Endurance Sports Business News

Henderson Selected to Host 2011 ITU Long Distance Worlds

Competitor.com

The International Triathlon Union, USA Triathlon, the city of Henderson, NV and Lowery's Multi-sport Races have announced that the 2011 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships will be held in Henderson on November 5. "We are thrilled to welcome this world class sporting event to Henderson," Mayor Andy Hafen said. "Henderson is proud to join an elite list of cities and to showcase its ability to produce an international event of this caliber." The city has been the host city for the Nevada Silverman Triathlon for the past five years. More

Kaiser Permanente New Colfax Marathon Title Sponsor

Denver Business Journal

Denver's Colfax Marathon has a new name and a new title sponsor. The May 16 race will now be known as the Kaiser Permanente Colfax Marathon, organizers announced. The marathon was previously called the Post-News Colorado Colfax Marathon in a title-sponsorship deal with the now-defunct Denver Newspaper Agency, publisher of The Denver Post and the folded Rocky Mountain News. More

WTC Creates Ironman Pro Membership Program

Ironman.com

To complement its recent anti-doping initiative announcement, World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) has announced the creation of the Ironman Pro Membership Program. The new program is designed to standardize and enhance WTC's events worldwide. Acceptance into the program, which begins on February 1, will be mandatory for all professional athletes competing in future Ironman and 70.3 Events. More

Puma Reports 24 Percent Drop in 3Q Profit

Bloomberg

Puma AG, the second-largest European sporting-goods maker, said third-quarter profit fell 24 percent after it cut prices to clear inventory that built up during the recession. Net income slid to 68 million euros ($102 million), or 4.50 euros a share, from 89 million euros, or 5.81 euros, a year earlier, the company said this week. Inventory fell 18 percent to 356 million euros. More

Columbia to Bid to Host 2010 Tour of Missouri Stage

Columbia Daily Tribune

Columbia will bid to host a stage of the Tour of Missouri next year. However, the city remains lukewarm about the economic impact of the event, and whether the 600-mile bike race will be held at all remains up in the air.
Columbia has not hosted a stage of the tour since 2007, the first year for what has since emerged as one of the nation's premier cycling events. In 2008, the city elected not to apply as a host because of scheduling conflicts, and in January of this year, Columbia's application was turned down by race organizers who cited too many stipulations in the request. More

LA Marathon Unveils Stadium to Sea 2010 Race Course

Examiner.com

Organizers of the Los Angeles Marathon unveiled more details about the new 'stadium to sea' route for the 2010 race this week. The marathon will start at Dodger Stadium and run through Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood before ending at the beach in Santa Monica. More

Dallas White Rock Marathon Reconsiders Prize Money

Dallas Morning News

Race director Marcus Grunewald said he should know late next week if the December 13 Metro PCS Dallas White Rock Marathon will offer prize money. Marathon officials eliminated it from the 2009 budget following last year's race. The rationale was to give all runners more bang for their buck, he said. The marathon board agreed to review the prize-money decision if sponsor dollars reached a certain level. Signing title sponsor Metro PCS helped, Grunewald said, but the dollars are still below the desired mark.

Brooks Launches Running Club App for Facebook

PR Web

Brooks Sports, Inc. has announced the launch of its Brooks Running Club application for members of Facebook. The Brooks Running Club application is available now for download on Facebook. It enables any running enthusiast to share his or her personal running progress, connect with other local runners, inspire others to run, and win Brooks footwear and apparel. "At Brooks, we invite everyone to experience the joy of running," said Dave Larson, Brooks VP of Marketing. "We're excited to extend that invitation to the Facebook community and give members the chance to come together online and 'Run Happy'." More

USA Triathlon Partners with ZumTri for Race Replays

RunnersWeb.com

USA Triathlon (USAT) has announced a partnership with ZumTri to provide members with results through state-of-the-art interactive virtual race replays. More

Live Earth Run for Water Adds Atlanta to List of Race Cities

PR Newswire

Live Earth has announced that Atlanta has been added to the list of cities hosting the largest worldwide water initiative on record to help combat the global water crisis. The Dow Live Earth Run for Water - to take place April 18 - will consist of a series of 6 km run/walks (the average distance many women and children walk every day to secure water) taking place over the course of 24 hours in countries around the world, featuring concerts and water education activities aimed at igniting a tipping point to help solve the water crisis. More

Motion Sports Management Cancels 2010 St. Pete Beach Classic

Tampa Bay Newspapers

Motion Sports Management has announced the 2010 St. Pete Beach Classic 10K/5K Run and Walk/Health and Fitness Expo has been canceled. MSM president Wendy Johnson has been facing significant health issues since shortly after the 2009 event. "Our concentration is on getting Wendy fully recovered," said Al Johnson of MSM and Wendy's husband. "We appreciate the thoughts and prayers of our friends and partners and look forward to resuming the St. Pete Beach Classic in 2011." More

Anthony Travel Named to Dallas 100 for 8th Time
EarthTimes

Anthony Travel, Inc. has been named to the Dallas 100™ for the fifth consecutive year and the eighth time overall. The Dallas 100™ Awards, co-founded in 1990 by the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the SMU Cox School of Business, recognize the top 100 fastest growing, privately held companies in the North Texas area. Anthony Travel serves as the official travel partner for leading sports organizations around the country including Disney Sports Attractions, the New York Road Runners, World Triathlon Corporation and the MetroPCS Dallas White Rock Marathon. More

Hamptons Marathon Donates $40K to School Program, Hospital

The East Hampton Press

Diane Weinberger and Amanda Moszkowski, the founders of the Hamptons Marathon, presented $20,000 checks to Project MOST, an after-school program, and the Southhampton Hospital on Monday. The third year race attracted more than 1,300 runners this past September. More

USRA Half Marathon Series Adds Races in Columbia, Lexington

RunnersWeb.com

The USRA Half Marathon Series has announced that Columbia, SC and Lexington, KY have been added to the series schedule. The Columbia Half Marathon will open the series on February 27. The Lexington Half Marathon will be held on March 28 and will start and finish at Fasig-Tipton Horse Farm and run to the nearby Kentucky Horse Park where runners will run through the picturesque world renowned horse facility that will serve as the host site of the 2010 World Equestrian Games. More

Rim Rock Run Becomes Rim Rock Marathon

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

After 16 years as a 22.6 mile race, the western Colorado's Rim Rock Run has become the Rim Rock marathon. The race will held this Saturday. Chris Reed and his wife, Amy, who own Ascent Productions, Inc., took over the event after Kelli Kessell stepped down as the race director. The Reeds are event producers, coordinating events such as the Western Colorado Triathlon and the Palisade Peach Fest 5-miler. More

Wichita Marathon Makes Changes for 2010

The Wichita Eagle

The Wichita Marathon announced a new name, a new sponsor and start/finish line for the 2010 event last Monday. The Prairie Fire Marathon sponsored by Via Christi Health will be on October 10, starting and ending at Intrust Bank Arena. The day consists of a marathon, a half-marathon, marathon relay, children's marathon, and the mayor's 5K race. "We don't want people to think it's just a marathon, we want it to be fitness day in Wichita," race director Clark Ensz said. More

Trek Women Series to Finish 2009 Season with Half Marathon

San Marcos Daily Record

The 2009 Trek Women Series, the eight-event national series, will celebrate its inaugural year season finale with the Holiday Half Marathon in San Marcos, TX. The race will be held on December 13. More

Manager, Operations

Company: Competitor Group, Inc.

Competitor Group, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a media and event entertainment company dedicated to the endurance sports industry of running, cycling and triathlons. The Manager, Operations will lead one operations team for a group of 5-8 events, with a focus on course design and implementation. The manager will also guide and oversee all other operational aspects of the race at a macro level, including start line, finish line, band sites, water stations, cheer sites, medical stations, etc. This will include designing all band sites, cheer sites and medical stations which requires a keen sense of direction and understanding of the scope of the event.

The position will include high-level coordination with city special events offices, police, traffic control, local contractors, vendors and management of staff to aid the successful execution of the event, and as such will require a significant amount of travel, often for up to a week at a time.

The position will also require the ability to work in a high-pressure, deadline-oriented environment with the added ability to multi-task. All this must be done in a professional manner with the ability to work well in a team atmosphere.

Minimum Qualifications:

5 Years experience in design, implementation and coordination of running courses.

Detail oriented and organized.

Ability to multi-task and work on many divergent tasks simultaneously.

Ability to lead and manage a team of internal and contracted staff to implement the operations of the event.

Ability to create and manage budgets.

Computer design skills a plus.

Bachelors Degree Preferred

Our company offers a relaxed environment, friendly staff, competitive salary and employee benefits package including 401(k) matching.

If interested and qualified, please send resume or C.V., cover letter with salary history and requirements to jobs@competitorgroup.com

Coordinator, Community Relations
Company: Competitor Group, Inc.

Competitor Group, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a media and event entertainment company dedicated to the endurance sports industry of running, cycling and triathlons. Working closely with the Director of Community relations, coordinate development of materials (print, web, email), mailings and presentations to effectively communicate road closure information for Competitor Group's series of events. The Coordinator will maintain an existing contact database and develop new relationships in each event community in an effort to build trust and understanding of road closures and alternate access routes.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree preferred
Strong communication skills, including public speaking and presentations
Ability to write clear, concise directions and copy for road closure materials
Comfortable with cold calling affected businesses, hotels, neighborhood groups
Experience in community relations/public relations
Proficiency in the use of computers for word processing, data base management, MS Office

Our company offers a relaxed environment, friendly staff, competitive salary and employee benefits package including 401(k) matching.

If interested and qualified, please send resume or C.V., cover letter with salary history and requirements to jobs@competitorgroup.com

Coordinator, Public Relations
Company: Competitor Group, Inc.

Competitor Group, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a media and event entertainment company dedicated to the endurance sports industry of running, cycling and triathlons. Under the direction of the Public Relations Manager, the Public Relations Coordinator will support the marketing department's communications efforts by assuming responsibility for of a range of projects involving media relations, external communications, creative efforts and social media to support Competitor events.

Minimum Qualifications

Candidates should have a degree in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing, or a related field and at least three (3) years of increasingly responsible professional level experience in public relations or media.

Our company offers a relaxed environment, friendly staff, competitive salary and employee benefits package including 401(k) matching.

If interested and qualified, please send resume or C.V., cover letter with salary history and requirements to jobs@competitorgroup.com

Medical Coordinator
Company" Competitor Group, Inc.

Competitor Group, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a media and event entertainment company dedicated to the endurance sports industry of running, cycling and triathlons. The medical coordinator will coordinate resources necessary for successful execution of Competitor Group's medical team programs and services. This includes directly working with the Medical Director and local doctors/captains in each event city, providing administrative support, resources and tools to effectively recruit, confirm, retain and train volunteers for each event.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree preferred
Knowledge and interest in sports medicine is an asset
Experience in volunteer management
Proficiency in the use of computers for word processing, data base management, MS Office

Our company offers a relaxed environment, friendly staff, competitive salary and employee benefits package including 401(k) matching.

If interested and qualified, please send resume or C.V., cover letter with salary history and requirements to jobs@competitorgroup.com

Sales Representative - Northern California, Nevada

Company: SportHill, Inc.

SportHill, Inc. is looking for a sales representative for Northern California and Nevada. Applicants must have the ability to show and present product in an easy, precise manner, be willing to attend national shows, travel the territory a minimum of 4 times a year, schedule and preform regular seasonal clinics and attend special account events. Attention to detail is a must and above and beyond customer service is required. Please submit your resume to JP Berg, National Sales Manager, jpberg@sporthill.com. Compensation will be discussed with qualified applicants upon receiving resume with references.

Executive Director
Company: Houston Marathon

The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors of the Houston Marathon Committee and is responsible for the organization's consistent achievement of its mission and financial stability.

In program development and administration, the Executive Director will:

1. Assure that the organization has a long-range strategy which achieves its mission and goals toward which it makes consistent and timely progress.

2. Provide leadership in developing program, organizational and financial plans with the Board of Directors and staff, and carry out plans and policies authorized by the board.

3. Promote active and broad participation by volunteers in all areas of the organization's work.

4. Maintain official records and documents, and ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.

5. Approve organization's operating procedures, policies, and standards.

6. Maintain a working knowledge of significant developments and trends in the race promotion industry.

In communications, the Executive Director will:

1. See that the board is kept fully informed on the condition of the organization and all important factors influencing it.

2. Publicize the activities of the organization, its programs and goals.

3. Establish sound working relationships and cooperative arrangements with community groups and organizations.

4. Represent the programs and point of view of the organization to agencies, organizations, and the general public.

In relations with staff, the Executive Director will:

1. Be responsible for the recruitment, employment, and release of all personnel, both paid staff and volunteers.

2. Ensure that job descriptions are developed, that regular performance evaluations are held, and that sound human resource practices are in place.

3. See that an effective management team, with appropriate provision for succession, is in place.

4. Encourage staff and volunteer development and education, and assist program staff in relating their specialized work to the total program of the organization.

5. Maintain a climate that attracts, keeps, and motivates a diverse staff of top quality people.

In budget and finance, the Executive Director will:

1. Be responsible for developing and maintaining sound financial practices.

2. Work with the staff, Treasurer, and the board in preparing a budget; see that the organization operates within budget guidelines.

3. Ensure that adequate funds are available to permit the organization to carry out its work.

4. Jointly, with designated board members, conduct official correspondence of the organization and execute legal documents.

Qualifications & Requirements:

Education: Undergraduate degree, at a minimum

Experience:

Individual should possess a minimum of 10 years of directly related experience including 3 to 5 years in a senior managerial capacity with a similar operation.

Must have direct management responsibility for large-scale initiatives involving significant dollar amounts and implications.

Extensive experience working with volunteers.
Not-for-profit experience preferred.

Skills:

Proven leadership and team building skills. Ability to build consensus, rally support around common goals and to motivate groups and individuals. Proven negotiation and mediation skills. Ability to overcome obstacles to cooperation and to foster harmonious relations.

Strong project management skills. Easily balances competing priorities, complex situations, and tight deadlines.

Ability to think strategically and creatively.

Ability to rapidly process and comprehend large amounts of detailed information consider the implications and consequences of new facts and make decisions.

Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communications skills. Ability to be articulate, concise, compelling and diplomatic.

Interested persons should send a cover letter and resume to:

R. Alton Milrany
Houston Marathon Committee
720 N. Post Oak Road, Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77024
Alton@houstonmarathon.com

Product Line Manager - Running Apparel & Accessories

Company: Brooks Sports

Product excellence is at the heart of Brooks success. Achieving a leadership position in the marketplace requires innovative thinking and the ability to inspire all product creation shareholders. The PLM is responsible for the seasonal direction of the apparel and accessories collections, providing leadership and merchandising expertise while monitoring the processes through on going interaction with internal and external cross functional teams. Reports to and works closely with Director of Merchandising. From brief to commercialization the PLM provides merchandising expertise with a comprehensive understanding of the competitive landscape. Managing the approval process for materials, fit and prototype sign off. Ensure key calendar milestones are met for on-time delivery and adoption of styles. Foster a collaborative work relationship with Sales, Operations, Marketing and Footwear counterparts.

Regional Sales & Marketing Rep

Company: Sugoi

As Pacific Northwest regional sales and marketing representative for SUGOI you are our brand ambassador. You primary objectives include identifying and maximizing all sales, distribution, and marketing opportunities to ensure sales, marketing and brand development goals are achieved.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Responsible for all sales and marketing activities within a designated territory.

Sell to and provide exceptional support and customer service to SUGOI dealers.

Meet with existing and potential new dealers on a regular and consistent basis. Minimum 80% travel required.

Identify new business opportunities, make contact with prospective customers, open new customers and expand distribution to ensure goals are achieved.

Assist dealers with managing their business. This includes assortment planning, merchandising, inventory, management, and marketing.

Identify and work with consumers to ensure all custom sales opportunities are maximized. This includes regional events, clubs, teams, corporate sales, etc.

Communicate trends, competitive information, and retailer and consumer feedback to SUGOI.

Distribute POP to dealers as necessary and assist with implementation and merchandising.

Conduct seasonal product knowledge clinics for retail staff.

Maintain relationships with existing customers through effective customer service.

Maintain regular contact and work with inside sales and customer service team assigned to territory, and work together to resolve dealer issues and improve sales and service techniques.

Identify and participate in key consumer and retail events within territory.

Utilize tools and resources available to ensure sales and marketing plans are achieved.

Assist with the annual sales and marketing plan development.

Recommend and implement new sales strategies.

Follow internal controls and company policies set by company and job function.

Contribute to the success of the company by leading or assisting with other projects and tasks as assigned.

Regional Sales Representatives - New York
Company: Competitor Group

Competitor Group is looking for a self-motivated individual who is hungry to make a difference in their job and make money for themselves. Qualified candidates will be outgoing, goal-oriented and have a passion for adventure and the active lifestyle. In this growth position, you will be fully responsible for specific region while selling print and digital advertising for all Competitor Group publications, including the regional editions of Competitor Magazine, as well as the Competitor Group's national titles: Triathlete, Inside Triathlon, and VeloNews. You will also sell regional event sponsorships and other marketing opportunities while maintaining and up-selling existing clients and developing new business. We provide a flexible, fun, non-corporate environment with tremendous growth opportunities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

*         Manage and maintain Regional accounts
*         Lead generation and new business creation
*         Developing and presenting of sales materials
*         Create new revenue opportunities for clients
*         Coordination of all production with Art Department
*         Maintain client database
*         Attend local events and trade/consumer shows
*         Client collections

Bachelor's degree (B. A.) from four-year College or university; or a minimum of three years related sales experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Microsoft Word, Excel, Sales Database and Power Point experience preferred.

Compensation: Draw against commission.

We offer a relaxed environment, a friendly staff, health benefits, vacation and a 401K with employer matching.

Qualified candidates are encouraged to send resume or C.V., cover letter with salary history and requirements to jobs@competitorgroup.com .

Custom Sales Manager

Company: Pearl Izumi

The Custom Sales Manager (CSM), working within the context of the Company's overall strategy, will develop and implement an effective business plan that will establish Pearl Izumi as a key provider of custom apparel. The business will support a long term strategy that aligns with the consumer focus of the organization and is both profitable and scalable. The position will be accountable for managing and delivering revenue targets. The CSM will align and assist in building a focused and compact team that supports the multiple facets of the custom-team apparel business. The role will work closely with Sales, Product, International and Operations divisions to ensure that a dependable fulfillment business and custom supply chain are can grow in revenue and distribution over time. The CSM will be in an entrepreneurial position that will require a broad business experience within the apparel arena. The ability to provide various methods of leadership including Strategic planning, project management, process implementation, sales within the organization is essential.