The Return of The Marathon Project

We’re back baby!! Today marked the official re-launch of The Marathon Project. The first Marathon Project was something we (myself, my friend Josh Cox, and my former business partner/friend Matt Helbig) put on back in December of 2020 during the Pandemic. At the time it all seemed like a whirlwind considering we only had about three months to pull it off. But looking back, humbly, I have to say it was pretty darn amazing. We were able to find the perfect venue in Chandler, Ariz. at Wild Horse Pass Resort. We created a criterium-style course comprised of six 4.62 mile loops, plus a start and finish straightaway, to get to 26.2 miles. And then we went about marketing the heck out of it in an effort to get as many top runners to show up as possible (but not too many as we had to limit the field due to Covid). In the end, the race was a huge hit. It was broadcast live on Runnerspace.com with a same-day replay that night on NBC Sports. Sara Hall ran 2:20:32—then the second-fastest U.S. women’s time ever—leading 12 athletes under 2:30:00. On the men’s side, Marty Hehir ran 2:08:59—leading seven American men under 2:10:00 (the first and still only time that has ever happened in one race).

It really was a special day. You can watch the replay HERE.

After the race, that was pretty much it. It was meant to be a one-off. We all went back to our day jobs, the Pandemic eventually subsided, and life returned to normal. But I don’t think any of us involved with the event that day ever totally gave up that idea in the back of our heads that maybe someday we could bring back The Marathon Project as an annual event. Fast forward to this August and that darn idea had made its way to the front of my head. I made the decision that I wanted to not only bring The Marathon Project back, but that I wanted to quit my job and make it my livelihood.

The first thing I did was make a call to Josh and a call to Matt. They were my partners on this thing and I wanted them back. Thankfully, they were in. My next call was to my friend Katie Sutton. Katie is awesome. She's a runner, a cybersecurity expert, a breast cancer survivor, and for the last several years she’s been the president of the Festival of Miles Foundation—overseeing the rise of the HOKA Festival of Miles track meet to the point that it is now undoubtedly the best postseason high school middle-distance event in the United States. She was in too. So we had our team.

I would say things really got going in October when I resigned from my job and began working on The Marathon Project full-time. Josh, Katie, and Matt are co-owners, but they each have specific roles and are not full-time with TMP. So I had lots to do. And for the first time in my entrepreneurial life I had to do it all without the assistance of my wife, Jen. She has a different job (crushing it of course) and so I couldn’t ask her to take time away to help my dumb self. I’ll spare you the details, but I did a lot of googling and eventually created The Marathon Project website, built out the registration site thanks to Matt’s team at Big River Race Management, secured the venue at Wild Horse Pass, and worked with the good folks at AWD Law in Flagstaff to get all the boring business stuff out of the way. And of course Josh, Katie, and Matt did a ton along the way as well.

So now here we are. The Marathon Project is reborn! We launched today and shared all the details with the running world. I hope they like it. The goal is to take all the excitement that’s been going on for the last several years regarding fast times (thanks in large part to super shoes) and give folks a chance to set PRs on the flattest, fastest, course you could imagine…in beautiful weather…in a super-controlled environment. We’ll have a 5k on Saturday morning, December 20 at 7:20 a.m. followed by the Gold Wave Marathon at 8:40 a.m. The Gold Wave is open to the top 500 men and top 500 women who enter. If you are thinking this might be the race for you consider this; the host hotel is 1/2 mile from the start/finish line, we’ll have an indoor warmup area (and indoor bathrooms) for you, you’ll be able to drop your bag off feet from the start line, you can wait to line up until ten minutes before the race, you’ll have plenty of room to run, we’ll have pace groups for you, and your friends and family can stay in one spot and see you as many as 12 times!! Add in an amazing weekend where you can attend the pro-race press conference which will be open to the public, watch the pro race on Sunday morning, and where you’ll get the best swag bag in the business, and you are in for a premier, VIP experience.

If you are a professional and want to run this race, consider all the things mentioned above plus a super-deep field on a proven course where you will have everything required to run a personal best, set records (if that’s your thing), and run Olympic Trials, World Championship, and Olympic Games qualifying times.

Finally, if you are a fan; you will want to be in Chandler on race weekend…I promise. Tons of chances to meet the pros. Two great marathons to watch. A beautiful resort to hang out in. A casino on property (I’ll see you there Sunday night) and so much more.

I’ll stop there for now. More posts, and more info, to come but for now I’d just encourage you to visit The Marathon Project website at www.themarathonproject.com!!