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Sports Backers Blog

Thankful for Tacky, Crazy, Authentic Active RVA

by Jon Lugbill

Residents of RVA, we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Tacky lights are going up all around the region as we get ready for another incredible holiday season. We have amazing street art, a feature that continues to gain momentum. Our thriving outdoor scene is driven by whitewater running through the center of town and dozens of miles of trails built by volunteers. With these assets and more, nobody is surprised that Frommers named RVA one of 2014’s top 14 destinations. They couldn’t have said it better when they observed that “while no one was looking, Richmond became cool.”

Back in the late 90’s when Sports Backers was trying to figure out how to make Richmond a host of major sporting events, we came upon a simple idea of building events around our region’s best attributes. Thus, the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k was born, taking advantage of one of the most beautiful streets in America. But, we didn’t stop there. We added to a costume contest, bands every 200 yards, and wacky cheering sections. Now you had the perfect combination of beauty, history, and offbeat to make the 10k a quintessential Richmond event. This homegrown 10k has now become the 7th largest running race in America!

I don’t know about you, but I’m very proud of what Richmond has become. The city’s attributes continue to grow, and I count myself lucky to have an opportunity to complement them with athletic events. Most of our city’s success, and, in turn, Sports Backers success, can be credited to you, the citizens of the region, who seem to prefer and support homegrown products and events.

When I think of Richmond’s best attributes, the James River tops the list, and it’s one that local residents have worked hard to improve and protect. Dominion Riverrock was created as a modern day river festival to celebrate our nation’s founding river. Where else can you see slack liners crossing a canal while mountain bikers do back flips, dogs jump, climbers navigate their way up a manmade cave, and kayakers race in the rapids?

While our region sorely lacks safe and accessible bike infrastructure, we are starting to turn that corner as well. Funding for bike and pedestrian infrastructure has increased thanks to City Council and thousands of citizens who advocated for Richmond to become a bike friendly city. In 2015, the Virginia Capital Trail will connect Jamestown to Richmond with a 53 mile paved trail, and our James River Park System trails, combined with trails at Pocahontas State Park, have been selected to become home for an IMBA Ride Center, one of only 14 such centers around the world.

tlr-jons-blogRichmonders love to celebrate a diverse range of local attributes, however, and you could say that our obsession for wacky traditions like tacky holiday lights rivals that of our pride in our thriving, urban outdoor scene. Local citizens continue to amaze us every holiday season with decorations getting more outrageous and over the top every year. We think it is normal to have holiday parties in buses and limos and go on a Tacky Light Tour just as it’s normal to be able to go from city life to single track within minutes. And we even have the CarMax Tacky Light Run to turn this offbeat and uniquely Richmond attribute into a celebration.

People are starting to notice that Richmond has indeed become cool. Last week I spoke to a class at the University of Richmond, and all 28 students said they hoped to stay in the area after graduation.

We live in an awesome place, not because of some grand master plan; we have come so far because the majority of our friends and neighbors refuse to be satisfied with good when they can have great. This is the essence of the Active RVA initiative. We know Richmonders like to get involved when collective action by individuals can make a difference. Every person that reaches out and helps a friend or coworker to live an active lifestyle is part of this movement.

Yes, this Thanksgiving I’m going to enjoy spending time with my wonderful family and catching up on everyone’s latest adventures, but I’m also going to give thanks for my opportunity to work with so many outstanding people at Sports Backers as we do our part to add to the RVA coolness stew we are cooking up. And, I will give special thanks this year to each of you who has added a little bit of your personal touch to make RVA the best, tacky, crazy, authentic place it can be!

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