In April 2026 we organized the One Earth One Heart 5K, a free run from Mysuru Palace at 6 AM. 877 people registered. Here's how we set it up, and what we'd do the same way again.
Free still needs a ticket
Without a registration you don't know how many bibs to print, how many T-shirts to order, or who's allowed on the course. We sold a single free Entry ticket so every runner had a booking and a QR code.
Put limits on free
Free removes the natural brake on sign-ups. We capped the run at 2,500 places and 2 tickets per account, so one person couldn't register a whole group they weren't bringing.
Say who gets the giveaway, on the page
Only the first 500 registrations got a free T-shirt, and the event page said so. Stating it up front meant the T-shirt counter on the day was a scan, not a negotiation.
Tell people how collection works before the day
The event page told runners that bib and T-shirt collection details would arrive by SMS and WhatsApp three days before the run. It set expectations before anyone arrived, instead of at the gate.
Give every hand-off its own scan point
We set up three: Entry for bibs, T-shirt for the giveaway and Marathon Main Checkin at the start line. Each had its own count, so we could see each stage separately instead of one blurred total.
Close the loop with photos
The day's photos went up as a public gallery on Ticgetz Events. It gives runners something to share, and gives next year's run a page to point to.
