Passing the Baton

One of the Upstate's oldest road races under new management in 2010

After 10 years at the helm of the Carolina First Reedy River Runs, Sam Inman is stepping down as race director. His replacement is hoping you won't notice.

"If March 5th and 6th come and go and people don't realize there's been a change, that will be a wonderful day for me," says Joe Lanahan, who eagerly accepted the Greenville Track Club's invitation to succeed Inman. Lanahan, who has a paying gig overseeing events for the Greenville County Recreation District, is joined by fellow Reedy newcomers Jeff Poole, assistant race director, and GTC President Joe Hammond, who will head up the kids' races. "We want to make sure we put on a race everyone is proud of - Sam, the Track Club - and just get our feet set this first year."

In fact, the only change being made to the 33rd annual event is moving the fun run and kids' mile to Friday evening, March 5, a shift many parents will likely welcome. As a father of two and husband of a fellow avid runner, Lanahan knows all too well the tug of war that takes place between parents who want to get their kids moving without sacrificing their own runner's high.

Since packet pickup is also on Friday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Westin Poinsett Hotel, Lanahan is hoping this change will create a win-win-win for runners, race organizers, and the city by encouraging families to stay downtown for dinner after the kids' races.

"From a race standpoint it makes things cleaner for us in the morning," Lanahan says. "And the other idea behind it is to get folks downtown to enjoy this great time of year."

Saturday morning, March 6, will be all about the signature 10K race at 9 a.m., followed by the 5K start 20 minutes later. Both races start on Main Street in front of the Carolina First building and finish at Liberty Bridge in Falls Park. Organizers expect roughly 1,000 kids to fill Linky Stone Park on Friday night and another 4,000 or so runners to converge on Main Street Saturday morning.

Lanahan and Poole do have plans to grow the race in coming years, with their ultimate goal being to attract around 7,000 runners. To do this they are working on incorporating social media and shamelessly borrowing tactics from other successful races, such as the Los Angeles Marathon, Virginia Beach's Shamrock Marathon, and locally the Cooper River Bridge Run.

"The advantage we have is this race is 33 years old so it's on so many people's calendars," Lanahan says. "We have that regional appeal already."

The first step in that process has been to brand the race with its own web presence, www.reedyriverrun.com, rather than just a page within the Greenville Track Club's site. Poole, who is overseeing the internet end of things, says all the race information participants need is now posted on the web site. He and Lanahan are also planning to use Facebook and Twitter going forward to share breaking news, remind registrants about important dates, communicate foul weather plans, and even facilitate training groups.

Many local and regional runners may already be "friends" with the race on Facebook but, because personal pages limit connectionsto 1,000, a fan page has recently been created to reach out to more potential participants.

"The web site will be the place people can find general race information, but we can branch out and have some fun with Facebook and Twitter," Poole says.

Lanahan is quick to point out his team is starting strong thanks to the efficient model and relationships Inman built during his tenure. All of the race's major sponsors, including long-time title sponsor Carolina First, are returning for the 2010 event.

"In these economic times for sponsors to stay with us is a wonderful sign of how well Sam has done things in the past," Lanahan says. "The success we will have in March is solely because of him."

Are you Reedy? For race information, visit www.reedyriverrun.com.