Rob Mackay :: Notes from the edge

I was reading a post on the Harriers chatline this morning about the Esquimalt 8km. The question of event sponsorship came up and that local businesses should be sponsoring with cash. Great idea but the reality in Victoria, and the overall trend in North America, is that unless you (the sponsee) can show hard ROI, sponsors are more apt to sign product/contra sponsorship agreements. In the business world, even a contra agreement has a bottom-line cost to the sponsor. Sponsorship is a strange beast and Victoria is a specialized market.

So, assuming you’re not an elite level (i.e. Jesper Blake, Jim Findlayson), how do you attract sponsors to either an event you are hosting or to support your racing? Here are a few ideas to start with….

1) Start with the people you know- Sponsors, especially large companies get inundated with requests. During the school year I receive 5/week and I consider this small potatoes considering what Thirfy’s must process. Thrifty’s, BC Ferries, Frontrunners…they get pummelled. A better strategy is to speak, not pitch, your friends/family. Tell them about your event/you and let them know you are looking for sponsors. (You can get to $1500 in $100 increments sometimes much faster than waiting for a large company to make a decision)

2) Ask a potential Sponsor, ”What are you trying to achieve?” - Marketers are savvy when it comes to marketing (duh.) Unless they are sponsoring you out of the goodness of their heart (ya, right), they have specific business objectives (e.g. “I am trying to generate more leads for my sales team…”, “I am trying to create a perception of community good will…”) Ask about their objectives, listen and be creative when you come back to them with a specific sponsorship offer. I guarantee that a sponsor who achieves some of his/her business objectives is a happy (and returning) sponsor.

3) Get creative with ‘activation’ - ‘Activation’ is industry jargon but simply it’s a way for sponsors to interact with potential customers. Victoria is not a sponsorship market like Toronto. In Toronto, the competitive nature of the market means that sponsees are forced to get creative in how they both recognize their sponsors and also provide access to the sponsors market. Victoria is…sleepy. I’ve yet to see a really cool ‘activation platform’ (more jargon) and it is ripe for someone to come up with better ways than event signage (yawn) to profile sponsors.

4) (Event Sponsorship) Provide the Sponsor with a post-event recap document - The only one I have seen so far in my work was from the 24 Hour Relay.  They have an event coordinator who understands sponsorship and the Relay will be in great shape with sponsors as long as she is there. At a minimum an event recap would have demographic information, any survey information and photos of Sponsor signage at the event. It’s a great way to follow up and sets the stage for an easier ask the next year.

If you want more ideas, you can always sponsor me to come out and speak on ‘Sponsorship’ (I have some cool ideas on how I can activate the sponsorship for you…)!

Damn. More reflection on the Gobi race this weekend. Like mirror reflection. Some thoughts…

1) Extreme races, actually any race over a marathon, strip you down to the core. You start off as a clean cut, confident and strong competitor. Late in the race you are in survival mode. In survival mode, all of your least favourable traits rise to the top and become amplified.  You struggle to keep it together and hold on to the way ‘it should be’. I held on at MDS. At the Gobi race, I could have been stronger. In the end, I didn’t meet my expectations as a leader.

2) I remember coming back to the hotel after crossing the finish line. DP and I walked into the posh Kashgar foreigner hotel. As we were late, many of the competitors had already scrubbed, shaved and were sitting in the couches drinking beer, but to me at least they looked uncomfortable, almost embarrased. We still had the 7 day beard, stank like hell, and were covered in dirt.

It struck me that they had passed back into the ‘real world’, one filled with responsibility, expectations and ‘proper’ ways of behaving and as we made our way up to our room, I became quiet. I really didn’t want to go back. The ‘world of external expectations’ seems Walmart fake to me. Fake smiles, fake value, fake ‘love’. Somehow for 7 days we got a chance to be ourselves without the baggage (responsibility?) of everyday life. I think it’s partly why we go back for more.

3) In the end, it’s really a solo race. Even though you come in as a team, you need to be able to push away the pain, the dirt and massive scope of the distance - on your own. 

STORMY Update: Running repeats up Mt. Doug yesterday and as can happen with any mileage, I felt my hamstring tweak. In the old days (pre-2005) I would have continued up, up, up. I was at the 1:30 mark of a 3 hour run and still had 3 more hills to finish. Did the ’smart’ thing and walked out of the park, caught a bus and came home to Thai food and a nice merlot.

Ben Franklin Update: I’m had a hard time with managing the ’silence’ virture last week.  Mostly when I was listening to someone who was spinning the truth or making up a story to cover a mistake, I wanted to scream out loud. I kept my mouth shut - about 10% of the time.

Gobi March Slide Show Update: We are finally doing a slide show on August 15th at 7:30pm at Frontrunners Westshore in Langford.  We took over 500 pictures of the race and have the regular extreme race gruesome stories to tell, it will be fun.

If I answer with a lukewarm, “It was good…” to the question, “How was the Gobi race…?” don’t read too hard into it. The experience was amazing.

Any hesitation comes from a post I wrote on the 4 Deserts site about the lack of race organization (their lack of organization/coordination) and how it lead to situations that were unnecessarily unsafe. During the race I spoke to volunteers and also a media person who were part of the ‘behind the scenes’ action and they concurred. If I had posted, ‘Racing the Planet did and amazing job!’ I’d be lying. In the end, it made me reconsider extreme races and vow to do a better job researching the experience of the race organizers before entering. (I only have MDS to compare it to and MDS is increadibly well managed)

A number of other blogging competitors disagreed. Fair enough.  I can’t believe that competitors would enter a race like this without considering safety important. We’re human and it would play on anyone’s mind. The reality (admittedly according to me) is that they created a course that they couldn’t manage and then spun it as ‘logistically challenging, etc’.

I believe it’s a 50/50 split of responsibility between competitors and race management. Competitors have the responsibility of being trained (mentally/physically), having the correct gear and knowing how to use it, and knowing when they are competing beyong their abilities. The race organizers have the responsibility of ensuring the course is properly managed, ensuring contingency plans are in place when the race is ‘logistically challenging’ and that they follow through on promises made.

I don’t believe they held up their side of the deal.

From this I have learned the following;

1) We all have post race amnesia.

2) Cliche but it’s a case of ‘Buyers beware’ - apparently the race organizers have had a mutiny at one of the earlier Gobi races and had I done a better job at researching it things might have been different.

and 3) Even if I wanted to go back into a 4 Deserts race, I doubt they’d have me back!

Lately I’ve been running to work and taking Beach ave. Midway through the run I pass by Willow’s beach and the Hollywood style beachfront homes.

I always wonder why I never see anyone sitting on the deck of their million dollar home enjoying the sunrise. This morning a few reasons came to mind:

1) They have already gone to work either day trading or at some high-pressure government job (oxymoron).

2) They are famous and wouldn’t want to attract the paparazzi

3) Seeing the sunrise for the millionth time on the water is…the same old, same old.

I think #3 is probably it. Whatever we acquire, we adjust to - it’s human nature to adapt to the new. (look at how quickly kids get bored of new toys)

Doesn’t make me want a beachfront home any less…

Victoria is a great city for alternative transportation. I mentioned earlier that I run to/from work and will add in biking as soon as I carve some time out for fixing a flat. Admittedly I do this to wrap training around the rest of my life.

That said, I’m still guilty of sometimes zipping over in our Echo (get over the look of it and it’s a great car) to Safeway to “pick up a few things…” Safeway is less than .5 of a km from our house! As such, I’ve floated the idea that we get rid of the car and become a ‘no car’ family. I know of 2 families that only ride the bus or bikes and they seem to make do - I haven’t spoken to them much in the monsoon season, though.

No doubt the environment is THE hot topic of the 2000’s, much as nuclear destruction was THE issue of the 80’s and I’ve seen many ’save the environment’ campaigns but rarely do you see one that ties in soul saving and environmental stewardship. If you have a moment, take a look at Geez Magazine’s ’Demotorize Your Soul’ campaign. Brilliant and simple.

I was chatting with someone today about the lack of an ultra scene here in Victoria (and on the Island). It’s true, there are only a handful of people who actively run ultras. Thankfully this means that I’m mid-pack in most races, not back of the pack.

We have a ton of elite athletes here on the Island that dabble in ultras. Here is a top 4 list of people (Island folk) I hope never decide to seriously take up ultras and a #5 who is underrated as an ultra runner. If they take it on full time, we’re all doomed.

1. Nik Southwell-  Here is a guy who is made for very long trail running - his legs are like tree trunks. He won the Death Race (125km) a few years ago and was on to shatter the course record. Apparently to train for it he ran up and down Mt. Findlayson…10 times. He smoked Elk/Beaver this year as well. I know the money sport is marathoning so his sights are set but if he ever drifts back to ultras, I think he’d be one of the best in Canada.

2 . Peter Reid - I have a theory that triathletes are overall better conditioned for ultras than ultra runners. (I don’t have any scientific proof). I’ve run with tri’s that use long ultras for training and at Haney to Harrison I met 3 that didn’t train specifically for the race, just added it in to their calendar. Obviously Peter Reed is strong and rangy - like Scott Jurek.  He knows how to train and I bet he could just pick up and run.

3. Lucy Smith - From her site…‘She is a versatile competitor having achieved success over a range of events from 5000m on the track to the Ironman distance in triathlon.’No kidding. She also has a classic ultra body type and has the experience (she is in her 40’s) to train without overtraining. Also, her partner Lance Watson is probably one of the best endurance coaches in Canada.

4. Brendan Brazier- If you’ve been to any health food section of a Thrifty’s store, you’ve seen his VEGA product line. Like another great ultramarathoner, Dom Repta, Brendan is a vegan. Like Dom, he is also very fast over a long way. Actually, he has a very similar body type to Dom. Anyway, he is another triathlete who has proven himself at the ultra distance and would be formidable if he focused soley on long ultras.

AND

#5 Rob Fontaine- Rob is from Campbell River and typically comes in a top 5 in any ultra he enters. He still holds the course record for the Death Race. It’s disheartening to meet him at the start line because all you see is his back after the gun goes but he’s a nice guy so it’s not so bad! He is the one guy I think who could run in the Marathon Des Sables or Gobi desert race and win it. The reason: He is tall and lean but strong. Tall and lean enable heat to dissipate - key for taking the heat from the core and bringing it to the surface.

Any others that I am missing?

 TEAM GC at the finish line in Kashgar.

At the urging of a few friends, I have started to read The Secret. I usually have 2 books on the go at the same time so it was easy to pick it up. If you have been living in the Arctic Circle, ‘The Secret’ is based on the Law of Attraction - your thoughts determine your existence so think hard about what you want and it will appear (simple version).

After reading 80 pages I remembered that I read Michael Losier’s book ‘Law of Attraction’ a couple of years ago…a book with virtually the same idea. Strange thing is that Michael lives in Victoria….

Forget about the law of attraction for a moment. The authour, Rhonda Byrne may be a decent writer, philospher and movie producer but she is a brilliant marketer. Playing on the innate and genetically programmed ‘curiosity’ trait, she wrote a book and produced a movie that dangles a huge carrot out there for the soul-searching Baby Boomer market. (I’m a Gen X’er so cynicism is ‘normal’ for me) Not only that, it is packaged in a way to make you believe you are hearing it ‘on the sly…’

Many self-help books are packaged as workbooks, school textbooks, etc. and this is where they lose the plot. The Secret is sexy, almost fictional in it’s presentation and ‘Thriller’ like. Like pop-culture aficionado’s would say, “Forget the content, I love the style!”

On to less sexy ideas…

A new week and I am trying out a new virtue.

# 2. “SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”

I’m not sure if this includes blogging but for now I’m making the exception.

Coming back from the Gobi I have been training with vengence.  In five days I’ve put in 105km with a long run left to go.  Lots of hill work in preparation for STORMY. (right now, I am in)

I tried to answer the ‘Why?’ question earlier without much luck. This week, under the guise of ‘getting ready for STORMY…’,  I think the high mileage has to do with work stress and the feeling of drifting a bit.

Drifting because I don’t have any ‘grand plans’ in the works right now. I do have lots of mid-range plans but nothing out there on the horizon that is scary/exciting. Any suggestions?

Did I mention yet that I am in a men’s book club? (mookclub) It’s true. I’ll be keeping current our latest choice in my blogroll to the right.

A month before I left for the Gobi, a great friend emailed me that he was joining a men’s book club. Always up for strangeness, I emailed “I’m in…”.

The group is shockingly normal much to my dismay. I’ll reveal their professions…2 Professors, Marine Engineer, IT specialist, former Entrepreneur, Journalist, former Teacher, Architect. We get together once a month at a pub, drink beer, eat and actually discuss the book of choice. Did I mention that this is a men’s book club? The discussion is excellent…intellectually intimidating at times but I look forward to the evening.

The choice for this past month was ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy. I was in the Gobi last month so I could only listen to the conversation this week as I didn’t read the book. (I am reading it now and starting to get a taste for Pulitzer winners. This month it was my choice so I offered ‘Blink’ written by ’small town Canadian boy does good’, Malcolm Gladwell.

After all of this I’m going to write a book about the mookclub.