Organizers of the Lucky 7’s race add the Eat, Drink & Shop GOLD Rush!

​Things have been very busy here at 605 Running Company. So much of our focus last year was spent on creating OMNI channels for our product delivery. Basically, we were in full on survival mode and in many ways the retail portion of our business is still very much operating under survival conditions. We put our entire inventory online, offered new delivery options, created different personal shopping opportunities, shortened our business hours to cut costs and made many other strategic decisions that undoubtedly aged me.

We are focused on bringing back the fun in 2021. We have been very intentional about creating hybrid running events, refocusing our community fundraising and volunteering efforts and promoting our neighborhood businesses. Our business is built by building a community. Just this year we created the Winter Wonderland BINGO Challenge, we are currently running a food drive for Feeding South Dakota, we are hosting a product drive for Women’s Day of Service, and our Race Crew has been able to resume our volunteer efforts with the St. Francis House. This part of the blog post you might want to write down: Starting in March we will be restarting Saturday morning group run and extending our store hours on Thursday, Friday & Saturday until 7pm!     
 
When you talk about fun and Downtown Sioux Falls and the running community the natural progression is running on St. Patrick’s Day, enjoying the parade and maybe having a special drink or two. As you may or may not know the organizers of the annual parade made the extremely difficult decision to cancel this year’s (and last years) parade due to the pandemic. I have nothing but respect for this decision out of an abundance of caution and I know that the good folks on the parade committee truly want all of us to be happy and healthy. On a fair weather day a Downtown parade can attract 50,000 people; not having the ability to predict numbers or ensure safe mitigation practices, this decision really makes a lot of sense.

So let’s talk about the running portion of the holiday festivities and the impact of Downtown business. We’ll start with the running part. 605 Running Company has been looking for a way to be more involved with St. Patrick’s Day racing for years. So when my personal friend and local race-directing wonder woman Karen Lechtenberg reached out to us about supporting a new race called Lucky 7’s we jumped at the opportunity. Karen is truly passionate about our running community and has created a hybrid event that truly serves our local runners. Together we knew that the lack of a parade would have a significant impact on the businesses in Downtown Sioux Falls. Earlier this week for Presidents’ Day we shared a quote from Theodore Roosevelt,

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”

It is with that spirit, Karen and I worked to create the Eat, Drink & Shop GOLD Rush for Lucky 7’s participants. Working with our partners at Anderson Race Management, neighboring Downtown businesses and praying for warm temperatures, negative tests and more vaccines; we hope to do what we can, with what we have, where we are in Downtown Sioux Falls. The St. Patrick’s Day holiday will look a bit different this year, but we still want to have safe and responsible fun.

If you go:
Who: Tres Hermanas Race Organizers (Karen Lechtenberg), Anderson Race Management (Race Timing), 605 Running Company (Downtown Business & Running Party Animals)
What: Lucky 7’s Road Race and Eat, Drink & Shop GOLD Rush
Where: Races all start and finish at Remedy Brewing Company, find out more about the Eat, Drink & Shop GOLD Rush here
When: All festivities will happen between March 1st & March 17th (Race Day is March 13th)
Why: This event supports the Sioux Falls Humane Society – event organizers will be collecting donations on race day!

Register to run here

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Author

Greg Koch is the Co-Owner and General Manager of 605 Running Company and Produces the Sioux Falls Skedaddle Half Marathon, SuFu Circuit Relay Race and the 605 Summer Race Series. He serves on the Board of Directors for Downtown Sioux Falls, the 605 Race Crew and the Sioux Falls Area Running Club. When Greg isn’t with his family or working he enjoys being outside biking, kayaking, golfing or playing church softball.

​Instagram: gregrun605
YouTube: 605 Running Company
Facebook: facebook.com/greg.koch.583