August 21, 2018
Final Kick Events is shutting down.
I would like to thank a countless number of people that have helped me navigate this adventure over the last 8 years. Tons of energy and sweat and kindness has come from the many volunteers and staff members and vendors and runners and walkers that have been a part of the Final Kick Events family. It gets me teary eyed thinking about how grateful I am to have had the extraordinary chance I have had to be the leader of such a large and wonderful community of people. I am hoping to do a more detailed of a wrap-up blog post on my experiences.
This was not an easy or simple decision to make. I have directed 68 races under the Final Kick name and watched people cross our finish lines about 40,000 times. There was not going to be a simple time to pull the plug but as Christie put it, I’m riding a one-legged horse at this point. Ohhh Ok I was thinking this blog entry would be entirely serious but I just had an image pop into my mind that fits…I’m like the Black Knight in Monty Python after he’s lost both arms and one leg. So if you have seen that movie and when he’s down to one leg you can’t help but wish he would call it quits so he could at least hop home…yeah that’s me the one-legged Black Knight and I’d rather hop home than lose that last leg.
So there’s going to be some questions. I’ll answer a handful of the basics that should cover what I expect most of you would wonder.
1) Why are you shutting down? Well that is something I’ll touch on when I get to a longer wrap-up post.
2) Can I get a refund for xyz race(s) I have paid for? No, the checking account has $74 in it and the company is somewhere around $60k in debt and I’ll be doing things like donating blood and selling my hair to cover the house payment next month. (well there’s one spoiler for the longer wrap-up post)
3) I was waiting on a medal / plaque, will I still get it? No, there was a change in our medal supplier and one of the financial adjustments we needed to make was covering medals from a new supplier in advance…that combined with the previous question’s answer kind of explains that.
4) Is Freakin Fast Half still going to count as a qualifier for NYC or other races? That’s a complicated one. Short answer is submit it and cross your fingers or make sure you have a back up qualifier if you want to be 100% sure.
5) Is there something I can get for my unused volunteer entries? Not really. I’ve got plenty of shirts left over so if I can come up with a simple way to let you pick up a few of those that could be something.
6) I sent you emails and/or messages/posts on Facebook, why are you being rude and not answering? Over the last few weeks I was working on options that would have given life to the company for a bit longer in hopes at least my second leg would regrow. Obviously I was not successful in those attempts. I didn’t want to add any further unintentional lies to the heap of poo poo.
7) What races am I supposed to do now that yours aren’t happening? I would give a plug to Blue Circle Sports as my favorite local race company if you are going to be looking for some new races. The Y does a fine job as well and the Turkey Trot Relay is a fun one for Thanksgiving.
8) Can I take over xyz race for you? There are way to many complications involved with walking down that path.
That might be about it. I wish I had better answers. If I think of something else obvious I’ll add it to this post or include it in the next one (hoping in the next week).
Wishing you many awesome experiences as you continue to run or walk,
Wayne Ebenroth
Former Race Director
Recently Unemployed