Naturally, Jeff Sacchini was in front of his TV to watch the Olympic Marathon Team Trials on Saturday. Reason one, he’s a runner. Reason two, he’s the founder of the Kauai Marathon. And reason three, Tyler McCandless, the man who
Naturally, Jeff Sacchini was in front of his TV to watch the Olympic Marathon Team Trials on Saturday.
Reason one, he’s a runner.
Reason two, he’s the founder of the Kauai Marathon.
And reason three, Tyler McCandless, the man who has won the Kauai Marathon three times, the Kauai Half Marathon twice, and who has become the face of this race, was competing for a spot on this summer’s Olympic team.
So, Sacchini settled in and was delighted to see McCandless keeping pace with the leaders early on. He was pleased when McCandless charged to the front and held the lead for about three miles in Los Angeles.
It got better.
At one point, the announcers noted the McCandless had won the Kauai Marathon.
That was beautiful music to Sacchini’s ears.
“I about fell out of my chair when the announcers said that,” Sacchini said. “I was pretty stoked. I hoped they would, and they did.”
Having the Kauai Marathon mentioned on a nationally television event likely viewed by millions, even briefly, is good, even great, publicity.
And sure enough, the next day, Sunday, about 25 people signed up for the Kauai Marathon.
“That’s one of the biggest sign up days we’ve had,” Sacchini said.
Already, more than 1,000 runners have registered for the Sept. 4 event that features a 26.2-mile full marathon and a 13.1 half marathon. Participants come from nearly every state and nearly 20 countries.
Sacchini said they didn’t reach that many registered runners last year until June, and ended up with about 1,650 registrations. They’re on pace to top 2,000 this year.
“We can’t pinpoint why our sign ups are through the roof this year, but we’re thrilled,” he said.
He credited marketing director Robin Jumper with doing a great job, and said the race, after seven successful years, has developed a good reputation and continues to attract a range of runners.
“I think word starts to spread,” Sacchini said.
Having the Kauai Marathon mentioned on NBC Saturday was an unexpected bonus. Sacchini said he knew McCandless was going to be aggressive, but didn’t realize he would take the lead and hold it so long that the announcers finally identified him, noted he had a Ph.D. in meteorology, had won the Kauai Marathon so he had to be a good heat runner.
When he heard those words, Sacchini was elated. Calls and text messages almost instantly sounded on his cell phone, offering excited congratulations and cheers to the Kauai resident.
“I jumped out of my chair,” he said. “My phone started blowing up.”
The total economic benefit to Kauai from the most recent annual Kauai Marathon in September 2015 totaled more than $2.66 million.
Jumper said the free plug could boost the race’s economic impact even more.
It might not be as big as when Peyton Manning twice plugged Budweiser beer in post-Super Bowls interviews — estimated to be worth about $3 million in advertising before a viewing audience of more than 100 million, but it will have an influence.
“As a quaint island destination race set up as a nonprofit and focused on marketing primarily in local and niche running circles, a reference on national television is a humbling honor,” Jumper said. “It was a unique and unexpected opportunity to reach out to a larger audience, and hopefully it will bring more runners to Kauai in September.”
While McCandless eventually faded and dropped out at the 20-mile mark, his fans were inspired.
“It was exciting to see our friend Tyler McCandless performing so well at the Olympic Trials in Los Angeles over the weekend,” Jumper said. “When they mentioned The Kauai Marathon on TV we were so proud.”
