Run Congress: A Blueprint for Collaboration in the Running Industry

By: Greg Koch

This week I've been attending the Run Congress, an event designed by my close friend Mark Jimenez of Red Rock Running Company. The vision statement of the congress is as follows: Bring partnerships to life by connecting brands and independent retailers to tackle the industry's toughest challenges. This is an unfiltered, two-day meeting of some of the best and brightest minds in run specialty. Unlike other events that are driven by transactions, entertainment, and glad-handing, the congress sets a level playing field and focuses on direct and respectful conversation.

​So, what is the run specialty channel? This is the collection of brands that specialize in run-specific products and the independent outfitters that specialize in selling these products. As the channel has grown, so have the buckets of retailers participating in "specialty" sales. These include select big box stores (like Scheels), franchise stores (like Fleet Feet), and specialized online dealers (like Running Warehouse). As the business of running grows, the formula for success can become combustible due to the amount of passion poured into creating that growth. What was once a passion for many suddenly became a career path, and when you combine passion with livelihood and a dose of rapid growth, a certain amount of friction is bound to happen.

So, what have I actually been doing for the past two days? For starters, the amount of energy that was poured into this event prior to everyone arriving in Las Vegas was very evident. Mark was a very successful educator before becoming a running store owner. More importantly, Mark was a math teacher who also studied curriculum, instruction, and organizational leadership. Essentially, he is incredibly talented at taking on hard topics, breaking them down into digestible talking points, facilitating conversations, and guiding groups toward solutions. This may sound like a simple task, but trust me, it is not.

Here is a breakdown of what this looks like in practice: A session at Run Congress might include myself, another running store owner, a district sales manager from Asics, a sales rep from New Balance, and the president of Body Glide. All of us sit at a round table breaking down a topic curated by Mark from a survey sent prior to attending. This is a "peel the curtain back" sort of moment. Yes, our brands sit at tables together not as competitors but as collaborators with the purest goal of improving the business of running. I cannot stress how magical this format is.

Here is why it works: Tickets are limited, which means the setting is intimate. The brands show up in a huge way—not with sponsorship dollars or product, but in the people they send to the congress. Simply put, this is a who's who in the North American running industry. If you truly want to enact change, you work with the folks that lead the teams across the country that deliver the shoes and gear we all love. The stores that come to Run Congress are Independent Specialty dealers across the country. There is no minimum sales volume or number of doors required to attend. These are the local retail stores that impact communities across the country. We had some of the best and brightest entrepreneurial minds in the industry sitting at our tables. There was no coastal bias at the Run Congress and no glad-handing only for the top stores by volume. This was a true commitment to independence and collaboration among brands and retailers.
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Over the past two days, we built a playbook on how to conduct business. We addressed challenges in the industry like direct-to-consumer sales, cross-department communication challenges, and best practices for doing business together. We achieved this through role-playing, role-reversal exercises, and small and large group discussions. We broke bread together and, of course, we ran together. It has been a very special time here in Las Vegas. No product was shown, no meet-and-greets with elite athletes were conducted, and no wild parties were hosted. Over the past two days, brands and retailers met together and went to school on building a better industry. New connections were made that wouldn't happen anywhere else.

I am leaving the congress feeling motivated as a business leader. I want to continue to build better partnerships with our brands and be a better business owner. This means leaning into the visionary component of my job and digging into the details that make us successful. I've gained a better understanding of the challenges my brands face and how I can directly impact their ability to do business. I am establishing some best practices for us and have a solid timeline for creating more successful partnerships. Motivation is exciting, but the real challenge will be in my discipline to deliver the goods. In runner terms I just signed up for a marathon which is really exciting, but the key to my success will be the training between weeks 10-16 in my training plan.