(Half) Marathon Man

Dublin resident’s company celebrates fitness with series of races

WW HAT STARTED AS a partnership to organize a running race in Chicago has evolved, a decade later, into a series of local runs all aimed at celebrating the athletic spirit and the people who embrace it.

Dublin resident David Babner is founder and race director of M3S Sports, which is responsible for a variety of half-marathons, 5Ks, four-milers and other running races in the central Ohio area. He created the company in 2002 to help a friend and legal client, who was a columnist for Runner’s World magazine, organize the Chicago Distance Classic, a fundraiser for the American Lung Association.

A lawyer by trade, Babner nonetheless was familiar with the changing demographics of race events and saw the opportunity to organize the Chicago race as a way to get his foot in the door. Though he still practices law, these days he spends about 95 percent of his time in the racing business.

In 2004, Babner decided to bring the spirit of the Chicago run – a high-energy celebration of the active lifestyle – a little closer to home, spearheading the Capital City Half Marathon.

Prior to that point, Columbus had an annual marathon, but no half-mar- athon – neglecting a large segment of the distance-running population. Eight years later, the race is projected to draw 13,000 participants.

“The explosive growth in the running industry has really been in the half-marathons across the country,” Babner says.

Shortly thereafter, Babner began producing a few other races – one on the other side of the country, the Arizona Distance Classic Half Marathon, and one locally, the Fore Miler, a four-mile run to accompany the LPGA Tour in 2005. The latter in particular drummed up tremendous support thanks to the association’s ramped-up emphasis on health and wellness, and Babner began seeking out ways to bring that enthusiasm to additional races.

Today M3S produces a total of 14 events, two of them right here in Dublin: the Emerald City Half and Quarter Marathons, and the Flying Feather Four Miler. Those two races are part of the company’s Signature Series, which also includes the Capital City Half Marathon, the Arizona Distance Classic and the Giant Eagle Multisport Festival.

M3S’s Celebration Series includes nine runs, most of them holiday-themed: First on the First (New Year’s Day), the St. Patrick’s Day Four Miler, the Cinco de Julio Cuatro Miler (formerly a Cinco de Mayo event), the Oktoberfest Vier Meiler, the Step Up for Stefanie 5K/2 Miler (held in October), the Dead Celebrity 3 Miler (Halloween), the Buckeye Classic 10K (held before the final Buckeye football home game of the season) and the Holiday Run.

“M3S has become, I think, synonymous with celebration of the active, healthy lifestyle, and what better way to celebrate than around the holidays?” says Babner.

Family is a big part of most holidays, and M3S sees a lot of participation from families whose members come into town for the holiday and run in the race while they’re here, Babner says. Some races are part of larger events and festivals; the Vier Meiler is part of Columbus Oktoberfest, while the St. Patrick’s Day run is part of Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

“The runners run the four miles, and then they’re there for the party” on St. Patrick’s Day, Babner says. “Last year, the Menus played; this year, it’s the Reaganomics.”

Further embracing the “celebration” theme, most races include thematic gifts for participants. Each Flying Feather participant gets a bottle of wine to take to the Thanksgiving table; each Cinco de Julio participant gets a margarita at the finish line; and each Vier Meiler participant gets a beer, a Bahama Mama and a cream puff, all from Columbus Oktoberfest event organizer Schmidt’s Restaurant und Sausage Haus.

“In the old days, running events were really based on competition and it wasn’t about the celebration and the participation and the active, healthy lifestyle,” Babner says. “Used to be, you got a bagel and a bottle of Gatorade.”

To ensure participants get the most enjoyment possible out of each race, M3S brings in extra runners to come in last place so no one else has to. It also does not differentiate between runners and walkers in any of its races – all are welcome, Babner says.

“In my experience, people will walk, people will run, people will run-walk, people will walk-run – everybody’s a participant,” he says.

In addition to celebration, several of M3S’s races benefit charitable organizations – the Step Up for Stefanie event benefits the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research, portions of the Emerald City proceeds went to Welcome Warehouse last year, and portions of the Capital City proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society this year.

As M3S continues to expand its race repertoire, a consistent part of it has been the addition of quarter-marathons, of which the Emerald City run was the first. And it recently ventured into new athletic events, partnering in 2011 with HFP Racing to present the Giant Eagle Multisport Festival, which included, in addition to standard foot races, a triathlon that also featured swimming and biking. One of the racers was Babner himself.

“I never thought I could do a triathlon until I did last year,” he says.

Though Babner has no immediate plans for new races, his goals for 2012 include attracting regional interest to the Emerald City race and building its economic impact in and around Dublin. He’ll also be working to grow the Capital City race, which he hopes will reach 20,000 participants by 2016.

And M3S is forever looking for new ways to make existing races more interesting for participants.

“In Emerald City this year, we have cheerleaders at every mile,” Babner says. “At Capital City, we have bands every half-mile and DJs every mile.”

Not only does Dublin play host to a fair number of M3S’s races, it also serves as a source of inspiration for Babner. Observing the effort and energy that went into the creation of the city’s paths, as well as their popularity among residents, helps keep him interested.

“I can go outside of my house, jump on a path and run for as long as I want,” he says.

Find out more about M3S Sports –including registration information – at www.m3ssports.com.

Garth Bishop is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at laurand@pub groupltd.com.

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