Thursday, May 30, 2013

How The Mini Route and Date Came To Be


The Early Stages

The beginning stages of the Mini had some interesting twists, turns and hiccups.  Prior to landing the race site at the Memorial Union, the Mini Team had the job of selling the event to the different entities in Madison who oversaw events, garnering support and achieving approval for the Inaugural event. 

When first exploring dates, it quickly became apparent there would be some limitations.  Late summer or early fall was targeted for the time of the year.  As everyone in Wisconsin knows, Badger football rules the roost, so we had to coordinate around the Badgers schedule.  We wanted a consistent date, one that wouldn’t fluctuate year to year based on their schedule, so we landed in August.  Well, anyone who lives in Madison or has gone to UW knows August also brings student move-in.  Being naïve and not fully understanding the impact of move-in, the inaugural event was dropped right on move-in weekend.  Those that participated the first year can probably remember the craziness getting to and from the Memorial Union for Packet Pick-Up.  After that first year, the date is now coordinated with UW and student move-in.  Lessons learned!!!

The priority with the Mini was to come up with a unique route that showed off the City of Madison, ran by the landmarks of Madison and provided something different from the other events in the city.  The initial meetings with the city and UW regarding the route were interesting.  We heard several things:
-        *The route shouldn’t cross Gorham
-        *The route shouldn’t cross Johnson
-        *You can’t run on the Capitol Square because of the Farmer’s Market
-        *You can’t run through the Arboretum from East to West
-        *You aren’t going to get the cooperation from UW
-        *You can’t close off the UW Vet Hospital
To the Mini team, challenge accepted.  After several meetings, lots of discussion, maps, timelines, explanation, and more meetings, we were thrilled to make all of these things happen.  We can’t thank the people enough who were willing to discuss these items and help us make them happen.  Without their support and willingness to listen, the Mini would not have such a great route!

There was one more challenge the Mini faced in year one.  After many of the discussions listed above, the inaugural Mini was set for Sunday, August 30, 2009.  Marketing materials were printed, T-shirts were printed for the marketing team, signage was created, registration was open and full-out marketing was happening.  After 2-3 weeks of being “out there” and accepting registrations, a striking statement was made during a meeting with Madison Police, “You know you have to change your date, don’t you?”  During the moment of disbelief, the initial thought was they were joking.  Unfortunately, this was not a joke.  2009 was also the first year of “Ride the Drive” and it was placed on August 30th as well.  It was quickly discovered the two events could not coexist on the same date and since Ride the Drive was a city event, it took precedence.  After meeting with the city, the Mini was moved to Saturday, August 29th.  New marketing materials were created and off we went…again!  In the end, Saturday was the ideal date for the Mini and one we initially wanted.  Funny how things work out and now five years later, Saturday has been a hit. 

The ups and downs of the beginning stages were challenging, but all great things don’t come without a struggle. The Mini can’t thank all the individuals from the City of Madison, University of Wisconsin, and Dane County Farmer’s Market enough for their willingness to listen and work with us to make the Mini a reality.  It goes to show the great community spirit of Madison.
 
Post race party at the 14th mile - Memorial Union Terrace

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