Since 2012, Quarry Oaks in Ashland, Nebraska, has hosted the Mud, Sweat & Beers 7K trail run in the summer and the Can Run 5K in the fall. It all began when director of golf Joe Sutter, an avid runner, hosted a local businessman’s fall road race, which drew 450 runners its first year, then 1,500 the next.
“After the second run’s success, we saw potential and did our own summer run,” says Sutter, whose inaugural Mud, Sweat & Beers 7K drew 1,800 runners, then 2,000-plus in its second year. “It’s a nice supplemental business.”
While Quarry Oaks doesn’t disclose financials, it costs each runner $45, on average, to compete, Sutter says. That suggests roughly $90,000 in income last year. “It’s undoubtedly great revenue, but there are definitely lots of expenses,” Sutter notes.
Those include $10 race shirts (“that’s $20,000 out the door right there,” Sutter says), imbedded race-bib digital-timer chips ($3 per runner), staff, labor, an on-site ambulance and medical staff, prizes, a disc jockey and tent rental. There’s also the issue of parking, obtaining a liquor license, and coordinating numerous volunteers.
“It’s a tremendous, chaotic undertaking,” Sutter says. “I didn’t sleep for a week before our first race, but we pulled it off without a hitch and people loved it.”
Now, the events are part of Quarry Oaks’ programming for the future, and the planning and processes get better and easier with each race.