Our team was excited to attend The Running Event of the year, occurring recently in Austin, TX. After nearly two years of not doing too much, it was great to see people face-to-face again! And what a great place for this to happen than in the fantastic city of Austin. If you love live music (and who doesn’t?), Austin’s known as the Live Music Capital of the World.
If you enjoy live music, this is the place to visit. At times, it’s got more than 100 live music performances in one night—a little something for everyone. If you plan to visit Austin because of its music, we suggest you visit the Warehouse District and Downtown. You’ll also find lots of live music on the famous 6th Street and around the University of Texas. But, let’s not get sidetracked; this post is about the conference!
Our Big Highlight of The Running Event
For us, one of the top highlights of attending the conference was just getting to see familiar partners. If you don’t know it by now, we’re the nation’s premier sneaker recycling program. Our partners gather the sneakers and athletic shoes no longer needed in their shops or communities, and we issue a check for the footwear. In short, we partner with running retail shops, marathons, gyms, and other sports groups.
Of course, it was fantastic getting to know so many great new people. If you attended, we’re sure you agree that it was wonderful to be with people at The Running Event. Again, one of our primary highlights was seeing our partners. For instance, we caught up with Fleet Feet Austin and Nashville Running Company. There were too many to list! But here’s a shout-out to Up and Running, Georgia Game Changers, Houston Marathon, and The Running Element. We also got a chance to visit our neighbors at Caterpy, who also call Orlando home! They make awesome no-tie laces for running shoes. Of course, we also want to acknowledge all our other partners who attended and don’t have the space to mention in this post.
We’re eternally grateful for our partners. The bottom line is that our social enterprise wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for our incredible partners. It’s because of so many talented and visionary groups that want to do more for their communities that we have the chance to do what we do. Inevitably, our partner’s commitment to our trusted brand allows us to support amazing causes across the nation, support sustainability, and also small businesses in developing nations.
A Few of the Other Highlights of Attending
As we mentioned, it was great to meet our partners and new people. Isn’t getting together in person so much better than the Zoom calls we’ve been doing these past few years? We think so. Because we had the chance to get together in person at the conference, we had a blast during the opening night laughing and had fun in the photo booth and the nacho bars. We also loved the last night where we attended Brook’s closing party and watched the 2000’s cover band Y’all Out Boy.
Some other highlights for us were the expo talks with our partners, hearing how they like the program, and learning how they spend their checks from recycling sneakers. For example, Dick Pond Athletics likes to buy their team lunch every Saturday. And Colorado Running Company uses its check to support the Achilles International Foundation. Further, we spent time connecting with new retailers looking to help their community recycle their running shoes responsibly. And in the process, we enjoyed UnTapped’s Creemie and Maple Syrup Fuel (yum!).
Of course, what conference doesn’t have lots of fun? We have to mention Saucony’s neon party, which was a blast. And we enjoyed the signature Prickly Pear Margarita, the live music, and of course, the food truck giving away their Endorphin Speed 2! We loved Bird Bird Biscuit, Terry Black’s BBQ, and Suerte. We promise we’ll revisit you when we’re back in Austin! As we close this post out, we want to suggest that you go to some of those unique food spots next time you’re in Austin.
We’re so happy to have attended The Running Event and met partners and new people. It’s great to be with people (aside from ourselves) again! So, we hope everyone will have the chance to attend this conference and many other events next year. We look forward to seeing you all soon!
Want to recycle old sneakers in a socially responsible way? Check out Sneakers For Good.
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