1. Skechers Performance Division takes over the Boston Marathon
There isnothinginsports like Bostonweekend.
It’sthe SuperBowl,Final FourandDaytona500 all put together inanepicpackage that can onlybe
describedas an industrytrade show,ahuge salesexpo,anetworkingeventandreunionof running
friends fromcoastto coast that culminatesinthe 26 mile,385 yard footrace from the small townof
Hopkinton all the way to Bostonand the mostfamousfinishline inthe worldonBoylstonStreet!
Giventhe unique Mondaymorningrace,the expogetsanentire weekendrunningFridaymorning
throughSundayevening. Goingintothisrace,whichwouldbe myfirstofficial majoreventwiththe
SkechersPerformance DivisionIwasanxious,excited,andstokedtogetcranking,meetsome amazing
runners,sell atonof shoes,tell the GOrunstoryand convertsome new brandenthusiasts.
Before Imade the trekto BostonI sat downand wrote outmy personal objectivesforthe weekend:
1. Representthe SkechersPerformanceDivisionineverythingIdo. At the expo,makingsales,and
tellingthe story. #GOlikeneverbefore isnotjusta hashtagfor me,it’show we mustgo about business
each day,howwe must treateach customer,andhow I run everymile. I alsoneededtomake ample
time to reachout and connectto contacts at retail storesintown,getsome feedbackonourbrand and
circle back to getSkechersPerformance footinthe doorontheirshoe walls!
2. Kara Goucher. Connectwithher, show herwhySkechers Performance wasaplace I HAD to be,and
whyit wouldbe the perfectfitforher. We instantlyconnectedoverour3 year olds,ourtraining,and
our passionforrunning. Whenshe textedme “goodluck”before the race,and wasthe firstpersonto
textme “HOLY SH**” whenMebwon. I knew we hadher.
3. My SkechersPerformance DivisionVIPHouse.
Thiswas a projectI have beenworkingonfora longtime now,and the successful executionof thiswas
paramountto the weekend. I’ve workedtirelessly onthe projectandneededthistobe a greateventto
provide awesome hospitalityforourambassadors,VIPrunners,and#GOelite teammembers….Butalso
neededtoprovide the brandingwe are lookingforas36,000 runnerswill walkbythishighlyvisible
home juststepsfromthe startingline.
4. Be part of whatpromisedtobe the most importantmarathoninhistory,enjoyeverystepof myown
race, soakin the emotionsof the day,will Mebtoa victory…andcrush my ownPR!!

2. 1. The Expo
Withthe contingentwe hadflyinginall overthe countrythere wasnodoubtin mymindthisexpo
wouldbe the mostsuccessful todate. I’ve heardsalesnumbersof expo’spassedandtobe honestwas
underwhelmedbyunitssold. There musthave beenadisconnectineitherthe waywe were
approachingrunners,talkingtothem,orgettingfoottraffictoour boothto get these onfeet…because
fromexperienceIknowthatonce a runnergetsa GORun on,the hard part isoverand the conversion
rate ishigh.
We hadprime real estate space…the FIRST boothyousaw afterpickingupyour race packetand official
tshirtwouldbe the SkechersPerformance Division,youcouldnotmissusnomatterhow hard youtried!
That wouldbe goal #1 for me withinthe booth…be welcoming,askopenendedquestionstocreate a
dialog,findoutabouttheirtraininghistory&past/currentfootwearchoices,andget theminourstuff.
It’sno secretI am superpassionate aboutthe productandtalkingrunning,butI’ma verycompetitive
salesguytoo,so as we are sharingthe brand’sstory and slingingshoesIfoundmyself payingveryclose
attentiontosalesnumber. By the end of Day #1 we had almostalreadyhitthe TOTAL unitsfromlast
year,I knewitwas GAME ON!
To me,thisexpowasnot onlya huge successinsellingshoes,butwe sold ourbrand for3 straightdays!
I’mevenmore proudof the fact that everysingle runnerthatwalkedintoourboothleftwithmore
productknowledge andadifferentopinionaboutus…SkechersPerformanceDivisionisnothingif not
passionate,authentic,andtrulybelievesinthe mission. Ilove changingmindsONERUNNERAT A TIME.

3. Cheyne witha marathoner testing out the GOrun
The GOrunUltra, always a fan favorite at marathon expos!

4. 2. Kara Goucher
Fast? (check) Beautiful?(check) Inspiring?(check) PerfectSkechersPerformance Ambassador?(check!)
WhenI firstheardKara was movingbackto Boulderitwas evidenthertime withNike wasover.Infact,
that veryday I made a joke onthe runningshoe geeksnetworkthatIwouldalmostguarantee she would
be runningfor Skechers…Iwasat Mizuno,we were notinnegationstobringme on board yetand little
didI knowI wouldendupplayinga role inthisawesome relationship. Life isfunnysometimes.
I knewthingswere goingback/forthforawhile,the Oiselledeal putakinkinit fora bit,butthenwhen
Kurt toldme we are not givingupyet,Ifigureditwastime to reach outand lether know exactlywhyI
feltSkechersPerformance wasthe perfecthome forme,andwhyI thinkshe wouldbe agreat partner.
We e-mailedbackandforthand we decidedSundayatthe BostonExpo wouldbe greatfora meeting.
We couldreallysell heronthe productand passion,KurtandAlbertcoulddoprecise measurementsto
gether the customfootwearshe needstotrainat the Olympiclevel.
I secureda meetingroomonthe firstfloorof the HynesConventionCenter,boughtacateredlunchfor
Kurt,Albert,George andI fromSkechers,andwe wouldbe joinedbyKara,herPR assistantShanna,Sally
(ownerOiselle),andLaurenFleshman. Thismeetingwasgoingtobe major,and to be brutallyhonest…
thismeetingbecame more importantthanmyrace. I trulyfeltthat Kara isthat transcendentathlete
that can absolutelytake ourbrandto the nextlevel,anditwasmake it or breakit to me.
The nightbefore the meetingKaratextedme tomake sure Kurtand I wouldbe at the Runner’sWorld
VIPparty,and of course we attended. It was greatto establishaconnectionrightoff,whichwe didand
reconfirmplansforthe meetingthe next day,alsowantedittobe knownthiswasnot a marketing
meeting…thiswasjusttotalk shop,talkproduct,findoutexactlywhatKara wantsin a shoe,whatNike
DIDN’Tdo for herand whatwe can do to make herfeel 100% part of the family.
I thinkwe dida great jobin showcasingjusthow muchfunwe have at our job. We talkedabouther
past races,traininghorrorstories,whatwe bothhave for goals,andof course…sharedpicturesof our
kids. Kurt and I bothleftthatmeetingfeelingpositive that we made anemotional connection,she felt
the passionfromus,and from the brand.
Later that nightwhenshe textedme goodluckIfelt100% confidentthatourmissionwasaccomplished!
Eitherthat or theywere justappreciative of the cateredlunchwe broughtfortheirteam.

5. Albert &Kurt taking measurements tobuildKara’s customlast!
Kurt calculating more data as Kara makes fun of how slowI am…

6. 3. The SkechersPerformance VIPHouse!
Thisprojecthas beenmybabyfor nearlya year,and to see it come togetherasmy firstmajorgrassroots
promotionforthe brand..I feltlike aproudfather.
The basic premise wastohosta SkechersPerformancebrandedhouse atthe startline,inviteSkechers
Elite runners,ambassadors,friends,andVIPtostay warm, hang out,have fun,relax andof course..
enjoythe private teamport-o-pottyall whilebrandingSKECHERSPERFORMANCEDIVISION tothe
maximumsothat eachone of the 36,000 BostonMarathon runnerswouldbe forcedto take notice and
think“Whoa,that is awesome..Iwanttobe a part of this!”.
It tooka lotof legworkto getthistogether,andI appreciate everyone’shelp. FromSpendingall
afternoon/eveningonSundaybefore the race at the house settingup…todrivingoutat 5am to prepfor
the arrival of the marathoners. I’mso proudof this andthinkit will be agreat annual traditionforyears
to come!
Unrolling the HUGE “GOMebGO!” Banner..

7. Getting on the roof to attach to the house! Getting ready for 36,000 runners to see!!!!
It took up over ½ the front of the house but looked glorious, neighbors were already coming
out and cheering for Meb… nearly 18 hours before the race!

8. Runners started to arrive around 7am. We had the tents, signage and tear drop bannersready for
them! Alsoavailable to runnerswas bottledwater and the everpopular SkechersPerformance VIP
portapotty!
In all we had over40+ runnersenjoythe pre-race festivitiesaspart of the SkechersPerformance crew,
inall differentpaces,race goals,andfromCalifornia,Texas,ChicagotoMaine! Some of the influential
bloggersinthe runningcommunityIinvitedevenshowedupandtaggeduson twitterandinstagram
whichwasawesome!

9. Group shot of the Skechers Performance #GOelite andbrand ambassadors who
wantedto wishMeboff in style… little didwe knowwhat was in store for the
day!! (Most all of these menracedthe marathon in the GOmebSpeed2)

10. 4. The BostonMarathon
Nowthat the “work” was all done…itwas time forthe otherpart of thistrip. Racing26.2 miles!
Afterthe tragedyof last yeareventhoughIstill ran well Ihave feltlike the BostonMarathonwasalmost
a dirtyword,and on thisday itwas time totake back whatis ours. Beingmyfirstofficial race withthe
SkechersPerformance DivisionIknewitwouldforeverhave anevendeepermeaning,pinningmybib
numberintothe same red,white andblue singletthatMebwouldbe wearingonthe same day… the
significance andimportance wasnotlost. Proud torepresentmycountryANDmy brand!
My Speed2’s and #GOelite kit ready to crush my PR on marathon
morning!

11. I had a fantasticrace,set a near 3minPR and I know Kurtwant’sto hear this…I didnot thinkaboutmy
feetorshoesONCE. Beingmyfirst marathonrunninginSkechersPerformance Iwasverycuriouson
howtheywouldfeel…butthe smoothride of the Speed2justget’soutof the wayand allowedme to
focuson my form,runningfast,andenjoyingthatresponsive POPthatshoe made me fall inlove with!
This is what running hard and GOING LIKE NEVER
BEFORE looks like after 25 miles…the finish line and a
new PR was in sight!
Crossedthe finish in 2:46:12..a 3 minute PR!
Then, I yell “WHO WON?!?!?......”

12. …and this is how Skechers
Performance OWNED Boston!
#GOlikeneverbefore