Today I moved a sofa into my garage at 6am in the morning. Somehow I’ve made it to a point in life where this is totally normal.

Okay, let’s break this down a bit. Chelsea and I finally decided it was time to move on from our college/newlywed furniture.

When I say we decided, what I really mean is that we thought we’d go buy a new recliner to add to our living room and ended up buying an entire new set of furniture. While wandering around the furniture store we discussed how we didn’t actually have adequate seating in our house to actually have family and friends over. This became apparent to us thanks to Violet. You see when you have a baby people actually want to come and visit you at your house. Thus, it was time to move on from the single big floppy sofa that was our first “real” purchase together as a couple.

So a phone call to the furniture mission later, I discovered that I needed to move the large sofa to the garage so it could be easily picked up and repurposed. When it comes to moving furniture our go-to call is Chelsea’s brother. He is big and strong, has moved a bunch of furniture in his life and only lives two blocks away. In theory we were all set. However, this is the one week that he is out-of-town for work. Like seriously, he has never gone out-of-town for work until this week. Bummer dude!

That is where the 6am shenanigans come into play. As I’ve mentioned before, our running community is incredible and some of my best friends have been made through countless miles at group runs, meet-ups and running club socials. Basically, since Violet was born I’ve had friends coming to my house every Tuesday to run with me at 5am. You read that last line correctly. Yes, the running store guy gets front door service from his running buddies so he can log some AM miles before the baby wakes. There are some weeks that my only running has been this Tuesday jog around my neighborhood. Just thinking back to the past eight months gets me a little bit emotional, those miles meant more to me than most will ever know.

So after a quick text about grabbing the AM miles I followed up with a casual,

“Hey, would you be willing to help me move a sofa tomorrow after our run?”

6am, 28 degrees outside and two guys moving a sofa. Totally normal.

I had a big year in 2019. Our business changed, we welcomed Violet to the world, we Skedaddled, I finished in 3rd place in a national marketing competition within the running industry, I ran the LA Marathon, traveled back to LA on a special invite to meet with a 5 billion dollar company, I set a 10 mile PR and got one haircut the entire year. I’m sure that I’m missing some major milestones, but I think you get the point. With all that being said I think 2020 is going to be even more exciting.

​If moving large pieces of furniture in the early morning hours is the new normal just imagine what my team and I will accomplish this year. This is going to be a big year and I’m overjoyed to be sharing it with the Sioux Falls running community. Stay tuned and as always let me know what you want your local running store to look like and I’ll try to continue to shape this place in the image of the people of the community. After all we are a business built on building a community.   

​Greg Koch is the Co-Owner and General Manager of 605 Running Company and Co-Produces the Sioux Falls Skedaddle Half Marathon. 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

​Pink Gorilla Events and 605 Running Company announced today that Skechers has signed on as the Official Shoe of the Sioux Falls Skedaddle presented by Avera. To celebrate, the race is giving away four pairs of Skechers GO RUN shoes with the winners selected from anyone who is registered by the end of Wednesday, January 1, 2020. The price of registration also jumps after 11:59pm tonight – making today an excellent day to get registered.
 
The partnership between race producers, Pink Gorilla Events, and Sioux Falls running store, 605 Running Company, provided the opportunity to attract a major sponsor like Skechers – relationships that are not usually seen at other races in the region.
 
“We’re working hard to build the Sioux Falls Skedaddle into a premier regional attraction for our city and Skechers joining is a great asset for the race,” said Greg Koch, co-owner of 605 Running Company. “We can’t wait to outfit Skedaddlers with the official shoe of the race and help them with their training also.”
 
In addition to today’s shoe giveaway, look for other exclusive activations of this sponsorship soon such as demo runs and prizes for race winners.
 
“That a world-class brand like Skechers would attach themselves to the Sioux Falls Skedaddle really highlights that we’re doing something exciting and big in Sioux Falls and we can’t wait to showcase their involvement,” said Jared Bakewell, marketing director of Pink Gorilla Events.
 
Skechers was attracted to the race through their relationship with Greg Koch, co-owner of 605 Running Company and is excited to increase their presence in the Sioux Falls running community through their sponsorship of the Sioux Falls Skedaddle.
 
“We’re proud to be participating as the Official Shoe Sponsor of the Sioux Falls Skedaddle Half Marathon and thank our retail partner at 605 Running Company for introducing us to this event,” said Jenn Clay, vice president of marketing for Skechers. “Events like this offer a unique opportunity to directly interact with both supporters and participants within the community as we introduce them to our latest generation of award-winning and innovative Skechers GO RUN styles—with options for every type of runner.”
 
For the inaugural event last year, race registration didn’t open until January 1st, but this year registration opening was moved up to the fall and the race is already closing in on 1,000 registrations. This puts the race on pace to significantly exceed last year’s signup count of 1,100 participants and likely hit this year’s race capacity of 1750.
 
The race is scheduled for April 26, 2020. The route will send runners off on race morning on a fast, scenic course starting and finishing downtown. It will feature many Sioux Falls landmarks and take advantage of the city’s beautiful trail system and parks. The planned course has returned to its original route after unprecedented flooding cause detours the first year.
 
Registration for the half marathon is $84 until 11:59pm tonight. More information is available at www.skedaddlerun.com.
 
About Pink Gorilla Events
Pink Gorilla Events is an independent active events production company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska founded in 2008. Events include the Market to Market Relay Series, Good Life Halfsy, BRIN Running Series, Early Bird Run, Leprechaun Chase, Cornfield Cornfield, and Harvest Moon Hustle, and Sioux Falls Skedaddle.
 
About 605 Running Company
The 605 Running Company is a business built on building a community. Founded in 2014, the mission of the store is to enhance the running community as a locally owned and operated running specialty outfitter. No matter what your abilities, pace, or running history the 605 Running Company is inclusive to all runners.
 
About Skechers U.S.A., Inc.
Based in Manhattan Beach, California, Skechers (NYSE:SKX) designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. Skechers footwear is available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, more than 3,300 Skechers Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, Israel and Mexico, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, India, and throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
 
 
Media Contact
For interviews please contact:
Greg Koch | (605) 951-7982 | greg@run605.com
 
 
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2019. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or operations or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
 
 
###

​Wow! What an amazing weekend. It was wonderful to see so many friends competing at GOATz Hitchcock Experience 100 race near Honeycreek, IA. It is also equally wonderful to hear an out-of-state race director praise the 605 community so highly for their volunteerism and hard work. If you are reading this and have no idea what I’m talking about I’ll attempt to explain what happened last weekend.

This trail running event features multiple distances from 100 miles to a half marathon. My personal favorite was the 101k the hard way event. The event is a challenge. There are plenty of hills and it is December on the Iowa/Nebraska border. This means you’ve got a good chance at fresh snow and cold temperatures. We had multiple people both participate in the races and volunteer at aid stations.

Many of you might be reading this and think this all sounds crazy. You are not wrong, but you are also not right. I’ve moved beyond calling distances that I personally have no desire to attempt crazy or silly or something worse. I don’t think that is fair to trail runners, event organizers or volunteers. These events have a place in my heart. The sheer will to compete is a beautiful thing. For me as a life-long athlete and lover of nature I have a tremendous amount of respect for trail running and ultra marathoning.

Our running community is great. It doesn’t matter if it is a trail race, a road race or a group run, the 605 community shows up and shows out. It hasn’t always been this way. I’d like to think that our store has had a small impact on the growth and development of our running community.

Amongst the “refresh” clicks during the event and reading the post-race reports from so many 605ians I glanced at a sad post from a fellow running shop a little further to the south in Kansas City. It was a long post and it hit my stomach like a ton of bricks. Here is a small portion of the post.     
 
“We are heartbroken to announce that we are closing Run 816. We have tried to be different, unconventional, and fiercely independent, but it wasn’t enough. We focused hard on customer experience and product knowledge, but it wasn’t enough. We believed that if you are good and do good that everything will work out, but that also wasn’t enough.”

The parallels here to our shop are eye opening. Independent, unconventional, different. Five years in business and a name using the area code. With Star Wars coming out this weekend this felt like Luke heading into the cave in Empire Strikes Back and facing Dearth Vader, cutting him down and seeing himself in the helmet. In the end that worked out okay for Luke (at least I think it did … the new movies have me confused and I haven’t seen the latest one). Bottom line is I’m sad to see an independent running shop go out of business.  

We started 2019 off with a bang. Partnering with Pink Gorilla Events has allowed us to bring a truly unique event on a large scale to Sioux Falls by way of the Skedaddle. For me personally this is one of the largest professional undertakings I’ve ever been involved with. For 605 Running Company this event was a success. In order for it to be a success for the city, for our business partners and for our running community; it has to grow. This is an event created by runners for runners with the specific intent of showing off how wonderful the 605 Running Community can be.  

Nationally, race attendance is dropping everywhere. Here I am in Sioux Falls trying to build up a race. To do this I flat out need this communities help. We need to think on a larger scale and work together to highlight our great city. I’m reminded of my friend and role model Nancy Savage down the street. She often tells the story of starting Child’s Play Toys in 2008 amidst the recession. This community has embraced her local toy store and this year she opened her second location. I want to be clear this isn’t a doom and gloom blog post. The Skedaddle is already a contender locally for overall race experience. My goal is to make it a regional champion and truly pull people to our great city to participate.

We had a nice year at 605 Running Company in terms of sales. I will always be open and honest with our community. We didn’t see the growth that we had in previous years. As a new business we anticipated the rate of growth to slow over time. In 2019 we basically have matched our numbers from 2018. What stands out though is that we did it in a very different way. Our foot traffic to the shop has been down all year and we have had fewer tickets each month compared to last year. This is concerning, but what helped us out this year was that I’m getting better at my job every buying season. Our turn rate and margins all went up in 2019 which means we sold a lot less stuff on clearance or closeout.

In no way am I an economist, but after looking at our business numbers and all of the things that have gone on in South Dakota this past year I’m actually proud of where we stand finishing up the year. It isn’t exactly where we wanted to be; but with record flooding, tornados and continued downtown construction on our block we did well. A wise business man in Downtown Sioux Falls once told me that as the farm economy goes so does Main Street. Our farmers have not had a friendly year. This all leaves me very optimistic about the direction we are going in 2020.

We have booked some amazing product to be in the store in 2020. Skedaddle registration is currently open and we’ve got a nice little announcement coming soon for the 2020 event. The Race Crew is going to be back and bigger and better than ever. I’ve already got the dates figured out for the Summer Race Series and we are making a slight change that should make a huge difference this year. Our Saturday group run will continue to be sponsored by Breadsmith of Sioux Falls and we are taking the hospitality up another notch, I just bought a toaster (if this isn’t on your current running schedule it needs to be) and we will continue our ROGA Wednesday night groups as well with the amazing Jeri Light.

A new year brings a few new surprises as well. Currently I’m working on a dozy.  I’m not saying that I’ve got the Remedy to all that ales us, but our next secret will relay everything I’ve been discussing. That may not be cryptic enough. Oh well, it’s been a long blog post so some of you may not ever make it here anyway. Bottom line is 2020 is going to be a lot of fun and we are hiring. If you are looking for a sweet part time job submit an application and let’s talk. I’m looking for one more exceptional person to add to our team. We pay well for a part time gig and we offer plenty of perks. If you want to continue to grow our running community and love running seriously let’s chat. Finally, as a Dad I can say this. See you next decade!       

​Greg Koch is the Co-Owner and General Manager of 605 Running Company and Co-Produces the Sioux Falls Skedaddle Half Marathon. 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

As many of you know Benson and spent last week at The Running Event in Austin, Texas. This is an annual trade show specifically for the running industry. We looked at a ton of new product, met with industry peers from across the country, ran with some pretty famous athletes and even gave a big pitch for good measure. With all of the excitement and looking into the future for 2020 I felt like today was a good time to write an end of the year blog post. Being a new Dad I could write a bunch about 2019, but I'll try to keep it condensed today. I’m thinking this will begin to be an annual thing and I’d love it for you to participate in the comments below or on our social media channels. Please use each prompt as I have and share your stories too!

Most Memorable Training Run:
Toward the end of 2018 I had a lot of amazing things happening. For starters I found out I was going to be a Dad in the spring of 2019. Prior to that little bit of information I had signed up to run the LA Marathon and tricked some of my BRF’s to join me on the adventure. Add in the fact that my how to be a dad mentor Ben (whom reluctantly agreed to do a road marathon #trailsnob) and his family moved to Mankato, Minnesota and you’ve got the makings for a truly epic January training run.

Yes, we drove to Mankato for a training run and it was wild. Negative fifteen degrees and snowing at the start. Being logical apparently we thought a mile for every degree below zero sounded reasonable. Have you been to Mankato, Minnesota? It is hilly enough on its own, but when you run with captain trail runner guy I’m pretty sure he found every incline in town to take us up and we even found ourselves in Jamaica!

Favorite Race Experience:
This is a really difficult one for me. I ran several races in 2019 including a major marathon. PR’s were set for various distances and I stayed healthy this year which is always a win. With all that being said there is really only one race experience I could put on this post. The Sioux Falls Skedaddle was the result of hard work and big dreaming. Having been a fan boy of Pink Gorilla Events for years I still cannot believe that we pulled off a partnership that brought us the Skedaddle. Our inaugural race was very successful and I cannot wait for year two!

Best Single Gear Item Used This Year:
I don’t anticipate this always being shoes, but this year it is shoes. The Skechers Razor 3 is truly a great shoe for me. Not only have I used it like a race flat I’ve also been putting a surprising amount of regular training mileage on them too. This shoe and I made our debut together at the Chilly Cheeks 10 Mile, I blew away my 10 mile PR and did it in wet conditions. The shoe has continued to perform marvelously for me. If you haven’t tried on a pair of Skechers Running Shoes I highly encourage you making 2020 the year to give them a try! 

Today I wanted to discuss running ambassador programs. You’ve probably seen them. Folks who apply to specific brands to test future products, buy stuff on discount and most importantly promote brands. This in my opinion is very different than being sponsored by a brand. I’ll be completely honest from the beginning. I’m not a very big fan. I say this knowing full well that some of my closest running friends are currently ambassadors for several different products. Why I’m not a fan of ambassador programs has very little to do with the people selected to be ambassadors and more to do with how these programs impact businesses like mine.

The running industry can be cut-throat. There is a lot of crowded space; meaning many brands are competing for market share. This means that they will do pretty much anything to make a quick sale. Including leveraging relationships with small businesses against ambassadors for their specific brand. And this brings me to the key factors I want to discuss today. Trust, discount culture and where purchases are made.

First, I want to talk about trust. In 2019 trust in general is at an all-time low. Honestly, it is easy to understand why too. Just look at some of the local news stories. I generally shy away from discussing local politics too much on this blog so I’ll leave that last line up to interpretation. The point is that we don’t trust anybody anymore.

At 605 Running Company we are constantly trying to build our trust, with you our customers. We do this by using the products we sell, but it is more than that. I personally take time and money to travel to industry trade shows, meet with vendor’s in-person year-round and sample hundreds of items each year. By shopping around and trying a lot of different stuff we do our very best to offer a wide variety of items from socks, packs, nutrition, apparel and of course shoes. This at its core is what makes a running specialty outfitter unique.

Brand ambassadors are sought out for some of the same reasons. Mostly it comes down to trust. If you can get a bunch of people to apply for an ambassadorship by offering free merchandise and product discounts you get a built in community trust factor surrounding your brand. Seems pretty straight forward correct? My issue here is the discount culture that this feeds into and it sends folks online instead of downtown (figuratively and literally).

You might see a post similar to this by a brand ambassador that was recently gifted an item or sold an item at a steep discount.

“Hi guys! I’m so honored to be representing brand x this year. I’ve been using this product and really like it and you should to. Use my code xxx and get a percent off your next order at brand website!”

I have multiple issues here. One, if this is a product we carry the ambassador is pushing customers away from my door and online. Remember our industry is cut-throat and our vendors don’t always care how they get a sale, as long as they get a sale. Two, if this is a product we don’t carry, but it is something very similar to what we have in-store, again, we are missing out on a potential sale. Finally, this type of promotion feeds into a discount culture that is poisoning retail business.

On this blog I’ve written about why it is important for us to sell the products in our store as quickly as possible. Everything you see in our store is already paid for or will be paid for in the next thirty-to-ninety days. Our business is successful when we can collect the best possible margin on each product we sell. It is in the margin where we are able to pay staff, keep the lights on and invest back into our community. That pie gets sliced up pretty quickly.

The feeling of getting a great deal is pretty intoxicating; but the feeling of getting a product you can touch, feel, try-on and ask questions about should be better.
 
The best way to save some money at my store is to join the Sioux Falls Area Running Club, the 605 Race Crew, the Sioux Falls Women Run Training Team or join or rewards program. If you do those things you’re going to have almost as many benefits, if not more, as some of the best ambassador programs out there. We also price match any advertised price from reputable sources.

This brings me to my final point today. Where purchases are made. I’m not naïve to the drumbeat you’ve been hearing on the radio about the power of shopping local or the social media posts about how you should shop local to pay for my kids’ daycare. The truth is I value all of that messaging, but I want to take a different approach today. As a local business we’ve made some strong partnerships with amazing organizations and we offer great programming that is free.

Tonight we will have Kathy Grady at our Tuesday Night Chat Series. We’ve been doing chats for months that tackle topics important to runners by bringing in local experts in an “ask me anything” style format. When you make your purchases here you directly support programming like these chats. Along with our free programs and group runs; we also support local running clubs and races. We are a business built on building a community. That is not lip service either, we truly believe that our business is successful when we lift up our community as well as maintain the bottom line. Without one the other one isn't possible.  

​Greg Koch is the Co-Owner and General Manager of 605 Running Company and Co-Produces the Sioux Falls Skedaddle Half Marathon. 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