Have you ever heard the expression “The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner”? Other than the name of a book and a movie, I have no clue what they are talking about. Long distance running has shown to be one of the best opportunities to meet people that I have had in years.
Long distance running is the Marathon run, 42 kilometers around the world and 26 miles in the United States. A middle aged guy (like me) will dream about running it 3 ½ hours and should be able to do it in about 5 ¾ hours. When you think about running long distances, images of sweaty shirts and shorts, huffing and puffing and some cursing probably come to mind. And when you visualize networking, it’s about business attire and acting suave and debonair. I imagine you are having trouble rationalizing these two images and maybe think Zale is desperate for an article this month. Marathon running is an exciting hobby with events all over the world with over a million participants and fifty million more cheering them on. The most famous North American events are The Boston Marathon and The New York Marathon. My exotic goal run is The Great Wall Marathon.
Locally, in Toronto, we have 3 Major Marathons, The Toronto Marathon, The ScotiaBank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and The Mississauga Marathon. This doesn’t even touch the numerous smaller events such as the Sporting Life 10Km Run, The CIBC Run for the Cure, and the Angus Glen Half Marathon.
So where is the networking in all of this?
Let’s start by introducing you to my friend Mike Collins of the Toronto Marathon. Mike is a business graduate who has worked in finance, retail, and other business stuff. When Mike first discovered the Toronto Marathon, he was a smoker and was volunteering for The Heart and Stroke Foundation. When Mike innocently asked for financial support for Heart and Stroke, the fellow said yes and countered by asking Mike to help out in at a Marathon water station. By the end of his first Marathon, Mike was driving the cube van and involved in all sorts of logistics. Mike volunteered for several years, stopped smoking, started running 5K events and now works full time with The Toronto Marathon. One of his key roles? Mike is the coordinator for the volunteers before and during the race weekend.
Volunteering is the huge networking opportunity in a Marathon. While marathon runners come from every walk of life, it’s been my experience that majority are successful, aggressive educated professionals. Like attracts like and the sponsors extend into almost every area of business. The Toronto Marathon Sponsors include the companies you would expect like Gaterade, Powerbar, and The Running Room. It also includes hotels, newspapers, and all the other companies required to make an event this big successful. The size and types of sponsors keeps growing with ING sponsoring The Ottawa Marathon and The New York Marathon. (ING is not a sponsor of the Toronto Marathon) The Toronto Marathon raises funds for the Princess Margaret Hospital by attracting over 10,000 runners competing in one of the 5K, ½ Marathon and Full Marathon events. The Full Marathon runs down the centre of the city going through the famous areas of the city.
Including North York Centre, Hoggs Hollow, Forest Hill, Casa Loma, Rosedale, Downtown, Hyde Park and the waterfront. Following the path of the Marathon provides a great tour of the city. Click here to see it in Google Earth!
From a networking perspective there are opportunities to create friendships that last for years. The Marathon is directed by a committee of about 30 volunteers. The committee has to look after things that take the whole year to develop. For example, advertising, planning the route with the city, and working with the different sponsors, vendors and suppliers.
The next big networking opportunity is the race weekend. Every Marathon has an Expo where the runners pick up their race kits, sponsors and other vendors display and sell all sorts of running related wares. The Expo is all volunteer run and the majority of the 10,000 runners will come with friends and family. While the booths are operated by vendor employees, the Expo is run by the volunteers.
One highlight of every marathon is the pasta party so that the runners can fill up on their carbohydrates. The dinners are sponsored by vendors and operated by volunteers.
Then there is the day of the race. The networking continues all day. There is the start and finish lines. There are water stations, there are marshals all along the route at every street corner to keep traffic out, make sure the runners go in the right direction, and watch for runners in trouble. There are the police to coordinate with, there are the Emergency Services people to coordinate with, and there are the marshals on bicycles to help the runners as they are moving along. Since the Marathon is several hours long, the opportunity to meet and get to know people is relaxed and powerful.
The medical community plays a huge role during the race and at the end. For normal aches and pains there are message therapists and foot doctors. For the more serious problems there are nurses and doctors to help out with chest pains, asthma, and other major problems.
This year the Toronto Marathon is making a special effort to add music to the Marathon. Mike is diligently trying to place bands all along the route. The music will be for the runners, the volunteers, and all the people the community that comes out to cheer. So, if you are a musician or part of a band – this will be a great opportunity to let everybody hear you!
And I don’t want to forget one last opportunity for networking. For those who can’t do the entire marathon, join with some business buddies and create a relay team. It’s a great way to build long term friendships.
All-in-all there is so many different ways that a Marathon will grow your network, its clear that I wasn’t desperate for an article this month.
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