跑着挣钱正是时候

    尽管泥浆障碍比赛最受关注【2012年《户外》（Outside）杂志有篇封面故事，称障碍赛跑是“全国最快速增长的运动”】，Ragnar、Reach the Beach、Blue Ridge Relay、Bourbon Chase等其他较为传统的比赛正受益于各种类型户外跑步运动的爆炸式增长。

    Hood to Coast负责商业开发的副总裁丹•弗洛伊德推测说，目前的政治情绪起到了推波助澜的效果。“一直以来全国都在关注身心健康，”他说。“尽管这些通宵赛跑较为艰难，赛跑总的来说是向各种能力级别的人开放的。简单的5公里赛跑实际上也在迅猛发展。”伯克希尔哈撒韦旗下的跑鞋公司Brooks将在今年的股东大会之后立即于奥马哈举行5公里赛跑（沃伦•巴菲特将打响发令枪）。

    接下来还有一个关于赛跑运动的好消息——这项运动以及整个产业都将受益，对美国的肥胖病也是个好兆头，这就是障碍赛跑以及团队接力赛都吸引了忠实粉丝之外的人士参与。

    刚大学毕业的本•亨德利就是这样的参与者。他在Facebook上通过一位朋友了解到了Ragnar，而且在没有深入了解的情况下就同意加入她的团队。他的第一棒赛程直到下午5点才开始，大约要跑10英里。凌晨3点30分，他开始跑第二棒。“对我来说，参与这个比赛是很不正常的，”亨德利说。“赛跑本身并不困难，但却非常极限，因为缺乏睡眠，并且在部分路段是陡坡。”

    意外的是，跑步运动的受欢迎度在经济低迷期间大幅提高。这项运动成本较低，是推动因素之一：只需买一双鞋子，支付参赛费。Running USA的莱恩•拉姆帕表示，团体赛跑比赛的参加人数在过去15年里每年都有所增长。Brooks的韦伯说：“我们经历了经济大衰退，大家都受到了影响，但是跑步鞋的销售仍然较为疯狂。赛跑运动脱颖而出。”韦伯曾尝试过参加Ragnar，他对该比赛大加赞赏。“整个赛段途中，Ragnar在高中设立了前哨站，可以在那里冲个澡，”他说。“它就像五星级的接力赛。”本地的私募股权公司也赞同这个观点——犹他州私募股权公司海豚资本集团（Dolphin Capital Group）在2006年进行投资，当时Ragnar只提供一站比赛。该公司现在拥有Ragnar的75%股权，海豚资本的合伙人克里斯•英弗齐亚在2009年成为该项比赛的首席执行官。在2008年至2012年，Ragnar的营收以年均64%的速度增长。根据收费和特许商品销售，其年度营收可能介于1,000万美元至1,500万美元之间。不过这家公司并没有确认这些数字。

    并不是所有人都喜欢这项最知名的接力系列赛。保罗•范德海登是Roads Less Traveled系列赛（去年吸引2,000人参加）的运营者，他认为Ragnar的道德存在问题。2011年，他发表了一篇博客文章，抱怨称Ragnar抄袭了其他接力赛的路线，而且把比赛时间安排在与竞争者同一天。他说：“Ragnar现在是大家伙了，使得小规模赛跑比赛面临停赛的风险。”Hood to Coast的弗洛伊德并不认为Ragnar存在问题，高兴地说：“大家都是模仿者，我们实际上都在做同样的东西，只是尝试尽最大的努力，并且提供良好的赛跑比赛。”企业赞助商方面， Hood to Coast拥有赛格威（Safeway）和耐克（Nike）这样的“黄金赞助商”。它去年的冠名赞助商是办公用品供应商OfficeMax。Ragnar的主赞助商包括Clif Bar和Petzl。Reach the Beach的冠名赞助商则是纽巴伦（New Balance）。

    对于这些业务，一个潜在的障碍可能是视频游戏玩家所称的“重玩价值”。参加了Ragnar 或者Tough Mudder这样的比赛后，还有多少人愿意再次参加？对很多人来说，这些比赛的吸引力只是坚持一次。亨德利确认说：“需要很大的理由才能让我再参加一次，因为我感觉这几乎是一种一生只有一次的体验。”（Ragnar表示，15%的参与者在同一年参加多站Ragnar比赛。）

    Although the muddy obstacle events are receiving the most attention (a 2012 Outside Magazine cover story called obstacle races "the country's fastest-growing sport"), the more traditional relays like Ragnar, Reach the Beach, Blue Ridge Relay, Bourbon Chase and others are benefitting from the explosion in outdoor running of all kinds.

    Dan Floyd, VP of business development for Hood to Coast, theorizes that current political sentiments have helped. "There has been a national focus on health and wellness," he says. "And although the overnight relays are tough, running in general is open to people of all abilities. Simple 5Ks are really exploding too." Brooks, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, will put on a 5K in Omaha immediately after this year's shareholder meeting. (Warren Buffett will fire the starting gun.)

    Here's additional good news for running—both the sport and the industry—that bodes well for the country's obesity epidemic: obstacle races and team relays are both attracting more than just die-hards.

    Graduate student Ben Hundley is one such participant. He heard about Ragnar on Facebook from a friend, and agreed, without much knowledge ahead of time, to join her team. His first leg of the race didn't start until 5 p.m. and was about 10 miles long. At 3:30 in the morning, he ran a second leg. "Doing this was pretty much an anomaly for me," he says. "It wasn't the running that was hard, because I run regularly, but it was extreme because of the lack of sleep, and the steep inclines in some parts."

    Surprisingly, running's popularity may have thrived during the down economy. It helps that the activity is low-cost; you spend only on shoes and the race fee. Ryan Lamppa of Running USA posits that participation in group-running events has gone up every year for the past 15. Weber, of Brooks, says, "We had this great recession and everybody sort of pulled in, and yet… running shoes were still selling like crazy. Running made the cut." Weber has tried a Ragnar and gives them a lot of credit. "All along the course, Ragnar had set up outposts at high schools, where you could shower," he says "It was like five-star relay racing." Local private equity has agreed: Utah PE firm Dolphin Capital Group invested in 2006, when Ragnar offered only one race. It now has a 75% stake in Ragnar and in 2009, Dolphin partner Chris Infurchia became CEO. Ragnar's revenue grew by an average of 64% per year between 2008 and 2012. And based on fees and merchandise, its annual revenue is likely between $10 and $15 million, though the company would not confirm.

    Not everyone is a fan of the top-dog relay outfit. Paul Vanderheiden, who runs the Roads Less Traveled series (which pulled in 2,000 people last year), takes issue with Ragnar's ethics. In 2011 he wrote a blog post complaining that Ragnar had copied the routes of other relays and scheduled races on the same days as competitors. "Ragnar is the big guy now, putting small races at risk of going out of business," he says. Floyd, of Hood to Coast, has no issue with Ragnar and says happily, "It's all really kind of copycat, we all do similar things and just try to do it best and offer a great race." As for corporate sponsors, Hood to Coast has Safeway and Nike as "gold sponsors," and its title sponsor last year was OfficeMax. Ragnar's main sponsors include Clif Bar and Petzl. Reach the Beach has New Balance as its title sponsor.

    One potential roadblock for these businesses might be what video-gamers call "replay value." How many people, after doing an event like Ragnar or Tough Mudder, feel an inclination to do it again? The appeal of these, for many, is to simply survive it once. Hundley confirms: "it would take a lot to get me to do this again, because I feel like it was almost a once-in-a-lifetime experience." (Ragnar says 15% of participants do more than one Ragnar in the same year.)