[Reminer: Jerry Schumacher of Bowerman Track Club will chat with Heartbreak's own Dan Fitzgerald LIVE tonight (May 12th) at 8:30PM EDT (7:30 CDT, 5:30 PDT) via Heartbreak's Instagram account.]
One of our most cherished relationships at Heartbreak, crew to club, is the one we have with the Bowerman Track Club. The relationship with BTC goes back to 2015. On the Saturday of Boston Marathon weekend that year, I played host to Shalane Flanagan and Matt Tegenkamp at Nike Boston. I was terrified. It was the first time I had ever held a microphone and I was doing so as host/MC for these legends in front of 500 people. Thankfully, it all worked out and Shalane came back for a couple of important moments - our studio's 1st Boston Marathon (2017) and the opening of our community space at Mile 20 (2019).
In 2019, we launched one of our signature events, Ladies Lead, with World Championship Bronze Medalist Emily Infeld.
If you've ever seen Emily at an event, you know she exudes an "every gal" down-to-earth vibe but if you follow her racing career, you also know she has the hardware to prove her otherworldly talent.
Emily came back, this time to Heartbreak Chicago, to inspire the community ahead of their longest long training exercise in preparation for the marathon. That was the preview of what was to come Chicago Marathon weekend.
Race weekend in Chicago, we went big. We released the first ever Bowerman collaboration shirt with Heartbreak.
Race weekend in Chicago, we went big. We released the first ever Bowerman collaboration shirt with Heartbreak.
We hosted Bowerman Bros Ryan Hill, Moh Ahmed, and Evan Jager for a podcast with Citius Mag (listen here).
Around these events, the BTC athletes were carted around Chicago visiting high school cross country practices in a Heartbreak/Nike van. Then, after a last minute scratch in our 4x800 at Soldier's Field for a "mostly sanctioned" relay celebration, BTC Elite runner Julian Heninger, jumped in to race with the Heartbreakers.
Oh, and I even hosted a shuttle bus ride to and from the race expo with Steeple Squigs.
In the Olympic Marathon Trials, Julian (mentioned above) raced side-by-side with Heartbreak's Jonny Phillips for nearly 22 miles.
There's a lot of love between the teams and their respective businesses, that's why we're so excited to host the boss of the squad - Head Coach, Jerry Schumacher, tonight on Instagram LIVE.
Don't miss it! Coming to you live 8:30PM EDT (7:30CDT/5:30PM PDT) via @heartbreakrunco.
Special thanks to Nike Running. - DF