivray runs the entire marathon course in the evening on race day, once his duties as race director are completed.
Founded by Olympic Gold Medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson in 1998, the TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race, held in Samuelson’s hometown of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, has become one of the top 10K road races in the U.S. Samuelson retained McGillivray and his team to serve as the event’s Race Director and has since called McGillivray "the most organized and gifted race director in the world." Elite runners from all over the world, as well as top runners from New England and across the U.S., make the race in high demand, with the online registration portion of the race filling in 10 minutes.
DMSE Sports has been able to create and build this race from the ground up, launching the inaugural race in 2009 with more than 3,000 registered runners. The 10K starts at Patriot Place and winds through historic Foxborough before ending at the 50-yard line in Gillette Stadium as friends and family watch from the stands. The race features a giant inflated helmet at the finish line and runners can see themselves on the huge jumbo screen at Gillette – any football fan’s dream.
One of Children’s Hospital Boston’s biggest fund raisers, DMSE worked with Children’s Hospital Trust to start the Eversource Walk for Children’s Hospital Boston. Raising over $15 million, the event is entering it’s 14th year. DMSE has managed all aspects of the walk from the Start/Finish line to the course, the food program to the permitting.
The Bellin Run, a 10K held annually in Green Bay, Wisc. since 1977, is one of the DMSE’s premier sporting events and has grown to be one of the largest 10K races in the nation. Running greats like Bill Rodgers, Joan Samuelson, Bruce Bickford, Ed Eyestone, Joseph Kimani, Uta Pippig, Tegla Loroupe and other elite athletes and Olympians make the Bellin Run one of DMSE’s most prestigious runs.
After the 50th running of the event, DMSE Sports took over management of this race in 2011, bringing their expertise to the event without losing site of what the Mt. Washington Road Race truly is or means – a New England race for locals and top runners alike. It is truly a unique event to manage with only one way to get everyone to the top of the highest peak in New England and back down again.
The Feaster Five is one of New England’s largest, most festive road races with 10,000 runners on the morning of Thanksgiving Day – and each finisher is given a free old-fashioned apple pie. The family-oriented race was founded by the Merrimack Valley Striders in 1986 to encourage running at all levels – from beginners to seasoned marathoners to members who run to improve their health. Now a major event on most running calendars, the Feaster Five also features running legends Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit Samuelson and Team Hoyt.
DMSE Sport's involvement in the New Balance Falmouth Road Race began in 2012, the race's 40th year. One of the best and biggest road races in New England, the Falmouth race features elite athletes running alongside local residents on a beautiful 7-mile course on Cape Cod. It was first held on a Wednesday because that was founder Tommy Leonard's birthday and, according to race organizers, the course was set at 7 miles because that was the distance from Captain Kidd's to Tommy's workplace.
In 1988, DMSE Sports helped The Jimmy Fund create the Jimmy Fund Walk, which has emerged as the nation’s largest single-day fundraising walk. Participants walk the entire Boston Marathon route (or three other distances along the route if they prefer), in memory of, in solidarity with, or in honor of loved ones who have had their own battles with cancer. Millions of dollars are raised each year for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
DMSE Sports created and built this race from inception, launching the inaugural race in 2009 with more. The 9K and 5K start on Jersey Street, outside of Gate D at Fenway Park, running over the Massachusetts Avenue bridge and along the Charles River before returning to the park. Participants finish on the warning track inside Fenway and cross home plate, with friends and family looking on from the stands.