Scott Bush is the meet director of the Midwest Distance Gala which is one of the premier track events in the country, bringing together many of the top high school distance runners across the U.S. This meet draws a large crowd and compared to even some of the more elite meets (ones with pro runners) it draws more. Bush has much to do with this using social media to promote the meet and shaping it has an entertainment event. I was able to catch up with him to discuss how he does this.
On the Right Track: You are the meet director of the Midwest Distance Gala, can you describe the event and what your aim is?
Scott Bush: The Midwest Distance Gala is a high school-only track event that brings many of the top male and female distance runners to the Chicagoland area, competing in a competitive and entertaining event. The aim of the Gala is to provide fans and athletes a track event that they won’t experience at any other time during the season. An event that has a very high-level of competition, but also unique elements off the track that make it stand above their state meets and even the national championships.
OTRT: The meet brings together some of the best high school talent in the nation, how do you go about recruiting the athletes? What do you offer differently than your typical track meet?
SB: The athletes are recruited in a variety of ways. The initial contact for an athlete we want to recruit generally takes place with an email or phone call to their coach, expressing interest in having their athlete(s) attend the Gala and asking them what their post-season plans are. Generally, the coach either discusses our event with the athlete(s) and gets back to me, or they give me the athletes contact information, so I can reach out to them directly.
While reaching out to the coaches is important, we also have a fairly sizeable group of parents reach out to inquire about the event. Lastly, we do some direct outreach to athletes if their coaches are unresponsive or they contact us regarding the event.
In terms of what we offer that’s different...we feel there are a handful of things that distinguish our event from every other high school track meet. We run a two hour event, with no more than 2 minutes lag time in between events. We play music before the event, during events, in between events and after the event. The music isn’t “Chariots of Fire” garbage either, it’s music that is relevant to what high schoolers are listening to now. We don’t just look at the music charts or listen to the radio, we ask the athletes what they want to listen to. This makes a world of difference compared to other events.
Also, we host the event on Saturday night, which gives the event a bit more energy. The Gala becomes the focus of the weekend, not just a way to start the weekend. Running under the lights is something our sport should embrace more.
Additionally, we have rabbits for all our top races. The rabbits allow the top athletes to sit back, relax and not stress to run a fast pace. While this remains controversial among some fans, it has always allowed kids to shoot for personal bests, while not having to do all the work. So many of our athletes have done all the work all season long, because they are the best in their state. Well, we allow them a break, to just focus on the running fast, putting themselves in the race, and hopefully coming out of the event with a new PR.
There are other aspects to the Gala that make it unique, but these are the top few.
OTRT: What is the crowd size like? What do you to drawn these fans?
SB: Our crowd size has grown each and every year since the event started in 2005. Our first year, I always like to say we had more athletes compete in the event then we had fans in the stands, and we only had 35 athletes compete.
We changed venues each of the first four years. We moved from Vernon Hills High School to York High School, mostly to put the event in a more centralized area of the Chicago area, and we had strong ties to York. In between year two and three we moved to Elmhurst College, but we sold out the stadium capacity and actually had to turn fans away. Most of them stood behind the fencing outside the stadium and watched, but it was still a sign that the event was expanding and we needed a bigger home.
In 2008 we moved to Benedictine University and found a permanent location. In 2009 we had 1,650 fans attend the event. This year we had around 1,500, but we attribute the loss of fans in the stands to the weather (an incredibly intense thunderstorm rolled through at the start of the event, postponing the event for 45 minutes).
We draw fans by promising them an entertaining time. Lively music, a passionate announcer, some of the best competition you’ll find and fast races, make our event something unique, and we market the event around that uniqueness.
OTRT: How hard is it to drawn fans that are not related to the participants?
SB: Honestly, it’s not that hard to draw fans that are not related to participants. Track and field is one of the largest participatory sports at the high school level. There are so many kids that love this sport at the high school level, but very few events give them a reason to go out on the weekend and celebrate their passion for it. If you give them a reason to attend, if you give them a reason to see something they won’t see anywhere else, then they’ll come.
OTRT: Track and Field is the largest participation sport in the US for high school and marathon running is growing ever larger-yet it does not have as many fans as basketball or football, how do you try to create fans at your event? What do you think that Track and Field in general can do to garner more fans?
SB: To be honest, if this sport (track and field & road racing) is ever going to grow in popularity, it is going to have to happen because the event organizers get together and make it happen. The governing bodies that “manage” the sport due a horrible job. They don’t do much of anything to promote the sport to junior high or high school participants, and they certainly don’t do anything to try and attract in road runners. It’s something I’ve come to realize over the past five years, and truly feel the only way the sport will grow, is if event directors come together and actually do something about it.
It’s all about reaching the potential fan base. Once you reach them, which really isn’t that hard, you have to show them why they should care. For example, a high school kid who does cross country and track should love their sport, follow it at the prep, collegiate and professional level, and simply consume information on the sport. Go to a local high school football team and ask every kid on the team if they know who Drew Breese is. I bet 100% of them, even the fourth string, freshman offensive lineman knows. Go to a local high school cross country practice and ask every kid if they know who Dathan Ritzenhein is and I bet less than 30% know who he is, and even less know what event(s) he runs and what accomplishments he’s earned.
To be clear, it’s not the kids’ fault for not knowing about the sport or caring about it, it’s the fault of the organizing bodies, it’s the fault of the event directors, it’s the fault of the system and the respect it earns from the rest of the sporting community. The New York Road Runners dominate the scene in the busiest sporting community in the world. They stage world-class events, educate through their various programs and races, and make sure the media pays attention to them. They give people reasons to care. More of this needs to happen. There are a hundred different ways to do this, but it has to start happening, and it is squarely on the shoulders of those in charge to make it happen.
OTRT: I know you have a quite a bit of knowledge when it comes to field of communications and you keep a blog on the website, how do you think this helps your meet?
SB: I’ve been interested in communications since I was a freshman in college, back in 2000. I started a website called IllinoisRunner, which covered the sport at the high school level. I saw tremendous things happen coming from the information I reported and others shared, and ever since then I’ve had a rather obsessive interest regarding communications.
I think my knowledge in this area helps the Gala tremendously. The more stories you can share, the more you grow your community, the greater your event can become. You have to give your fan base, and potential fan base, a reason to care, and so much of how our world works is being able to entertain and inform. We try to do both, on a regular basis, whether it be from our blog, our website, our e-newsletter, our Facebook page, our Twitter feed, or the event itself. The most successful companies and events do both, and we try to do the same.
OTRT: How does social media and twitter help the meet?
SB: Social media allows us to interact with the high school distance running community. We can ask questions, answer questions, share information and so much more, all of which is becoming easier and easier to do with social media. Instead of going through their coach, they can communicate with us directly, which makes it easier for everyone at the end of the day.
OTRT: What have you learned by putting on the Midwest Distance Gala that could be applied to the sport on the whole?
SB: I’ve learned that you have to produce something original and entertaining if you want people to care. It’s not enough to simply ride on your history, or assemble races with thousands of people, there has to be something else there, something that sparks people’s interest. Once you find that spark, you have to remind people about it year-round.
I’ve also learned that while it’s fine to have passion, if you want something to truly succeed, you have to treat it like a business. If you can combine passion for the sport, with the excitement of building a brand, the sky is the limit. Too few of the people in the sport have one or the other, not both. If you are only passionate, you look unprofessional, and while that works sometimes, it isn’t lasting. If you are only business-like, you are boring, look selfish and can’t create enough buzz to have a growing event. It’s all about finding that middle ground.
