EVERETT — Feet on the street is important for any business.
None more so than the Snohomish Running Company.
Grant Harrington and Porter Bratten operate a race promotions business, putting together the logistics of setting up runs and earning a profit from entry fees.
Harrington, who owned bike and mulit-sport shop Endurance Sports Northwest in Mukilteo, and Bratten started the company in early 2012 and held their first race, the Snohomish River Run, that October. The event offers a 10k race and a half marathon.
“On a whim we put on this half marathon and 10k,” said Harrington, 38. “Our original goal in 2012 was to register 500 people and we ended up signing up 900 people.”
A year later, the second Snohomish River Run produced 1,100 registrations. Snohomish Running Company in May introduced a second run, the Snohomish Women’s Run, with 10k and half marathon options. The goal was for 400 runners to sign up for the race that began at Rotary Park in Everett. A total of 550 people ended up registering for the race, Harrington said.
After the successful inaugural Snohomish Women’s Run, Harrington decided to close his shop and work full time on race promotion. Snohomish Running Company purchased this October the Heroes Half Marathon and renamed the event the Everett Half Marathon. The race was started in 2010 by Jon and Lynne Hoskins, owners of Total Health Events. The event includes a kid’s race, a 10k, and a half marathon.
The event, scheduled for April 12, will still have the same courses, venue, and charity partner as in past years. Active duty military and veterans will also still be able to register at discounted rates.
Changing the name wasn’t an easy decision but does help to promote the event to runners outside of Snohomish County, said Harrington, who grew up in Snohomish County.
“The Heroes Half Marathon was a good, solid name but a lot of people outside of the immediate vicinity of Everett and Snohomish County didn’t know about the run,” he said. “We’ll add our own flavor to the race as it pertains to entertainment, post-race festivities, pre-race packet pickup and those types of things.”
All of the races are part of the new Snohomish Running Pass, which offers entry into two events for $110 or all three for $160.
The races each take about 50 volunteers to pull off, Harrington added. Those slots should be fulfilled by Trinity Lutheran College students at all three of the 2015 events.
“We worked the Heroes Half last year and the year before that and were part of the volunteers for the Snohomish River Run,” said Matt Koenigs, athletic director and head coach for cross-country and track and field teams at Trinity Lutheran College. “They have a lot of fun and it gets our athletes out there in the community.”
Building relationships in the City of Everett will be as important as those Snohomish Running Company maintains in Snohomish, Harrington said. The Snohomish River Run in October was the first time the event started and ended on First Street, and 2015 will mark the first time the Snohomish Women’s Run is in downtown Snohomish.
“We’re excited to help grow the opportunities for the runners as well as the spectators,” said Debbie Emge, economic development manager for the City of Snohomish. “We’re planning to have music and entertainment so folks can stay in the city after the race.”
Harrington said his own story about finishing his first 10k race in 2006 and his first half marathon two years later, includes a personal desire to fight addiction and become healthy.
“I’m a recovering alcoholic,” Harrington said. “I got sober in January 2004 and when I first got sober I couldn’t even run a quarter mile. I was terribly out of shape and 60 pounds heavier than I am now.”
Harrington, who worked in the mortgage industry before switching career paths, said the goal for Snohomish Running Company is to continue striving to offer the closest possible thing to a perfect race experience.
“I always want to be giving them the experience of feeling when they cross that finish line that they can do anything,” he said. “I want them to feel like I did the first time crossing that finish line, of feeling invincible for a day.”
For more information, visit www.snohomishrunning.com.
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