A 30th birthday celebration with an '80s theme gave Ken Nwadike Jr. one awesome idea—to have an '80s-themed run. The very first race in Pasadena, September 1, 2012, sold out and continues to sell out at each new location. The Awesome '80s Run is rapidly growing; people want to come out, celebrate, and have an awesome good time.
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Race founder and owner of Superhero Events, Nwadike shares his insight about the Awesome '80s Run.
What is the Awesome '80s Run?
The Awesome '80s Run is a very fun and exciting '80s-themed 5K/10K fun run. This is an event for people to come out and celebrate the most awesome and colorful decade. It's the best decade ever!
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How did you come up with this event?
My 30th birthday party was an '80s-themed party at a skating rink. Although there were only a few of us there, we had so much fun that I wanted to share this excitement with the running community, and that's what sparked the idea.
Who is the run for? Newbies? Elite?
It's for everyone. We encourage people to come out, have a good time, and be awesome. Whether you are running, skating, or hula hooping, we just want people to have fun.
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How has the series grown?
Race registration opened in June 2012 for the first race, which was in Pasadena. In less than two months, we sold out with 4,000 participants. We are currently on pace to sell out in San Diego and San Francisco, which are our first three races in the series. More cities are on the way.
How do you decide on the cities and race routes for the Awesome '80s Run?
We target popular party towns where people are fun and excited. We also get a ton of requests on our social media pages, so we try to accommodate the demand as best we can.
What's the most important thing you look for when creating the courses?
We look for a spectator-friendly course, and having a loop makes it easier to see the start/finish lines.
The word on the street is the finisher medals are totally awesome. How do you keep creating unique medals?
I know what I would want as a runner for accomplishing an event. I'm not going to give anyone else anything less than what I would want. My taste is extravagant, and I translate that into the medals I create.
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