…at your event
Many local and regional road races, cross-country meets, trail races, and track meets often scramble to bring in an announcer to do various speaking duties including:
- House announcing (housekeeping, public service announcement, entertainment)
- Play-by-play race calling
- Colour commentating (assisting play by play with observation and knowledge)
- Master of Ceremonies/hosting
- Music entertainment
- General entertainment
Announcers
Paul O’Callaghan’s profile
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Paul O’Callaghan is a six-time World Cross Country Championships competitor. He ran internationally for Ireland for two decades. Paul is an experienced and competitive masters road cyclist, duathlete, and triathlete. His experience in competition as well as announcing makes him a valuable hire for any event.
Christopher Kelsall’s profile
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Race director of nearly 40 events in track, cross-country, and on the roads. Volunteered on the Royal Victoria Marathon organizing committee, TC10K, and several other race events. He has spent countless hours volunteering, announcing, coaching, video and photo shooting, and public speaking.

Small to medium-sized events
Many small to medium-sized events are put together by a few very hard-working volunteers who do much of the heavy lifting. Often each volunteer wears several hats. It is not unusual to have the race director double as the announcer.
Many athlete-volunteers make solid announcers because they have the practical experience of training and racing and likely know who the athletes are. However, taking on the task in an ad-hoc fashion, on occasion means that the volunteer may not be as well prepared as they would like to be. Keep in mind, announcing is captured by video or audio recording equipment permanently. So, it better be good, right?
If you are managing an event that needs colour or race-specific entertainment, consider Athletics Illustrated Paul O’Callaghan or Christopher Kelsall.
“I have called approximately 30 races and have provided announcing in various other events that are too many to count. It’s a joy to do, however, it takes time and energy to be well prepared, something a race director doesn’t necessarily have the capacity to do well — they are too busy being a race director.”
– CK.
Book the voice and the entertainment for your running event:
e-mail: info@athleticsillustrated.com or call 250-857-6643.