Charleston Marathon on new pace

Brad Nettles/postandcourier.com

Spectators watch as runners participate in the Charleston Marathon and Half Marathon on King Street in January.

The idea for a marathon in Charleston was kicked around for decades until three years ago, when Howie Schomer and Charles Fox rallied stakeholders to organize one.

The event started as a half-marathon, 10K and 5K in 2010. A marathon was added to the mix earlier this year.

Leading up to this year's race, however, the organizers realized they had the opportunity, interest and support to grow the race, which raises money for the locally based Youth Endowment for the Arts.

After a relatively soft search effort, they struck gold in finding Liz Alford.

As the board heads into the final three months before the Jan. 14, event, Alford talks about how her experiences will dovetail with the marathon event:

Q: In a nutshell, describe your journey up until now.

A: I am originally from Long Island, N.Y. I started in the event industry right out of college working for a boutique special events firm in New York City. After getting a few years under my belt, I decided to freelance and managed various events such as corporate parties, conferences, balloon festivals and hospitality programs at the Super Bowl, PGA and the Olympic Games.

Then I started working for Jet Set Sports, a company that specializes in corporate and sponsor hospitality programs for the Olympic Games. I managed VIP sponsor programs for every games from 1992-2002.

Then in 2003, Jet Set asked me to head up their newly created consumer division, CoSport, which offered the general public access to the Olympic Games. I was director at CoSport from the Athens games up to Beijing.

Then I decided, after nine Olympic games and too many cold East Coast winters, it was time to move on.

I moved to Charleston in 2007 and took some time off to have my second child.

In September 2008, I started with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation as the newly created director of development for South Carolina.

I had wanted to get into the nonprofit sector, and it really allowed me to dig into the Charleston community on a grass-roots level through constituent, volunteer and sponsorship acquisition.

Q: How did you hear about the Charleston Marathon, and why were you interested in stepping into this role?

A: A friend of a friend told me about the opportunity. You know how that goes. It was a newly created position, which I have a history of stepping into, and it combines my love of logistics with the nonprofit fundraising element.

Q: Do you have any specific goals with the Charleston Marathon?

A: Well, obviously, to sell out the race is my first goal (5,000 registrants, the limit set by the city of Charleston). But with that, more importantly, it will bring awareness to the Youth Endowment of the Arts, which is what this event was created for.

The YEA offers equitable, quality cultural arts experiences to Charleston area children.

On May 24, the Charleston Marathon gave a check to the YEA for $40,000 from the profits of the 2011 Charleston Marathon. My goal is to make sure that check increases each year.

Q: Do you see any changes in the lineup of races, such as the elimination of one of them?

A: We are trying to offer a race for runners of all levels, from the novice to the seasoned marathon runner, but we have eliminated the 10K from this year's lineup based on some logistical issues.

Q: Charleston's big, established race is the Cooper River Bridge Run. Have you found, on any level, that it's been hard to step out of the shadow of a race that's the sixth largest in the country?

A: Our events are completely different.

The Charleston Marathon is a fundraising event.

And now that we dropped our 10K, there really is no comparison. We see the Cooper River Bridge Run as an asset. It keeps Charleston in the minds of runners from out of town.

Who wouldn't want to make two trips to Charleston in a year?

Q: North Charleston has really been an ally in the Charleston Marathon, but do you see the route changing at all, including the possibility of limiting the time spent in North Charleston?

A: North Charleston has really stepped up to the plate to support the Charleston Marathon and is hugely invested in our success.

From the neighborhood support throughout the course to the merchants in the Olde Village area and the students at the area schools, the citizens of North Charleston were a huge part of our success.

The course director (Schomer) and course volunteers feel that sticking with the same course for 2012 is important so that we can focus on producing a smooth event and fine-tune every detail.

We are already working on re-evaluating the course, and hopefully we can unveil the 2013 course early next year. We feel that we have a great relationship now in place with city of Charleston law enforcement and that they are ready to help us design a course that will feature even more scenic views of the peninsula area.

Q: Were there any issues from last year's race that will be resolved or worked on this year?

A: We had some issues with the timing of our awards ceremonies, so we are already working to design a schedule of events and get the times posted way in advance so winners can get their awards on-site instead of waiting for them in the mail.

We also feel like the finish line set-up can be streamlined, and a volunteer from 2011 has stepped up to be in charge of that area.

Our adopt-a-mile program that we did with Charleston County schools was a tough sell since our event takes place on a holiday (Martin Luther King Jr.) weekend, but we have already met with Superintendent (Nancy) McGinley several times about moving forward, and she has allowed us to attend several meetings, at which we were able to garner 20 new schools to participate on race day, from adopting a mile and volunteering to providing performers along the route.

Q: What skills did you gain from working at the Olympics that you think will transfer to working on the Charleston Marathon?

A: Working on an international event requires the ability to look at the big picture, the end goal and then break it down and plan accordingly given your time frame. However, you also have to accept, and be flexible enough to realize, that all that planning can go out the window with the weather.

What do you do with a bus full of CEOs that had their heart set on seeing the ski jump finals that were canceled because of a whiteout? You better have lots of beer and Olympic trivia in your arsenal.

Q: Are there any other developments or changes to the race so far?

A: We are very excited about the enthusiasm we are being met with from many of the Charleston County schools about being involved this year. Now that they see that it is a direct benefit to them, they are excited to help.

All of the elementary schools are taking part in our barricade art project where their students will decorate boards that will be utilized as barricades along the route of the race. We are happy that the Charleston Marathon is being embraced by the community.

Q: You've been on the job for six months now. Is there anything you know about the race now that you didn't anticipate when you were hired?

A: What a dedicated, core volunteer executive committee we have.

These folks -- Charles Fox, Howie Schomer, Kyle Lahm, Pat Kelley and Jim Braunreuther -- all have full-time jobs, their own companies, families and other responsibilities, yet they worked tirelessly to make the Charleston Marathon not only a reality, but a successful event that was able to make $40,000 for the YEA.

They are all amazing individuals that I am proud to work with.