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Running races now a livelihood

For Al and Wendy Johnson, organizing, promoting and putting on running events is as satisfying as actually participating in them the way they used to.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published September 17, 2006

For some people, competing in road races isn't enough: they have to organize them too.

"We'd be bored if we didn't have this," said Wendy Johnson, half of Motion Sports Management, a St. Pete Beach company that is making waves in the running world and seeking to put the Tampa Bay region on the running map. "Who'd want to be in their 40s with nothing to do?"

"Speak for yourself," said Al Johnson, the other half, who sets up all the logistical pre-race dominoes so an event like their St. Pete Beach Classic or the Bay to Bay can appear to run itself.

The couple met while running, later married and started volunteering to help with other races. Nearly three years ago they took the plunge, quitting their day jobs to organize races. Their previous careers allowed them the financial freedom to pursue a path with rewards other than cash.

"Don't get in the race management business to make a fortune," said Al, 57, who retired from General Electric after 35 years working in Tampa and his native Boston.

"It was easier when we both had six-figure incomes," said Wendy, 46, an Alabama transplant who left high-tech sales to run races. "We bought stuff, but what we do now makes a difference."

MSM has organized about a dozen events and helped with others, but they are focusing on a specific niche: serious running events that also benefit host communities. They've even taken on a race in North Carolina, where they have a vacation home, but are limiting their attention to where it can do the most good.

"We do competitive running events that are owned by charitable organizations," Wendy said. And while that can make them popular, they've turned down offers to take on more races. "We want to grow the events we have."

On the beach, the Classic benefits the St. Petersburg Free Clinic and a city scholarship fund. Bay to Bay helps the Police Athletic League and the YMCA. Both races also subsidize a running program for underprivileged youth. In North Carolina, the beneficiary is a school program and animal rescue.

"You ask a lot of a community when you put on an event," said Wendy, who runs the marketing and sponsorship front end of the business. "You want to be able to give something back."

MSM is also creating a reputation for reviving races. They started the Classic in 2004 and resuscitated Bay to Bay, which had a 23-year history but was dormant for eight years. Last month they took the once-celebrated 28-year-old Maggie Valley Moonlight Race in North Carolina and raised its numbers from 380 participants in 2005 back to nearly 1,000.

Al, who used to run the Boston Marathon before an injury ended his career, said he likes preserving tradition. Long-running events can make a name for a community, if they are run well, he said.

The couple said the Classic might be one of those, but could only approach 3,000 runners, double its beginning, before having to simply refine and become more elite.

Bay to Bay, however, has the venue to be a marquee event, with a potential of drawing 15,000 participants. They said they are getting calls from major sponsors interested in the region's attractive demographics. They hope to pair the race with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

In an ideal situation, corporate sponsors pay for the event so runners' fees can go to the benefiting charity, Wendy said. The better their events and the more well-known the area becomes, the greater the chances of drawing top-flight competitors, television and the advertising that follows.

"One of these days," Al said, "we're going to be writing some pretty big checks to charities."

Paul Swider can be reached at 892-2271 or pswider@sptimes.com or by participating in itsyourtimes.com.

[Last modified September 16, 2006, 20:21:22]