Behind the Scenes with Jon Lugbill
Jon Lugbill here (also known as the Executive Director for the Sports Backers). I’m happy to welcome you to my first blog post. I’m sure I will get better at it as we go along. I hope this becomes an opportunity for you to see what we are working on at Sports Backers and potentially get involved.
This week the Sports Backers started off with a big weekend, sort of like every weekend. Nearly 3,000 participants in our marathon, half, and 8k training teams were out hitting area streets. Our Kids Run RVA staff was out at the training runs letting people know about all of the great things we do to promote kids running at area schools and playgrounds. (By the way, we are looking for volunteers to help lead our school running clubs!) I’m sure many of you were down at the Richmond Folk Festival and saw our bike racks at the Bike Valet. And, we had staff up at the Army 10 Miler in Washington, D.C. promoting our upcoming events.
After a busy and active weekend, we’re now working hard on exploring options for a number of potential new events. A relay event in the spring is a possibility. We’re discussing opportunities to get cyclists and possibly even runners on some of the World Championship courses in 2015. We are also seeking a new site for a half marathon. Stay tuned as these plans develop.
Also this week, our friends at the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation celebrated the grand opening of the latest, completed stretch of the multi-use trail. Starting at Jamestown and heading west, you can now run, walk, or ride for 29 miles. As we celebrate, we hope you are aware that there are actually several different bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure projects that we are working on through our Bike Walk RVA initiative. We might need your help convincing some city staff to add bike lanes to Semmes Avenue, reduce the speed limit on Floyd Avenue to 20 mph for the new Bike Walk Street, and build a physical barrier between vehicles and the proposed Virginia Capital Trail route along Dock Street.
Marathon preparations are in full swing, and our race committee is pulling together last minute details so we’ll be ready to welcome and cheer on 20,000 runners on November 15. A site visit to Mines Park in Midlothian got us in the holiday mood, and dreams of our next CarMax Tacky Light Run were dancing in our heads. And, the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k planning is in full swing, and marketing materials are already being produced.
As we power through a productive fall and gear up for a busy winter and spring (aka 10k season), we’re excited to use this blog to share a behind the scenes look at our events, community programs, and progress towards achieving our mission to make Richmond the most active community in the nation. Nearly everything we do can be aided or assisted by volunteers. If you feel you have something to add to our effort, please give me a call or send me an e-mail at [email protected]. Let’s build a culture of active living in RVA.