Can Des and Kara Save the 10,000?
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, foster moms, fur moms and doting aunts out there. The world can’t run without your love. I just ran the Jane’s Mile earlier this morning and will be writing about a fun race experience in the next issue. Today, I’m happy to bring a race recap and reflection from last Saturday’s Save the 10,000 with Des and Kara.
Can Des and Kara Save the 10,000?
What a better way to spend a Saturday evening than to sit on a wet seat at Mt. Sac’s beautiful stadium, shivering while watching a 10,000 race in light rain?
Born out of a desire to save the 10,000 race, Des Linden and Kara Goucher hosted the inaugural Save the 10,000 on Saturday, May 3rd. Going in as a spectator, I didn’t know what to expect. I loved watching the Sound Running series at Mt. Sac, and spectating my high school son’s cross-country races across the Poop-Out Hill. I also enjoy a nice bathroom break during the 2-mile race during my son’s track and field season. Come to think of it, I never sat down fully to watch a 10k on the track, except for the Olympics.
“An Event for the Athletes”
Linden and Goucher acknowledged that the timing wasn’t the best for their 10k, as it didn’t fit into many athletes’ schedules. Originally planned for 30 men and 30 women, the race had 13 men and 11 women (including pacers). It was the perfect racing weather, with a temperature in the high 50s, little wind and a light drizzle.
There were comments about how the men’s race was a snoozefest on Let’s Run, but not when you were there in person. Cael Grotenhuis from Northern Arizona University took the lead early on and won the race with a time of 28:24. It was an effortless win, with a 25-second lead over the second-place finisher, Arturs Medveds. Maraton Track Mexico’s Jorge Cruz came in third, finishing in 29:07. While spectating, my friend Tamar Knoller looked up one of the runners, Brendan Fraser, whose Instagram profile says revenue accountant, and decided she was going to root for him. Every lap, we heard loud cheers of “let’s go, Brendan!” Sure, it wasn’t Grant Fisher or Nico Young, but I chuckled at the joyful applauds Brendan Fraser received every single lap.
On the women’s side, Lara Galván and Mica Rivera Wood were noticeably missing on the start line, but that didn’t dampen fans’ enthusiasm for a great race. (Per Fast Women, “two of the headliners for the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Lemlem Hailu and Asayech Ayichew, were late scratches.”) Jessica Warner-Judd of HOKA took the lead early on, but had an epileptic episode and dropped out of the race. Katie Izzo with Adidas led the second half of the race until Cailie Logue Hughes caught up in the last 600m. Hughes ended up winning in 32:21, with Izzo getting second place in 32:30. The last-place finisher always has a special place in my heart: Tracee Zarazua finished in 35:22, and perhaps got the loudest cheer of the whole night.
As a Category B event for World Championships, this race offered “a rare chance to chase qualifying standards for the 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships and the 2025 World Athletics Championships.” Even though no athlete hit the automatic standard for the World Championship, it certainly helped them sharpen and prepare for their next race. Hughes was contemplating breaking 31:30 in her post-race interview, possibly at the Pre Classic in July. “Just because we’re not going to have people that rip a world standard, we want to see everybody rip the best that they can,” says Goucher in her podcast. I also love the idea that this race was put on with a goal to create opportunities for no-big-name type of athletes. “If you’re not a top name runner, you’re probably a struggling athlete. You’re working a job and trying to train on the side… If you show up, you get fourth place money… Stuff like this is really helping the sport more than giving an elite name a little extra money to show up,” says Trevor Rhodes, the race director.
Flawless Execution
Trevor Rhodes, the race director, was the force behind this incredible race. “It was a three-person team,” says Goucher. From figuring out drug testing and appearance packages, to bringing in pacers and pace lights and getting the race certified, staging this event is a herculean effort. On race day, everything went as planned: the live stream was perfect. Race comments from Linden, Goucher, Trey Hardee and Clayton Young added excitement. They told athletes’ stories very well. Pace lights worked well. Men’s and women’s races started on time. Podcast session was packed with passionate fans wearing “Nobody Asked Us” hoodies. (Someone even flew in from DC to attend!) The only thing I wished for was a few microphones in the podcast room to hear better. The fabulous three-person team also had fun with the race sponsors, inviting the CFO of BioBrace to speak, naming the men’s race the Old Spice race and the women’s race the Secret race. (Great work, P&G, always!) Brooks did a great job broadcasting the race and post-race interviews.
The Reflection
As a consumer insights and analytics professional, I think of events in a competitive positioning context: what is the unique value proposition? How is your product different? Who are you marketing to?
Save the 10,000 wasn’t clear with its competitive positioning. Born out of an idea to save an event, the meet is in an awkward place of a stand-alone one-event track meet. It lacks the grandeur of Grand Slam Track, and the glamour of the Athlos Track Meet. I surely love Goucher’s breakout performance at the World Championships in 2007 in Osaka, which forever changed her career, and I can watch Billy Mills’ 10,000m win at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics over and over again, but I’m not sure if and how the event can capture a large audience beyond hard-core track fans and fans of the Nobody Asked Us podcast.
However, it’s worth mentioning that 1800 people signed up for the virtual race, which was part of the fundraising. “Fundraising went better than expected,” says Rhodes. The fans were also elated. Liz Guerrini, a master’s runner with Cal Coast Track Club, said, “I enjoyed both the men’s and women’s races… They went by fast and it was very exciting. Hope for a repeat next year… but maybe including a master’s event?” Elizabeth Ben-Ishai, a runner with Poppy Athletic Club, said, “It was fun to be in the small but mighty crowd. You could tell that everyone there wanted the athletes to succeed. Despite the rainy weather, it was a great experience and I hope they do it again next year.”
If the 10,000 can be saved at all, it surely would be done by Des, Kara and Trevor.