How To Host A Pop-Up
What’s a Pop-Up Location?
Born out of the strong showing from our virtual registrations over the years we have invited people to gather together to run our annual 5K at a Pop-Up Location. These locations are often local running stores, running group meet-up spots, or front yards, and we call these “Pop-Ups” because they are less intensive than our Flagship Event in St. Paul. Think: no timing, easy course, dogs/strollers/bikes, people shopping in your store, etc. You can do this on any day in September, 2024, that works well for your running store or community! We hope to have events happening nationwide, all month long, as we lead up to the Flagship Event in St. Paul on September 28th.
Our goals for these runs are to:
- Raise awareness of Brave Like Gabe and generate race registrations
- Provide ways for our BLG community to come together and be active in new cities
- Honor Gabe and those in your community bravely facing a cancer diagnosis
- Get people into your store!
In the past few years we have gathered at more than 10 locations nationwide:
Seattle, WA with the Brooks Trailhead Store
Pasadena, CA with the Doghaus Running Club
Atlanta, GA with West Stride Running Store
Denver / Boulder, CO with Berkeley Park Running Company
Portland, OR with Portland Running Company
Bend, OR with Footzone
Northampton, MA with Marathon Sports
Rochester, MN with TerraLoco
Okemos, MI with Playmakers
Eugene, OR with RunHubNW
Omaha, NE with Peak Performance
We’d love to have ten more locations in 2024. Is that you?
Things that make these so successful:
- When hosted on the regular day/time your store or group already hosts a run we get lots of good turnout. It’s also already on people’s calendars so it’s easy to slightly repurpose one run in September for this cause.
- Coffee and donuts! If you want to host a Saturday morning run people seem inspired by the possibility of sugary treats at the end! Same goes for those evening runs - follow them with a beverage or some pizza and build community as folks eat and learn about BLG.
- Modest store discounts go a long way. Often stores will offer a discount for folks attending this run so they are encouraged to shop in the store.
- A little friendly competition! A couple of our locations have traded the “Biggest Group Run” title back and forth over the years. The latest goal to beat is 50 registered runners at the Brooks Trailhead. Who’s up for the challenge?
As a host of one of these Pop-Up runs, here’s what we hope will happen: people in your community will register for the BLG 5K and come together to casually run a 5K in honor of Gabe and other cancer survivors. To make this is as easy as possible Brave Like Gabe will:
- Create the opportunity on our registration page for folks to register for the race in your area
- Regularly share the list of registrants in your area so you can keep track, reach out, etc.
- Ship all race bibs and t-shirts for your local runners to you to be handed out on race day
- Send stickers, tattoos, a sign, and a couple of BLG give-aways to add a little flair to the gathering
- Use your organization's logo on our race website and race materials
- Promote your local race on our social channels and emails
- Share editable promotional materials for you to print and hand out locally/post in your channels
All we ask of you is:
- Provide a location for folks to meet and a 5K route to run
- Actively promote this opportunity to your community and beyond
- Allow a BLG representative to kick off the event with a few words of thanks
- Take photos and share them with us!
Pop-Up Support Meetings
We will be hosting regular check-in calls for our Pop-Up locations in the weeks leading up to your 5K, providing support, sharing ideas, and answering any questions.
Want to learn more? Click here and we’ll be in touch!
