"The one thing the race has going for it is that it's beautiful. Monument Avenue is beautiful in the spring time especially. We don't have to dress up the venue. … It's in a special place." 

Jon Lugbill, 46, a five-time individual world champion in whitewater canoeing and a member of the 1992 Olympic Team, has been the one and only executive director at the Richmond Sports Backers. The Sports Backers organizes events such as the Richmond Marathon and the upcoming Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k, which is expected to draw 30,000 participants in April.

How did you get involved with the Richmond Sports Backers?
I was working for a regional planning organization in Washington, D.C., back in the late '80s/early '90s and was involved with trying to get the Olympics there … when we didn't get it and it went to Atlanta, I then started looking into the sports commission industry. … I saw an ad in the paper [for the Sports Backers], got the job and came down to Richmond. It was May of 1993 when I started.

What position did you have when you first started?
I was the first and only executive director here.

What's the biggest challenge with your position?
I think the big thing is the organization has changed several times. I think it's a challenge and an opportunity. The sports industry has changed dramatically. When we first formed, there were about 30 sports commissions around the country, now there are more than 300. The competition among cities for events that are big is kind of fierce … it's very competitive. We've had to adapt and I think that's something that's our greatest strength.

What do you like most about being a part of the Sports Backers?
It is so much fun to be involved with the staff, the board of directors, the thousands of volunteers that are all trying to make this a better place to live. We're doing it in a fun way. … We provide a fun quality of life and hopefully that motivation to have a healthy lifestyle. We're doing something to help the community in a positive way.

Why do you think there are so many people interested in the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k?
From day one it was different. You could just tell that the first time we did it back in 2000. It was very open to anybody. We had walkers; we've had people of all abilities. We have live bands. Ukrop's came through with sampling; they had vendors in to do that. There were just a lot of things done the very first year. With the emphasis on creating a fun and a celebration/party atmosphere, it's really taken off. It's really fun.

Has Ukrop's always been the title sponsor?
Ukrop's has been the title sponsor since year one. When I sold them the sponsorship in 1999, I promised it would become a signature running event for the Richmond area … it actually came true [laughing].

What do you think the future holds for the Monument Avenue 10k?
The one thing the race has going for it is that it's beautiful. Monument Avenue is beautiful in the spring time especially. We don't have to dress up the venue. … It's in a special place. I think success builds on success. If we can keep having high quality events, then the event will continue to grow.

How have the training teams for the 10k and Richmond Marathon grown or changed over the years?
Both those programs have really grown. I think the training programs have made running accessible to someone that wasn't thinking that they're already an experienced runner. The 10k training team is really geared to getting people to moving again and establishing a routine. With the marathon, it's a major commitment. The marathon training team has really made running a marathon more of a team sport than an individual sport. … The group atmosphere is something that has made that program one of the best marathon training programs in the country.

What's been the strangest thing to happen at a Sports Backers event?
We had the fire the day before the 10k. One of VCU's buildings on Broad Street that was under construction caught on fire … it looked like something out of a movie. Our porta potties were supposed to be delivered a half hour after the fire started. It would've been pretty ugly. … We thought we'd have to work all night, but we pretty much had everything reorganized by midnight. It required a lot of work, but it also was one of the prouder moments that we actually pulled that off.

How early do you start the planning for big events?
As you're doing the event, you already know what you want to improve the next year. We meet after our events to immediately talk about what worked and what didn't. … Some of the events we have to market year round. We market the marathon about 16 months before the actual race. When we meet this spring to talk about the marathon, we're actually talking about the 2009 marathon.

Later this year, you're bringing back a half marathon as part of the Richmond Marathon activities. What sparked that?
It was a couple things. One, we've been trying to do it for years. It's really complicated with street closures and how to get it done. The second is we've basically needed to come up with some more revenue to keep up. There are a lot of cities that have marathons. A lot of cities are putting in a lot of cash for marathon. … The city was willing to work with us to have a half marathon, which should add money. With the marathon, it's not always about growing. We'd like it to grow to about 6,000 or 7,000 – that would probably be about as far as you can get with the marathon. But in the current marketplace, it's requiring a lot more competition. Even to stay where we are, we have to spend more money.

You've mentioned competition a couple of times so far. Who's your biggest competition?
In the Northeast corridor, there's a marathon in Baltimore, Marine Corp Marathon in D.C., New York City Marathon … while our experience doesn't really compete with some of those because of the size of the city, people are making a decision on what to run. Anything in the fall is competition.

What are some of the other big events that the Sports Backers organizes?
The James River Adventure Games, the McDonald's cross country event at Maymont, we have a CAA basketball tournament. There are various ways we partner or assist with a whole host of events. We bid on events to come here as well. … Last year we were involved in 35 events.

Where do see the Sports Backers in five years?
We have a strategic plan that shows us doubling our impact in five years. That means growing the events that we own and produce at a rate of 15 percent a year. It means having new events so that we're involved with more things. Adding more events in the community, even if we don't own them. We think participatory sports are where the big growth is. There are a lot of opportunities here.

What's your favorite sport to participate in?
I run all the time. I am training for a marathon this spring.

Your office sits in the shadows of The Diamond. What are your thoughts on the Richmond Braves leaving the city?
It would've been good to figure out an arrangement with the Braves. It's very complicated … we need to have minor league baseball here. It's a very important quality of life component. Now we're going to have to work to get a new team.

What's your favorite spot in Richmond?
For me, it's out on the James River in the morning and coming around the bend and I can see the city skyline with the sun coming up; it's an incredible view. It's kind of shocking at the same time because you're going from a wild environment to an urban environment within minutes. To me that's the most beautiful spot in Richmond.

What's your favorite Richmond restaurant?
I go to Bandito's all the time because it's fast and close to work, so I like going there for lunch. I really enjoy going down to Sine. I like that part of the Slip.

If you could change one thing about Richmond, what would it be?
We'd have an integrated network of paved walking and biking trails throughout the region.

Richmond is _____?
Eccentric. It just has wild contrasts right next each other. Everything from old to new to pockets of discovery. There are little jewels all over the place, but you have to find them.

w LAST TIME OUT: Bruce F. Jamerson, the clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Want to read more about the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k? Check out our latest RBlog, which will run through April.