September 15, 2025 • 36 mins
This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we shine a spotlight on one of the Midwest’s most beloved races — the Good Life Halfsy in Lincoln, Nebraska. Kyle sits down with Chelsea, Linda, and Jared from Pink Gorilla Events, the team behind this iconic half marathon now entering its 12th year. We talk through the history of the Halfsy, what makes it such a unique and community-driven event, and the traditions that keep runners coming back year after year. The crew shares some fun behind-the-scenes stories, gives us a sneak peek at what’s new for 2025, and reminds us why race day in Lincoln is always something special. Whether you’ve run it before or it’s still on your bucket list, this episode has all the Halfsy energy you need to get excited for November 9th.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hello, everyone, greeting and salutations. Welcome back to another episode
at the Back of the Pack podcast. I'm your host,
Kyle Walker. Thank you so much for tuning in. We
are skipping all race reviews today because we have some
very special guests on the program coming to us from
Pink Gorilla Events and The Good Life HASI is Chelsea,
Linda and Jared. Everyone. Welcome to the show. So glad
you guys are here. You probably saw Chelsea from our
(00:35):
two hundredth episode. She submitted a video just saying hooray
on two hundred, which was super cool because it came
from various points around the course of the Good Life Havesy,
which is still my favorite half marathon and still my
pr half marathon. So Chelsea, I'm gonna kick it to you.
Tell everyone kind of who you are and what you
do in regards to Pink Gorilla Events and The Good
(00:55):
Life Havesy.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Awesome. Yeah, thanks Kyle. Yeah, thanks for thinking of me
for that two hundred episode. That was a lot of fun.
It was cool to get out there on the course
and video, so I'm glad that you caught on to that.
So any case, my name is Chelsea. I've been with
Pink Corolla. I want to say for the last four years,
(01:18):
I'm marketing coordinator, so I'm all things social media, emails,
race guides, I go to a lot of expos. That's
how I've how I met you. I want to say,
maybe three years.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Ago something like that sounds very y Yep.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I do some design stuff. Yeah, a little bit of everything,
a little bit of a catch allso but yeah, that's me.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Awesome, all right, lend me let's kick it to you.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
I'm Linda Brown and I have been with Pink Gorilla
since our first market to market, so about eighteen years.
I am the Sponsorship and Partnership Director, so I get
to work with our partners and our sponsors and develop
relationships and I have a lot of fun with that.
I'm also the race director for some of our ten
k's and then I am also helping out with the
(02:10):
after parties and the finish lines and the expos and
pack up pickups. So lots of hats, but lots of
fun and they're all connected.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Awesome, all right, Jared, how about you, Sarah.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
I'm Jared Bakewell, I'm the marketing director. I've also been
involved with pig Grill events for a very long time.
The co founders of the company are my brother Jason
and one of our elementary school best friends, Ben Cahun.
So we've been in business together for a really long
time and I got most involved over time helping with
(02:48):
marketing and then became a partner in the company right
before we launched the Hosie to help kick that off.
So love the race, love the company, and love working
with all these wonderful people.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And what else does Pink rel Evans do other than
the Good Life Pansy.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Yeah, so we put on a lot of races. We
obviously have the Good Life Havesey, which is our largest race.
We got started with the Market to Market Relay Nebraska,
which is now a series with Market to Market Relay
Nebraska and Market to Market Relay Iowa. If you run
both of those races in the same calendar year, you
also earn our deuce medal. So we like to have
(03:27):
a little fun with the double medals and some of
that kind of stuff. And we have a ten mile
race called the Early Bird Run which takes place in
West Omaha, and then a series of ten k's that
is our Born and Race in Nebraska series. Or brind
for short. That makes up is made up of the
leprechaun Chase Cornfield, Cornfield.
Speaker 6 (03:48):
And we have Harvest Moon Hustle coming up real soon here.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Nice, nice, all right?
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Well, someone all three whoever give us a little history
on the good life Pansy. So we know that this
is year twelve coming up. It means you guys started
a while ago, you survived, the coronavirus, continued, and I
think you're growing every year, at least the years that
I've done it. This will be my third time heading
up to Lincoln for this race. Someone how did this
thing get started? Whose idea was it? And really how
(04:15):
much have you seen it grow over the years?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
So go ahead, I say, Jared, I'm Jared's brother. Jason
and Ben, who he had talked about, were the brainchilds
of the Housie coming up with a staple half marathon
that would just blow people's minds here in the great
state of Nebraska. And we have some really great partnerships
with our city and then with some nonprofits and partners
(04:40):
that have helped it be possible. We started off with
thirty five hundred people in the first year and sold
that out and we've continued to sell out the race
every year in advance of race day, and this year
we are on track to do that again with being
the largest half marathon for the second year in a
row in Nebraska and the surrounding states.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
That's awesome. So what was it?
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I think last year you guys were eleven thousand somewhere
around there?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Am I close?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
We had seventy one registered last year?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Too much credit to us, you know, on race morning though,
it really feels like it because there are a lot
of people in those starting corrals waiting to get started
on that race.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Absolutely, so it's very well credited.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
So let's let's go ahead and talk about what's coming up.
What can we expect this year? Are there a lot
of changes? Are everything going to kind of remain the same?
Let's really start building up our race coming up this year,
which is running on November ninth, And yeah, let's dive
into this one.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
What do we got coming up this year?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
All right, go ahead? Jared I took the last one.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
All right, good, So we're super excited about this year.
We've seen some explosive growth with the race. There's obviously
a running boom going right now, and we're beneficiaries of that.
So we've worked hard with our partners in the city
Lincoln and you know, Lincoln Fire and Rescue and all
the stakeholders that are involved in putting on a race
of this magnitude in the city of Lincoln, and we've
(06:08):
just had wonderful support from the running community and Lincoln
to help.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
Us grow this race.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
So this year we'll see growth of twenty five percent
of the event, which we're really excited about. We have
things capped at nine thousand participants and we're going to
hit that pretty soon. So you're my little plug here.
If you have a registered for the Housie, a little
birdie us is telling you that now is a good
time to register for the race. And I think what
(06:36):
the reasons why we're seeing growth is because the race
is just such an exciting event. It has really been
designed to be an event that helps people celebrate running
hit their prs. We've developed a net downhill point to
point course that's really fast, really fun, tons of crowd support,
and something new this year is we've worked with those
(06:59):
states holders to expand capacity on the front end of
the race so that the first several miles have expanded
course capacity to give more room to run more lanes
and as a result, we'll be able to keep people
out of the start line a little bit quicker. And
then at the finish line, we've got some fun stuff planned.
(07:21):
We have I think, always been a race that really
celebrates PRS, but this year we're going to amp that
up a little bit and just really continue to grow
the race to be something that I think, you know,
hits a bit a little bit above its weight for
the size of the market that the haves He's in
in Lincoln, Nebraska, and give it that big city feel
(07:43):
when you cross that finish line down in the haymarket.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Well, and I'm sure because there's a Kansas podcast that
pumps us race up so much. That's why you're seeing,
you know, thousands upon thousands.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Of Actually I totally misspoke. All of our growth is
coming from the Kansas City area and it's just a
huge swath of people, you know, driving up from the
south to tow the line that the good Life.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Has he Yeah, that's that's more accurate.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And Chelsea, you and I have competing teams going where are.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
You right now?
Speaker 1 (08:13):
We were like tied The last time I looked, were
still tied.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I think you guys have us by just a little bit,
but yeah, you have a lot more growth this last months.
I think you're holding strong in third place, which is fine,
I'll give it to you. I love the Omaha running community,
but I mean, man, you do a lot to get
a lot of people up here from Kansas and surrounding areas,
(08:39):
so it's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Yeah, our team last year, I think hit sixty something.
I think we're in the forties right now. So who knows,
but everyone there is a back of the pack podcast team,
and Chelsea, what is the name.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Of your team as well?
Speaker 2 (08:51):
I'm KSB Runners.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
KSB Runners, So you guys have options for teams, and
it sounds like we're getting close to capacity, so you might.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
As well go get registered now.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Don't wait, Let's talk expo because I have raved about
your expo and what I think you guys do so well.
Are a few things. I love the vendor bingo that
you guys do, super fun. And then I like that
it's one day you have to get your packet, so
in the amount of time it's opened, every single runner
has to file through there. When I came and did
(09:21):
my booth up there, last year. I mean I was NonStop.
I left that with a sore throat no voice from
talking to people out all afternoon. So what can we
expect from this year's expo, because I know there's one change,
you guys, let me know if there's more. I think
we're a little longer on our time period now, right.
Speaker 6 (09:37):
We are.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
We're going to expand the timeframe from ten am to
six pm, so we're going to give runners a bigger
window to get in there and talk with all of
our sponsors and vendors and have those conversations. So Kyle,
your voice is going to be toast great for sure.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It was totally worth it because I had an absolute
blast up there, except for the fact that when I
was there, Nebraska lost their game. Yeah, and you just
feel the whole place going when that happened. It eventually
picked back up, but boy, there was a period where
everyone was unhappy.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Yes, yes, we have some really fun things going on
in the expo this year.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I mean, when you walk.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
In, you're going to be amazed. It's just going to
be a really cool spot. We are still going to
do our Ultra Shakeout run, so same time, we're going
to be doing that at eleven thirty, so you can
get your packet and then do your shakeout run or
do your shakeout run and come into the expo afterwards.
Just lots of people are just gonna be blown away.
(10:37):
So there's no way to tell you all the cool
things that we're doing without giving it away, but your
minds will be blown with the stuff that you see.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
What are just a few vendors they can expect to
run into at the expo.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
We have our local training partners. We've got Fleet Feet,
Lincoln Running Company, Victorious, Iron View and Peak Performance, so
all of them going to be there talking with people.
We're going to have Red Bull there, we are going
to have oh my goodness, I'm my mind blinking here
(11:11):
right now. We've got thirty booths filled and we're we're
still growing. Lexus of Lincoln is going to be there.
You can sign a car again. The pace car will
be signable, so if you've never done it before, get
your sharpie and sign the pace car, make a sign.
We're gonna have big maps so we will be able
to really communicate well. Pre race parking, pre race shuttles,
(11:32):
where to stand when you get to the start line.
We're doing indoor packet pickup on race day this year,
so if you can't get to the expert pick up
your packet, you'll go inside Lincoln East High School so
you can grab your packet inside there. We're going to
have the track open, so if you need to get
a warm up done before, you don't have to worry
(11:53):
about being out on the road, so you can just
pop over behind the school and jump on the track
or warm up on the grass area. So lots of
little things in store, but it's gonna equate to a
big experience.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
But don't don't worry about that race day morning packet
pick up. Everyone come to the expo. It is way
more fun.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Absolutely agree well too.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Linda's horn a little bit she puts on our expos
and the Hosie I think is one of the premier
ones in the area. We've visited a lot of other
expos and the thing I think she does so great
is makes an experience to come to, so it's not
just come in, pick up your packet, get out the door.
The vendors that she assembles are those that you want
to be at an event like this, and they're all
(12:35):
so excited to interact with you, Kyle. I empathize with
you because I've run a booth for our brand series
during the Expo for the last few years and I'm
out there just talking to everybody, you know, handing out flyers,
interacting with people, showing them the new merch and the
runners that come to it. A lot of them are
coming in from out of town, so they're experiencing that
Nebraska hospitality. They're enjoying the community of runners that we
(12:56):
have here, and it's just so much fun to see
everybody just light up the day before they're about to
do the big thing they've been training for.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, I like an Echo that as well, because I'm
in the Pink Gorilla lounge, so playing games, doing photos
with the Pink Gorilla, like having all sorts of fun.
And Yeah. I made the expo layout map a couple
of weeks ago, and it gets me pumped just looking
at it. It's going to be it's a complete different
feel from years past, but I think it's going to
be wonderful. And I think, yeah, blown away is I agree?
(13:27):
I Echo Big haves the energy right there you go.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
Yah, Linda's got us designing some big signage to fill
the space for in this year, so.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Very big maps, very very big maps.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I'd like it.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
It's good to know where you're going. So is everything
the same, same start line, same finish line as here's previous,
No changes to that, no changes to the course.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Yes, outside of that expanded capacity, the course is the same.
We've just found that it works so well and people
love it so much and we have an extremely high
return right runners doing it year after years, so we
know that it's a course that you know, we've kind
of got dialed in for navigating through the city of Lincoln,
and you know, we try to frushing things up with
(14:10):
entertainment stations and cheer stations and that kind of stuff.
But I think the course for the Hosie is just
a winner for runners.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, there's there's a lot more space, so like your
first i want to say, almost eight miles, like you'll
have a lot more room to run rather than just
being in like one lane of traffic, you have the
whole Yeah, and then I think the finish line is
a little bit expanded too, which is nice. So as
far as like getting your bag from bag pickup or
finding the photos and things like that.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
So oh, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 6 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Not only is Linda in charge of our expo, she
also puts together the post race experience on the footprint.
So Linda, you want to talk about maybe how you've
expanded the you know, down Canopy Street and that sort
of thing.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, So once we crossed the finish line this year,
we're gonna have our race recovery immediately after. And then
we've expanded the footprint of our photo booths. We've added
more photo boots, and we've got a special way to
celebrate PRS this year, and then we've got another DJ
down by our photo booths. So the party's going to
feel hoppen from the time that you are starting to
come down Canopy Street or come down the bridge. Yeah,
(15:18):
and you're just going to feel the energy is just
going to continue all the way on. We're expanding bag
Drop just a little bit so that people have a
space to get their things. And then we're also trying
to really be green and look at opportunities of ways
that we can take care of the environment. And so
we're going to have some recycling stations within the Railyard
(15:42):
area and we're really excited about being able to keep
things out of the landfill that don't need to go,
and so we're working with some local organizations who are
helping teach us about how to recycle properly and get
things into the right bins. So that's a huge thing
that's going on that maybe we'll be over overlooked, but
(16:02):
if you care about the environment, know that we do too,
and we're going to do our part at the finish
line to keep as few things going into the trash
that don't need to be.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
That's awesome, Yeah, well done on that one.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
It made me completely forget my question next because I
was listening to that, like, that's so cool. You guys
offer the bus service that takes you back from the
finish line back to the start line, so everyone normally
parks there, I guess, unless you're staying downtown. So who
came up with Because I want to give all the
credit in the world, who came up with that downhill
finish off the bridge because it's so fantastic. And the
(16:36):
only reason I pr'd last year was because I knew
that when I got to the top of that bridge,
whatever I had left, I needed to get down that hill.
But boy, that is like the most amazing downhill finish. Ever,
I am just in love with the finish of this race.
So whoever did that credit to them?
Speaker 4 (16:53):
I think Ben probably gets credit for that. Ben is
our course creator, big picture person, and he knows how
to look at things through a lens of just getting
it amazing from the beginning, and then we tweak it
and fine tune it, which is why we went from
our original course to what we're at now. It was
small tweaks and how do we make it better? And
(17:14):
that downhill finish at the end lining the street. It's
a vision that he had from the get go and
he created this with Jason, and so he gets the
credit there. I want to go back just a minute here.
We are really encouraging pre race shuttles this year.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Okay, yep.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
So you can park in the finish line area in
those parking garages, jump on a shuttle and that'll take
you to the start line. So then when you finish,
you can just get in your car and leave. But
you need to enjoy the after party first, of course.
But if you want to park at Seacrest, you absolutely can,
and we'll have that shuttle to take you back. But
(17:56):
as we all know, as the course, or as the
race grows, then we need to have room for cars,
and the great place to do that is in those
parking garages downtown. So if you haven't already know that,
that's a free option. And you get to the start line,
and then when you get done with the race, after
you've celebrated, then you can jump in your car and
(18:16):
go home instead of going back to Seacrest again.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Okay, awesome, that's good to know.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, this kind of the first year that you've really
wanted people doing that, because I haven't heard much about
the pre race shuttles in years.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Prior we've had it for a few years. I think
it was heavily like pointed to people that were staying
in the hotels down there, like at the start, and
then last year we opened it up big time for
other people to go down there. Okay, And like I
live in Omaha, so like when I ran the race,
I would have preferred to have my car at the
finish line, so I would have chosen to pick the
(18:49):
pre race shuttle. So I think it's October tenth is
the deadline to sign up for that. So if anybody
is like, wait a minute, I didn't sign up for that.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
You still can, Okay, all right, so sign up October
they got a sign up for the pre race shuttle. Now,
you guys, I think have a price increase coming up.
Is that correct? So when does that happen? We need
to get people to register night now.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
Yeah, the next.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Price the next price increase, it jumps at midnight on the.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Nineteenth, midnight on the nineteenth, So everyone needs to get
on it now. Join the Back of the Pack podcast
team or the KSB runners, I guess.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
For any of the teams that are out there. There's
so many teams.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
No, no, only only one of ours. That's it. We're
selfish like that over here? What are you doing? Come on,
you're sabotaging us.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Try to be inclusive now.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
We don't like those other.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
That Friday of the price increase is also the team
deadline to join a team, so that September nineteenth, there
is an important date for all participants in the race.
So you know, save a little money, get out yourself
on a team. And I think maybe it'd be worth
now mentioning that there's benefits to being on a team
out side of just the fun element of it too, right,
(20:02):
So we have you know, rewards for teams as you
grow it. The teams it's not like you're going to
be out there running with your team unless you choose
do to that and you fit into the right paces.
These are you know, designed defined as just for fun teams.
But after you get five members on your team that
you get your names on the race bibs. Then ten members,
(20:24):
your captain will in a captain's jacket, which I'm sure
Kyle you are looking forward to having Chelsea, yes, And
then you also get a refund of five dollars per
team member, and then it kind of goes up from
there where fifteen.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
Members you get a free runner hat, at.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Twenty members you get big charms for your team, and
then at twenty five plus you get twenty five dollars
in online.
Speaker 6 (20:43):
Merch gift card. Which this year we're.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Doing something different where very shortly after the team program
you know, joining period concludes on September nineteenth, we're going
to be sending out those codes so that you can
get yourself some merch before race day so you could have.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
That wear it for the event, so perfect.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Some changes that way. We're trying to tweak and improve
our incentives on the team's program, and we have more
teams this year than we've ever had before, so we
feel like it's working and helping us grow the race.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Well that's great, now, you guys, I can't think of
another race that gives so much swag to having the
big teams like you guys really are top notch and
I think above every other race when it comes to that,
who and why did you guys decide that was so
important to reward team members for signing up for these
four fun teams.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
I think Jared had the idea of really promoting growing
teams and giving incentives, and his marketing ideas are what
are helping our events grow as well. So he's done
a great job with that and looking he does such
a good job with the branding and the logos and
the swag that we have that we give to our
(21:55):
runners and so the stuff that he's creating, people are
hungry for and they want it. And so when we're
out running in the community, biking in the community, just
out for a walk, we're seeing our branded logos everywhere
and it's really cool to be out. I don't know
my running group, when we run, we count and see
(22:15):
how many housey shirts we see, or how many pink
Garrilla shirts, or most of the time when we show
up on Tuesday mornings, half of us are wearing the
same race shirt. And so we know that the stuff
that we're putting out there people want and what better
way to get it than run with your friends and
get the cool stuff.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Yeah, I've got all that.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
I got my square bottle, I've got the has the
teen year anniversary stick around, my.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Big water bottle.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
That's classic design.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Ye, I've got all the cool this year. Oh heck, yeah,
I get a kuzzie. Oh, let's go.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Oh, Chelsea's demoing some some exclusive merch when I was
expos Yeah. To Lenda's point, I'd love to take credit
for the team's program, but that was actually Ben's idea, Linda,
and then we've augmented it from there. But that's something
that Kyle, we've really tried to hang our hat on
(23:13):
for this race is providing exceptional value in the swag department.
So we want it to be a situation where if
you register early for the race, you're going to get
to participate in that opening offer swag, and then as
you grow your team, you're going to grow and accumulate
more race swag and then even you know, our race
shirts and our medals. We've really focused on a premium
(23:35):
approach to those for this race, and I think it's
paid off because people keep them as keepsick because.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You have there.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
I'm really proud of our medal this year. I think
it's going to be really well received. And that's something
that I think permeates throughout Pink Gorilla is that we
want to make sure that we're sourcing and providing swag
that you're going to actually keep and wear so that
we do see it out on the trails.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
And that you actually value it and keep it and
use it.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
Because I don't know about you, but there's so many
events you go to and you get, you know, a
shirt that's of low quality, or you get some swag
items so you're not actually going to use. So we
work really hard to make sure that we're providing things
that are run irrelevant and that people are going to
keep and use for a long time.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Yep. And I'd say, you guys knocked that one out
of the park.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
One more thing that I'll throw out there is we
also have this the Capital City Challenge, which is if
you do Lincoln Half Marathon or I guess the full
or I maybe just have in May and then go
do Good Life Havesy. You walk away with yet some
more bling. Talk to us about the Capital City Challenge.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Yeah, I'd love to talk about this piece of it
because I love the Capital City Challenge. We have a
wonderful partnership with the Lincoln Marathon and it does apply
if you run the Lincoln Half Marathon as well, So
you run both of those races in a calendar year,
and at the HASIE you'll have a special race bib
that designates you as going for your Capital City Challenge
(25:01):
medal and you'll get it from one of our race
volunteers and the shoot that Linda puts together. So yeah,
I love people crossing that finish line and then they're
you know, they got two pieces of hardware hanging around
their neck. And I think that's actually been very beneficial
to help grow both races, because if you run the
HASI for the first time and you see those people
(25:23):
with that two medal hanging around their neck, You're like,
how did you get that? And then you know they
join and up there this guy we got this.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Three Like wait, why do I not have all the blame.
Speaker 5 (25:34):
Yeah, yep. So yeah, the that that's been a successful
partnership for us, and this year I think is our
best Capital City Challenge medal ever.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Oh that metal sweep. I'm so excited to get that.
Speaker 5 (25:50):
Yeah, it's I'm not gonna lie about my inspiration from
the design. I mean I kind of ripped off the
idea from the Olympic medals, so that seemed like a
good inspiration this year. And we've the ones we've seen
in hand, you know, the actually we of course have
them now and they just look great. I mean they're thick,
they're chunky. That it's one of the best metals I
(26:11):
think that as a company we've ever helped produce. And
I'm in the midst of it right now, so I'll
just give a little sneak preview that for many years
we've used the Lincoln flag is inspiration for that metal,
and I think it's worked out great this upcoming year.
I don't know if you've when you've been in our
(26:31):
lovely city of Lincoln, you've probably seen our capital city,
our our capital building in the Capital City. It's the
tallest building in the city of Lincoln. So we're going
to be pivoting in future years to showcase some of
the artwork that is inside of that building, because it's
spilled with all this really interesting art and I want
to spill all my cards here. But we've got some
(26:53):
really cool designs that are going to be coming down
the pipeline for that Capital City Challenge.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
So if you're hearing.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
About this and considering running the haves E or coming
to Lincoln to participating in our races like the Lincoln
Marathon and the Good Life, have the the races and
are only going to get better.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
I think the metals too awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah, I really enjoyed the Lincoln Half.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I think it's a very easy course.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Dink Eelsen might be a little more difficult, but yet
I was faster on that. But either which way, neither
of them, I would say, are scary challenging by any
stretching imagination. You guys have managed to find really great
places to run around Lincoln so that it is really
not a hilly course at all. So I'm sure that
making it a prble course was something you all were
looking at, like wanting to accomplish.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
Absolutely, it's net downhill, So there are some there's some
rollers early, but it's a net downhill course, so you're
definitely you're up for a pr if you've trained up yourself.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Right, Which did you find that if it was maybe circular,
if it was just not point to point, if it
was just saying start and finish, think it might have
been more difficult. I don't know elevation wise, or did
anyone ever even look at that, or has this always
been the idea this was going to be point to
point to get us to downtown.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
I think we've had a couple of different things to consider,
but ultimately we wanted to make it our own. We
wanted to really be unique and the things we wanted
to showcase our city. There's some we're running through homes lake,
We're running down Normal Boulevard, seeing shunking gardens, taking advantage
of the Antelope Valley Trail System area and by the university.
(28:32):
So we just really wanted to showcase our city and
be unique and make it memorable. So I think that
was a big part of the inspiration for why we
did a point to point and then trying to do
the net downhill and think through, you know, how do
how do we make this good for people. How do
we make it so we can grow it and that's
why we're able to sustain the current course where we're at.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Okay, and then is it true you have to adjust
yearly around the Nebraska corn Huse football schedule?
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Is that true? Statement? Yes?
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Do you guys have that extra difficult that you have
to change your weekends every year?
Speaker 4 (29:09):
No, we know what we're I mean, we know where
we live and the relationship that we have with the city.
You know, we we want to keep that really good
and we don't want to make people have to choose
between running a race or going to a football game.
So it does make it a little bit difficult for
us to be waiting for when those things are going
(29:30):
to come out, when they're going to announce the schedule,
But you know, we were very confident that people are
going to want to come and run, so we know
that they're going to put October and November on their
schedule and as soon as we can release a date,
we absolutely will so that they can get that solidified
on their running calendar.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
Yeah, from a marketer's perspective, would have be nice if
we knew the race date at the end of the race.
This year, of course it would be, but you know,
in our market department is small and nimble, and Chelsea
and Ben and I we've kind of figured out this
methodology where this is the you know, handword delts because
(30:10):
football is obviously very important in Nebraska and in the
city of Lincoln. So this year you'll see us celebrate
the release of that schedule and you know, make a
big deal about when the races are gonna be because
it not only affects the Good Life Haves The's Day,
but also market to market Relay Nebraska, which is our
second largest race. So we kind of have to you know,
put asterixs and tbds by those dates, and then when
(30:34):
we get those schedules, will make a big deal about
announcing when they are awesome.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
All right, Well, the last thing I want to throw
at you, and you're gonna have to think on your
feet real quick here. I want your favorite has the memory,
whether it be something really cool that happened or some story.
I want your favorite memory from any of these last
eleven Good Life Haves thees. If you got one, throw
it out there. If not, I'm gonna start playing the
(31:00):
peparty music.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
HASI is still my pr for my half marathon too.
I think it was six years ago to twenty.
Speaker 6 (31:10):
Six let's go so nice.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Yeah, so I get the fun of being a runner
that also works for the events. So I haven't actually
ran the Hasie in person for the last few years,
but my goodness, it's just it's it's a fun course.
I love everything about it. So it's fun to be
on the other side and just get to like see
everybody else have that experience and everything like that. So yeah, okay, mmm.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
I think for me it is. Although there's a lot
of celebration about the people who win the race and
the people who you know, set prs and do those
kinds of things, get weirdly emotional, that's when I talk
about it. But for a lot of people, finishing a
half marathon is a bucket list thing to do. And
(32:04):
seeing those people that crossed the finish line, you know,
towards the end and they're given it, they're all is
really emotional and really powerful, I think, and I don't
remember exactly what year it was was. I think it
was the first year that you created the all the
pink gorilla costumes. Linda and our last finisher crossed with
(32:27):
all the people in pink gorilla costumes, and.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
We shot off a confetti cannon.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
And really celebrated that last finisher coming through, and it
was just a really cool moment. Our whole team that
was down there celebrated her. We shot some really cool
video and photos of her crossing. And you know, so
what I think you'll find at the Good Life Hosie
is it's going to be an awesome experience from start
to finish. And you know, even if you're that last
(32:54):
person crossed the finish line, we're a company that you know,
is created by people who care a lot about running
and what it can do for you as a person,
and you'll see us celebrating everybody who crosses under our
finish art.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Awesome love that as the back of the back podcast.
We are here for that, all right.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
Didn't I didn't fabricate that just to speak to your
podcast name. That's some truth right there.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Absolutely all right, Linda, Well you got your favorite Hansy memory.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
This is really hard for me because I'm in so
many different parts of the event, and some of it
I get to see from start to finish. In other
parts I just get to kind of dip my toes
in I think operationally when we went from having our
expo downtown to taking it out to it's called now
(33:46):
Sandhills Global Event Center, was just absolutely amazing that we
had outgrown anything downtown that could hold us and we
needed more space, and just to see all the hard
work that we were putting in behind the scenes and
that people loved it and that they wanted to be
a part of it, and just to see that we'd
(34:08):
outgrown a footprint that we thought, you know, this, this
could be a long term thing for us. We had
a couple of different places downtown and we outgrew both
of them, and so it's just been really neat to
see the growth and all the little things that come
with it. The pink gorillas out on the course. A
memory that I had was a couple of my friends
finished and they for a while thought that the pink
(34:29):
gorilla was running ahead to the next mile marker and
couldn't figure out how they were getting from one to
two to three in front of them, and then they
realized that it was a different one at each one.
But just some of the like those two things I
think stand out to me the most. Just it's the
little things that we're doing that. People may or may
not notice, but it creates a big experience.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, and you haven't run a race until you high
five a gorilla just right or.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Thirteen Yeah, thirteen of them on the Hatsia course. You
want to do it?
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Okay, Well that'll be my goal this year is to
get thirteen gorilla high fives going.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Yes, I love it all right.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Well, everyone, you are about to hit a price increase,
so go register for it now, get on the team
now before that option is finished, and then make sure
November ninth you are in Lincoln, Nebraska for the Good
Life HAVESI. I want to thank our guest. Thank you
all so much for coming on the podcast. I know
I'm like looking up. That's where my screen is that
has your faces on it, OD look right there. Sorry
about that, but Jared, Chelsea, Linda, thank you all so
(35:29):
much for joining us and we will be seeing you
November ninth in Lincoln, Nebraska. Thank you all so much.
Thank you right, this has been another episode of the
Back of the Back podcast. I'm your host, Kyle Walker.
It is my pleasure as always, everyone, have a safe
week of training, start training for your HAVESI. If you
haven't already, and we will see you next week.
Hello, everyone, greeting and salutations. Welcome back to another episode
at the Back of the Pack podcast. I'm your host,
Kyle Walker. Thank you so much for tuning in. We
are skipping all race reviews today because we have some
very special guests on the program coming to us from
Pink Gorilla Events and The Good Life HASI is Chelsea,
Linda and Jared. Everyone. Welcome to the show. So glad
you guys are here. You probably saw Chelsea from our
(00:35):
two hundredth episode. She submitted a video just saying hooray
on two hundred, which was super cool because it came
from various points around the course of the Good Life Havesy,
which is still my favorite half marathon and still my
pr half marathon. So Chelsea, I'm gonna kick it to you.
Tell everyone kind of who you are and what you
do in regards to Pink Gorilla Events and The Good
(00:55):
Life Havesy.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Awesome. Yeah, thanks Kyle. Yeah, thanks for thinking of me
for that two hundred episode. That was a lot of fun.
It was cool to get out there on the course
and video, so I'm glad that you caught on to that.
So any case, my name is Chelsea. I've been with
Pink Corolla. I want to say for the last four years,
(01:18):
I'm marketing coordinator, so I'm all things social media, emails,
race guides, I go to a lot of expos. That's
how I've how I met you. I want to say,
maybe three years.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Ago something like that sounds very y Yep.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I do some design stuff. Yeah, a little bit of everything,
a little bit of a catch allso but yeah, that's me.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Awesome, all right, lend me let's kick it to you.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
I'm Linda Brown and I have been with Pink Gorilla
since our first market to market, so about eighteen years.
I am the Sponsorship and Partnership Director, so I get
to work with our partners and our sponsors and develop
relationships and I have a lot of fun with that.
I'm also the race director for some of our ten
k's and then I am also helping out with the
(02:10):
after parties and the finish lines and the expos and
pack up pickups. So lots of hats, but lots of
fun and they're all connected.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Awesome, all right, Jared, how about you, Sarah.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
I'm Jared Bakewell, I'm the marketing director. I've also been
involved with pig Grill events for a very long time.
The co founders of the company are my brother Jason
and one of our elementary school best friends, Ben Cahun.
So we've been in business together for a really long
time and I got most involved over time helping with
(02:48):
marketing and then became a partner in the company right
before we launched the Hosie to help kick that off.
So love the race, love the company, and love working
with all these wonderful people.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And what else does Pink rel Evans do other than
the Good Life Pansy.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Yeah, so we put on a lot of races. We
obviously have the Good Life Havesey, which is our largest race.
We got started with the Market to Market Relay Nebraska,
which is now a series with Market to Market Relay
Nebraska and Market to Market Relay Iowa. If you run
both of those races in the same calendar year, you
also earn our deuce medal. So we like to have
(03:27):
a little fun with the double medals and some of
that kind of stuff. And we have a ten mile
race called the Early Bird Run which takes place in
West Omaha, and then a series of ten k's that
is our Born and Race in Nebraska series. Or brind
for short. That makes up is made up of the
leprechaun Chase Cornfield, Cornfield.
Speaker 6 (03:48):
And we have Harvest Moon Hustle coming up real soon here.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Nice, nice, all right?
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Well, someone all three whoever give us a little history
on the good life Pansy. So we know that this
is year twelve coming up. It means you guys started
a while ago, you survived, the coronavirus, continued, and I
think you're growing every year, at least the years that
I've done it. This will be my third time heading
up to Lincoln for this race. Someone how did this
thing get started? Whose idea was it? And really how
(04:15):
much have you seen it grow over the years?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
So go ahead, I say, Jared, I'm Jared's brother. Jason
and Ben, who he had talked about, were the brainchilds
of the Housie coming up with a staple half marathon
that would just blow people's minds here in the great
state of Nebraska. And we have some really great partnerships
with our city and then with some nonprofits and partners
(04:40):
that have helped it be possible. We started off with
thirty five hundred people in the first year and sold
that out and we've continued to sell out the race
every year in advance of race day, and this year
we are on track to do that again with being
the largest half marathon for the second year in a
row in Nebraska and the surrounding states.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
That's awesome. So what was it?
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I think last year you guys were eleven thousand somewhere
around there?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Am I close?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
We had seventy one registered last year?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Too much credit to us, you know, on race morning though,
it really feels like it because there are a lot
of people in those starting corrals waiting to get started
on that race.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Absolutely, so it's very well credited.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
So let's let's go ahead and talk about what's coming up.
What can we expect this year? Are there a lot
of changes? Are everything going to kind of remain the same?
Let's really start building up our race coming up this year,
which is running on November ninth, And yeah, let's dive
into this one.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
What do we got coming up this year?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
All right, go ahead? Jared I took the last one.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
All right, good, So we're super excited about this year.
We've seen some explosive growth with the race. There's obviously
a running boom going right now, and we're beneficiaries of that.
So we've worked hard with our partners in the city
Lincoln and you know, Lincoln Fire and Rescue and all
the stakeholders that are involved in putting on a race
of this magnitude in the city of Lincoln, and we've
(06:08):
just had wonderful support from the running community and Lincoln
to help.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
Us grow this race.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
So this year we'll see growth of twenty five percent
of the event, which we're really excited about. We have
things capped at nine thousand participants and we're going to
hit that pretty soon. So you're my little plug here.
If you have a registered for the Housie, a little
birdie us is telling you that now is a good
time to register for the race. And I think what
(06:36):
the reasons why we're seeing growth is because the race
is just such an exciting event. It has really been
designed to be an event that helps people celebrate running
hit their prs. We've developed a net downhill point to
point course that's really fast, really fun, tons of crowd support,
and something new this year is we've worked with those
(06:59):
states holders to expand capacity on the front end of
the race so that the first several miles have expanded
course capacity to give more room to run more lanes
and as a result, we'll be able to keep people
out of the start line a little bit quicker. And
then at the finish line, we've got some fun stuff planned.
(07:21):
We have I think, always been a race that really
celebrates PRS, but this year we're going to amp that
up a little bit and just really continue to grow
the race to be something that I think, you know,
hits a bit a little bit above its weight for
the size of the market that the haves He's in
in Lincoln, Nebraska, and give it that big city feel
(07:43):
when you cross that finish line down in the haymarket.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Well, and I'm sure because there's a Kansas podcast that
pumps us race up so much. That's why you're seeing,
you know, thousands upon thousands.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Of Actually I totally misspoke. All of our growth is
coming from the Kansas City area and it's just a
huge swath of people, you know, driving up from the
south to tow the line that the good Life.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Has he Yeah, that's that's more accurate.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And Chelsea, you and I have competing teams going where are.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
You right now?
Speaker 1 (08:13):
We were like tied The last time I looked, were
still tied.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I think you guys have us by just a little bit,
but yeah, you have a lot more growth this last months.
I think you're holding strong in third place, which is fine,
I'll give it to you. I love the Omaha running community,
but I mean, man, you do a lot to get
a lot of people up here from Kansas and surrounding areas,
(08:39):
so it's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Yeah, our team last year, I think hit sixty something.
I think we're in the forties right now. So who knows,
but everyone there is a back of the pack podcast team,
and Chelsea, what is the name.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Of your team as well?
Speaker 2 (08:51):
I'm KSB Runners.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
KSB Runners, So you guys have options for teams, and
it sounds like we're getting close to capacity, so you might.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
As well go get registered now.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Don't wait, Let's talk expo because I have raved about
your expo and what I think you guys do so well.
Are a few things. I love the vendor bingo that
you guys do, super fun. And then I like that
it's one day you have to get your packet, so
in the amount of time it's opened, every single runner
has to file through there. When I came and did
(09:21):
my booth up there, last year. I mean I was NonStop.
I left that with a sore throat no voice from
talking to people out all afternoon. So what can we
expect from this year's expo, because I know there's one change,
you guys, let me know if there's more. I think
we're a little longer on our time period now, right.
Speaker 6 (09:37):
We are.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
We're going to expand the timeframe from ten am to
six pm, so we're going to give runners a bigger
window to get in there and talk with all of
our sponsors and vendors and have those conversations. So Kyle,
your voice is going to be toast great for sure.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It was totally worth it because I had an absolute
blast up there, except for the fact that when I
was there, Nebraska lost their game. Yeah, and you just
feel the whole place going when that happened. It eventually
picked back up, but boy, there was a period where
everyone was unhappy.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Yes, yes, we have some really fun things going on
in the expo this year.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I mean, when you walk.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
In, you're going to be amazed. It's just going to
be a really cool spot. We are still going to
do our Ultra Shakeout run, so same time, we're going
to be doing that at eleven thirty, so you can
get your packet and then do your shakeout run or
do your shakeout run and come into the expo afterwards.
Just lots of people are just gonna be blown away.
(10:37):
So there's no way to tell you all the cool
things that we're doing without giving it away, but your
minds will be blown with the stuff that you see.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
What are just a few vendors they can expect to
run into at the expo.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
We have our local training partners. We've got Fleet Feet,
Lincoln Running Company, Victorious, Iron View and Peak Performance, so
all of them going to be there talking with people.
We're going to have Red Bull there, we are going
to have oh my goodness, I'm my mind blinking here
(11:11):
right now. We've got thirty booths filled and we're we're
still growing. Lexus of Lincoln is going to be there.
You can sign a car again. The pace car will
be signable, so if you've never done it before, get
your sharpie and sign the pace car, make a sign.
We're gonna have big maps so we will be able
to really communicate well. Pre race parking, pre race shuttles,
(11:32):
where to stand when you get to the start line.
We're doing indoor packet pickup on race day this year,
so if you can't get to the expert pick up
your packet, you'll go inside Lincoln East High School so
you can grab your packet inside there. We're going to
have the track open, so if you need to get
a warm up done before, you don't have to worry
(11:53):
about being out on the road, so you can just
pop over behind the school and jump on the track
or warm up on the grass area. So lots of
little things in store, but it's gonna equate to a
big experience.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
But don't don't worry about that race day morning packet
pick up. Everyone come to the expo. It is way
more fun.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Absolutely agree well too.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Linda's horn a little bit she puts on our expos
and the Hosie I think is one of the premier
ones in the area. We've visited a lot of other
expos and the thing I think she does so great
is makes an experience to come to, so it's not
just come in, pick up your packet, get out the door.
The vendors that she assembles are those that you want
to be at an event like this, and they're all
(12:35):
so excited to interact with you, Kyle. I empathize with
you because I've run a booth for our brand series
during the Expo for the last few years and I'm
out there just talking to everybody, you know, handing out flyers,
interacting with people, showing them the new merch and the
runners that come to it. A lot of them are
coming in from out of town, so they're experiencing that
Nebraska hospitality. They're enjoying the community of runners that we
(12:56):
have here, and it's just so much fun to see
everybody just light up the day before they're about to
do the big thing they've been training for.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, I like an Echo that as well, because I'm
in the Pink Gorilla lounge, so playing games, doing photos
with the Pink Gorilla, like having all sorts of fun.
And Yeah. I made the expo layout map a couple
of weeks ago, and it gets me pumped just looking
at it. It's going to be it's a complete different
feel from years past, but I think it's going to
be wonderful. And I think, yeah, blown away is I agree?
(13:27):
I Echo Big haves the energy right there you go.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
Yah, Linda's got us designing some big signage to fill
the space for in this year, so.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Very big maps, very very big maps.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I'd like it.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
It's good to know where you're going. So is everything
the same, same start line, same finish line as here's previous,
No changes to that, no changes to the course.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Yes, outside of that expanded capacity, the course is the same.
We've just found that it works so well and people
love it so much and we have an extremely high
return right runners doing it year after years, so we
know that it's a course that you know, we've kind
of got dialed in for navigating through the city of Lincoln,
and you know, we try to frushing things up with
(14:10):
entertainment stations and cheer stations and that kind of stuff.
But I think the course for the Hosie is just
a winner for runners.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, there's there's a lot more space, so like your
first i want to say, almost eight miles, like you'll
have a lot more room to run rather than just
being in like one lane of traffic, you have the
whole Yeah, and then I think the finish line is
a little bit expanded too, which is nice. So as
far as like getting your bag from bag pickup or
finding the photos and things like that.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
So oh, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 6 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Not only is Linda in charge of our expo, she
also puts together the post race experience on the footprint.
So Linda, you want to talk about maybe how you've
expanded the you know, down Canopy Street and that sort
of thing.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, So once we crossed the finish line this year,
we're gonna have our race recovery immediately after. And then
we've expanded the footprint of our photo booths. We've added
more photo boots, and we've got a special way to
celebrate PRS this year, and then we've got another DJ
down by our photo booths. So the party's going to
feel hoppen from the time that you are starting to
come down Canopy Street or come down the bridge. Yeah,
(15:18):
and you're just going to feel the energy is just
going to continue all the way on. We're expanding bag
Drop just a little bit so that people have a
space to get their things. And then we're also trying
to really be green and look at opportunities of ways
that we can take care of the environment. And so
we're going to have some recycling stations within the Railyard
(15:42):
area and we're really excited about being able to keep
things out of the landfill that don't need to go,
and so we're working with some local organizations who are
helping teach us about how to recycle properly and get
things into the right bins. So that's a huge thing
that's going on that maybe we'll be over overlooked, but
(16:02):
if you care about the environment, know that we do too,
and we're going to do our part at the finish
line to keep as few things going into the trash
that don't need to be.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
That's awesome, Yeah, well done on that one.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
It made me completely forget my question next because I
was listening to that, like, that's so cool. You guys
offer the bus service that takes you back from the
finish line back to the start line, so everyone normally
parks there, I guess, unless you're staying downtown. So who
came up with Because I want to give all the
credit in the world, who came up with that downhill
finish off the bridge because it's so fantastic. And the
(16:36):
only reason I pr'd last year was because I knew
that when I got to the top of that bridge,
whatever I had left, I needed to get down that hill.
But boy, that is like the most amazing downhill finish. Ever,
I am just in love with the finish of this race.
So whoever did that credit to them?
Speaker 4 (16:53):
I think Ben probably gets credit for that. Ben is
our course creator, big picture person, and he knows how
to look at things through a lens of just getting
it amazing from the beginning, and then we tweak it
and fine tune it, which is why we went from
our original course to what we're at now. It was
small tweaks and how do we make it better? And
(17:14):
that downhill finish at the end lining the street. It's
a vision that he had from the get go and
he created this with Jason, and so he gets the
credit there. I want to go back just a minute here.
We are really encouraging pre race shuttles this year.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Okay, yep.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
So you can park in the finish line area in
those parking garages, jump on a shuttle and that'll take
you to the start line. So then when you finish,
you can just get in your car and leave. But
you need to enjoy the after party first, of course.
But if you want to park at Seacrest, you absolutely can,
and we'll have that shuttle to take you back. But
(17:56):
as we all know, as the course, or as the
race grows, then we need to have room for cars,
and the great place to do that is in those
parking garages downtown. So if you haven't already know that,
that's a free option. And you get to the start line,
and then when you get done with the race, after
you've celebrated, then you can jump in your car and
(18:16):
go home instead of going back to Seacrest again.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Okay, awesome, that's good to know.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, this kind of the first year that you've really
wanted people doing that, because I haven't heard much about
the pre race shuttles in years.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Prior we've had it for a few years. I think
it was heavily like pointed to people that were staying
in the hotels down there, like at the start, and
then last year we opened it up big time for
other people to go down there. Okay, And like I
live in Omaha, so like when I ran the race,
I would have preferred to have my car at the
finish line, so I would have chosen to pick the
(18:49):
pre race shuttle. So I think it's October tenth is
the deadline to sign up for that. So if anybody
is like, wait a minute, I didn't sign up for that.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
You still can, Okay, all right, so sign up October
they got a sign up for the pre race shuttle. Now,
you guys, I think have a price increase coming up.
Is that correct? So when does that happen? We need
to get people to register night now.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
Yeah, the next.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Price the next price increase, it jumps at midnight on the.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Nineteenth, midnight on the nineteenth, So everyone needs to get
on it now. Join the Back of the Pack podcast
team or the KSB runners, I guess.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
For any of the teams that are out there. There's
so many teams.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
No, no, only only one of ours. That's it. We're
selfish like that over here? What are you doing? Come on,
you're sabotaging us.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Try to be inclusive now.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
We don't like those other.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
That Friday of the price increase is also the team
deadline to join a team, so that September nineteenth, there
is an important date for all participants in the race.
So you know, save a little money, get out yourself
on a team. And I think maybe it'd be worth
now mentioning that there's benefits to being on a team
out side of just the fun element of it too, right,
(20:02):
So we have you know, rewards for teams as you
grow it. The teams it's not like you're going to
be out there running with your team unless you choose
do to that and you fit into the right paces.
These are you know, designed defined as just for fun teams.
But after you get five members on your team that
you get your names on the race bibs. Then ten members,
(20:24):
your captain will in a captain's jacket, which I'm sure
Kyle you are looking forward to having Chelsea, yes, And
then you also get a refund of five dollars per
team member, and then it kind of goes up from
there where fifteen.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
Members you get a free runner hat, at.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Twenty members you get big charms for your team, and
then at twenty five plus you get twenty five dollars
in online.
Speaker 6 (20:43):
Merch gift card. Which this year we're.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Doing something different where very shortly after the team program
you know, joining period concludes on September nineteenth, we're going
to be sending out those codes so that you can
get yourself some merch before race day so you could have.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
That wear it for the event, so perfect.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Some changes that way. We're trying to tweak and improve
our incentives on the team's program, and we have more
teams this year than we've ever had before, so we
feel like it's working and helping us grow the race.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Well that's great, now, you guys, I can't think of
another race that gives so much swag to having the
big teams like you guys really are top notch and
I think above every other race when it comes to that,
who and why did you guys decide that was so
important to reward team members for signing up for these
four fun teams.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
I think Jared had the idea of really promoting growing
teams and giving incentives, and his marketing ideas are what
are helping our events grow as well. So he's done
a great job with that and looking he does such
a good job with the branding and the logos and
the swag that we have that we give to our
(21:55):
runners and so the stuff that he's creating, people are
hungry for and they want it. And so when we're
out running in the community, biking in the community, just
out for a walk, we're seeing our branded logos everywhere
and it's really cool to be out. I don't know
my running group, when we run, we count and see
(22:15):
how many housey shirts we see, or how many pink
Garrilla shirts, or most of the time when we show
up on Tuesday mornings, half of us are wearing the
same race shirt. And so we know that the stuff
that we're putting out there people want and what better
way to get it than run with your friends and
get the cool stuff.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Yeah, I've got all that.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
I got my square bottle, I've got the has the
teen year anniversary stick around, my.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Big water bottle.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
That's classic design.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Ye, I've got all the cool this year. Oh heck, yeah,
I get a kuzzie. Oh, let's go.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Oh, Chelsea's demoing some some exclusive merch when I was
expos Yeah. To Lenda's point, I'd love to take credit
for the team's program, but that was actually Ben's idea, Linda,
and then we've augmented it from there. But that's something
that Kyle, we've really tried to hang our hat on
(23:13):
for this race is providing exceptional value in the swag department.
So we want it to be a situation where if
you register early for the race, you're going to get
to participate in that opening offer swag, and then as
you grow your team, you're going to grow and accumulate
more race swag and then even you know, our race
shirts and our medals. We've really focused on a premium
(23:35):
approach to those for this race, and I think it's
paid off because people keep them as keepsick because.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You have there.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
I'm really proud of our medal this year. I think
it's going to be really well received. And that's something
that I think permeates throughout Pink Gorilla is that we
want to make sure that we're sourcing and providing swag
that you're going to actually keep and wear so that
we do see it out on the trails.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
And that you actually value it and keep it and
use it.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
Because I don't know about you, but there's so many
events you go to and you get, you know, a
shirt that's of low quality, or you get some swag
items so you're not actually going to use. So we
work really hard to make sure that we're providing things
that are run irrelevant and that people are going to
keep and use for a long time.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Yep. And I'd say, you guys knocked that one out
of the park.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
One more thing that I'll throw out there is we
also have this the Capital City Challenge, which is if
you do Lincoln Half Marathon or I guess the full
or I maybe just have in May and then go
do Good Life Havesy. You walk away with yet some
more bling. Talk to us about the Capital City Challenge.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Yeah, I'd love to talk about this piece of it
because I love the Capital City Challenge. We have a
wonderful partnership with the Lincoln Marathon and it does apply
if you run the Lincoln Half Marathon as well, So
you run both of those races in a calendar year,
and at the HASIE you'll have a special race bib
that designates you as going for your Capital City Challenge
(25:01):
medal and you'll get it from one of our race
volunteers and the shoot that Linda puts together. So yeah,
I love people crossing that finish line and then they're
you know, they got two pieces of hardware hanging around
their neck. And I think that's actually been very beneficial
to help grow both races, because if you run the
HASI for the first time and you see those people
(25:23):
with that two medal hanging around their neck, You're like,
how did you get that? And then you know they
join and up there this guy we got this.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Three Like wait, why do I not have all the blame.
Speaker 5 (25:34):
Yeah, yep. So yeah, the that that's been a successful
partnership for us, and this year I think is our
best Capital City Challenge medal ever.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Oh that metal sweep. I'm so excited to get that.
Speaker 5 (25:50):
Yeah, it's I'm not gonna lie about my inspiration from
the design. I mean I kind of ripped off the
idea from the Olympic medals, so that seemed like a
good inspiration this year. And we've the ones we've seen
in hand, you know, the actually we of course have
them now and they just look great. I mean they're thick,
they're chunky. That it's one of the best metals I
(26:11):
think that as a company we've ever helped produce. And
I'm in the midst of it right now, so I'll
just give a little sneak preview that for many years
we've used the Lincoln flag is inspiration for that metal,
and I think it's worked out great this upcoming year.
I don't know if you've when you've been in our
(26:31):
lovely city of Lincoln, you've probably seen our capital city,
our our capital building in the Capital City. It's the
tallest building in the city of Lincoln. So we're going
to be pivoting in future years to showcase some of
the artwork that is inside of that building, because it's
spilled with all this really interesting art and I want
to spill all my cards here. But we've got some
(26:53):
really cool designs that are going to be coming down
the pipeline for that Capital City Challenge.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
So if you're hearing.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
About this and considering running the haves E or coming
to Lincoln to participating in our races like the Lincoln
Marathon and the Good Life, have the the races and
are only going to get better.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
I think the metals too awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah, I really enjoyed the Lincoln Half.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I think it's a very easy course.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Dink Eelsen might be a little more difficult, but yet
I was faster on that. But either which way, neither
of them, I would say, are scary challenging by any
stretching imagination. You guys have managed to find really great
places to run around Lincoln so that it is really
not a hilly course at all. So I'm sure that
making it a prble course was something you all were
looking at, like wanting to accomplish.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
Absolutely, it's net downhill, So there are some there's some
rollers early, but it's a net downhill course, so you're
definitely you're up for a pr if you've trained up yourself.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Right, Which did you find that if it was maybe circular,
if it was just not point to point, if it
was just saying start and finish, think it might have
been more difficult. I don't know elevation wise, or did
anyone ever even look at that, or has this always
been the idea this was going to be point to
point to get us to downtown.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
I think we've had a couple of different things to consider,
but ultimately we wanted to make it our own. We
wanted to really be unique and the things we wanted
to showcase our city. There's some we're running through homes lake,
We're running down Normal Boulevard, seeing shunking gardens, taking advantage
of the Antelope Valley Trail System area and by the university.
(28:32):
So we just really wanted to showcase our city and
be unique and make it memorable. So I think that
was a big part of the inspiration for why we
did a point to point and then trying to do
the net downhill and think through, you know, how do
how do we make this good for people. How do
we make it so we can grow it and that's
why we're able to sustain the current course where we're at.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Okay, and then is it true you have to adjust
yearly around the Nebraska corn Huse football schedule?
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Is that true? Statement? Yes?
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Do you guys have that extra difficult that you have
to change your weekends every year?
Speaker 4 (29:09):
No, we know what we're I mean, we know where
we live and the relationship that we have with the city.
You know, we we want to keep that really good
and we don't want to make people have to choose
between running a race or going to a football game.
So it does make it a little bit difficult for
us to be waiting for when those things are going
(29:30):
to come out, when they're going to announce the schedule,
But you know, we were very confident that people are
going to want to come and run, so we know
that they're going to put October and November on their
schedule and as soon as we can release a date,
we absolutely will so that they can get that solidified
on their running calendar.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
Yeah, from a marketer's perspective, would have be nice if
we knew the race date at the end of the race.
This year, of course it would be, but you know,
in our market department is small and nimble, and Chelsea
and Ben and I we've kind of figured out this
methodology where this is the you know, handword delts because
(30:10):
football is obviously very important in Nebraska and in the
city of Lincoln. So this year you'll see us celebrate
the release of that schedule and you know, make a
big deal about when the races are gonna be because
it not only affects the Good Life Haves The's Day,
but also market to market Relay Nebraska, which is our
second largest race. So we kind of have to you know,
put asterixs and tbds by those dates, and then when
(30:34):
we get those schedules, will make a big deal about
announcing when they are awesome.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
All right, Well, the last thing I want to throw
at you, and you're gonna have to think on your
feet real quick here. I want your favorite has the memory,
whether it be something really cool that happened or some story.
I want your favorite memory from any of these last
eleven Good Life Haves thees. If you got one, throw
it out there. If not, I'm gonna start playing the
(31:00):
peparty music.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
HASI is still my pr for my half marathon too.
I think it was six years ago to twenty.
Speaker 6 (31:10):
Six let's go so nice.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Yeah, so I get the fun of being a runner
that also works for the events. So I haven't actually
ran the Hasie in person for the last few years,
but my goodness, it's just it's it's a fun course.
I love everything about it. So it's fun to be
on the other side and just get to like see
everybody else have that experience and everything like that. So yeah, okay, mmm.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
I think for me it is. Although there's a lot
of celebration about the people who win the race and
the people who you know, set prs and do those
kinds of things, get weirdly emotional, that's when I talk
about it. But for a lot of people, finishing a
half marathon is a bucket list thing to do. And
(32:04):
seeing those people that crossed the finish line, you know,
towards the end and they're given it, they're all is
really emotional and really powerful, I think, and I don't
remember exactly what year it was was. I think it
was the first year that you created the all the
pink gorilla costumes. Linda and our last finisher crossed with
(32:27):
all the people in pink gorilla costumes, and.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
We shot off a confetti cannon.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
And really celebrated that last finisher coming through, and it
was just a really cool moment. Our whole team that
was down there celebrated her. We shot some really cool
video and photos of her crossing. And you know, so
what I think you'll find at the Good Life Hosie
is it's going to be an awesome experience from start
to finish. And you know, even if you're that last
(32:54):
person crossed the finish line, we're a company that you know,
is created by people who care a lot about running
and what it can do for you as a person,
and you'll see us celebrating everybody who crosses under our
finish art.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Awesome love that as the back of the back podcast.
We are here for that, all right.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
Didn't I didn't fabricate that just to speak to your
podcast name. That's some truth right there.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Absolutely all right, Linda, Well you got your favorite Hansy memory.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
This is really hard for me because I'm in so
many different parts of the event, and some of it
I get to see from start to finish. In other
parts I just get to kind of dip my toes
in I think operationally when we went from having our
expo downtown to taking it out to it's called now
(33:46):
Sandhills Global Event Center, was just absolutely amazing that we
had outgrown anything downtown that could hold us and we
needed more space, and just to see all the hard
work that we were putting in behind the scenes and
that people loved it and that they wanted to be
a part of it, and just to see that we'd
(34:08):
outgrown a footprint that we thought, you know, this, this
could be a long term thing for us. We had
a couple of different places downtown and we outgrew both
of them, and so it's just been really neat to
see the growth and all the little things that come
with it. The pink gorillas out on the course. A
memory that I had was a couple of my friends
finished and they for a while thought that the pink
(34:29):
gorilla was running ahead to the next mile marker and
couldn't figure out how they were getting from one to
two to three in front of them, and then they
realized that it was a different one at each one.
But just some of the like those two things I
think stand out to me the most. Just it's the
little things that we're doing that. People may or may
not notice, but it creates a big experience.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, and you haven't run a race until you high
five a gorilla just right or.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Thirteen Yeah, thirteen of them on the Hatsia course. You
want to do it?
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Okay, Well that'll be my goal this year is to
get thirteen gorilla high fives going.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Yes, I love it all right.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Well, everyone, you are about to hit a price increase,
so go register for it now, get on the team
now before that option is finished, and then make sure
November ninth you are in Lincoln, Nebraska for the Good
Life HAVESI. I want to thank our guest. Thank you
all so much for coming on the podcast. I know
I'm like looking up. That's where my screen is that
has your faces on it, OD look right there. Sorry
about that, but Jared, Chelsea, Linda, thank you all so
(35:29):
much for joining us and we will be seeing you
November ninth in Lincoln, Nebraska. Thank you all so much.
Thank you right, this has been another episode of the
Back of the Back podcast. I'm your host, Kyle Walker.
It is my pleasure as always, everyone, have a safe
week of training, start training for your HAVESI. If you
haven't already, and we will see you next week.
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