· By Sarah Conklin
Hugs + High Fives, a Picky Team Story (Lake Sonoma 50)
Hugs and High Fives.
That’s the first offering in our athlete sponsorship agreement. And to us, probably the most important. We don’t have the cash to throw around most other sponsors do (we’re still pretty dang small,) so we had to get creative when it came time to putting goods on the table. We have a quality product – that’s a no-brainer – but other than keeping them fed, how could we support with such little dinero?
It boiled down to why we entered athlete sponsorship in the first place – we saw people doing cool $h*t, and wanted to be in their corner. As fans, supporters, and friends. Let us be more than just your most frequent Youtube viewer!
So we added Hugs and High Fives to the menu of promised goods, along with bottomless creative energy (just waiting to be used on something other than naming bars,) endless amounts of enthusiastic love (digitally and in person, whenever we could,) and however else we could sustain their stoke to infinity and beyond.
And this weekend, we got to pack all of that up in the Subie and take it down to Lake Sonoma where Alex, Rob, and Denise, our three ultra runners, were running 50 miles.
SUPPORT: səˈpôrt/ verb
- bear all or part of the weight of; hold up.
- give assistance to, especially financially; enable to function or act.
- *wake up at the buttcrack of dawn to hand off bottles, cheer inexplicably, and two-wheel the Subie around hairpin turns speeding to the next aid station.
*new addition, not yet approved
This weekend really brought to life what we’re hoping to do as athlete sponsors – nay, supporters – and it was honestly… a lot of freakin’ fun. Is work supposed to be this fun?!? Jumping in as Rob’s crew team, cheering all the runners along the course, making friends with the peeps on the sidelines, going absolutely nuts when Alex made a move and took the lead (eventually winning and setting a new course record), seeing Denise’s smiling, happy face at the finish, and getting to bond together afterwards over post-race beers. That’s what it’s all about, man!
Rob (L), Alex (top R), Denise (bottom R)
Alex Varner – 1st overall, course record – 6:09.39
Denise Bourassa – 8th woman – 8:24.10
Rob Krar – DNF (dropped at 38)
What we offer is somewhat non-traditional, but luckily we found a group of (super rad) people that see a value in that. We knew we could feed em, and hook them up with a sweet trucker hat now and then, but being able to be part of their big day is way more than any of that. And we’re looking forward to more of it.
LOTS more.
Cheers!
The Picky Crew
*Check out more photos from #LS50 in our Facebook Album*
