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.
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| Post race party at the 14th mile - Memorial Union Terrace |
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