Event registration fees and sponsorship dollars help fund the Hartford Marathon Foundation’s expenses, from staffing, equipment, public safety, shirts, medals, and food and water.
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Josh Miller has crossed countless starting and finish lines over the years.
The 34-year-old Glastonbury resident now finds himself at the start of a new journey, as president of the Hartford Marathon Foundation Inc.
Founded in 1994 by Beth Shluger, the not-for-profit foundation’s mission is to promote healthy living through fitness and physical activity, and to use HMF events to support charity, sustainability, tourism and economic growth.
In addition to its flagship event — the Eversource Hartford Marathon and Half Marathon held each October — the foundation coordinates more than 30 race events annually across Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Shluger announced her retirement at the end of 2022, with Miller named foundation president as of Jan. 1, 2023. Shluger said she plans to spend a “gap year” exploring other interests.
Miller has been connected to the marathon since childhood, pitching in when his father was a volunteer, then volunteering himself as a teen, working part time on the operations team through college, then a full-time staffer shortly after college, most recently as HMF vice president and race director.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to take something that I have been so deeply involved in and see it through the future,” Miller said.
Miller has been hands-on for more than a decade before starting to transition to the leadership role under Shluger’s mentorship, he said.
“The last year has really been a big part of that transition,” Miller said. “I had the benefit of overseeing operations, staffing and finances with Beth as she began to look ahead toward her retirement at the end of 2022.
Fundraising efforts
In his new role, Miller said he seeks to expand community partnerships. One success story is Gilead Community Services, which brings a group together at the Middletown 10K and 5K each spring to fundraise and drive awareness for its mental health and treatment services.
“They essentially take on our existing HMF event as an avenue to bring their supporters and clients together and host their own annual fundraising campaign through the race,” Miller said.
Last year, 500 participants and supporters raised more than $62,000 to provide mental health services in the area.
Event registration fees and sponsorship dollars help fund the Hartford Marathon Foundation’s expenses, from staffing, equipment, public safety, shirts, medals and food and water.
Funds raised also go back into HMF programs, and race event participants can fundraise for their own causes or local charities.
Sponsorships are also a major revenue driver as the foundation relies on the financial and in-kind contributions of companies to keep operations strong.
The foundation has 10 employees with an estimated 2023 budget of around $2 million, Miller said.
“It’s a challenge, there is a lot competing for those sponsorship dollars, but we offer something very unique,” Miller said. “It’s not just about branding and exposure to our highly engaged community that makes our sponsorship offerings different. We can truly involve the partners and their customers or target audiences in the positive experiences of events as well as our customers’ journeys to reach their goals through our events.”
Miller speaks fondly of the foundation’s new Support Hub, which connects participants with varying interests, backgrounds and goals to useful resources and tools, such as injury prevention videos and tips provided by experts from Trinity Health Of New England Orthopedics and St. Francis Hospital.
Building race participation
As Shluger moves into retirement, she said one of her biggest accomplishments was incorporating running into the fabric of the community and making events inclusive for people of all ages, abilities, ethnicities, gender identities, orientations and experience levels.
Miller said that going forward, Shluger’s underlying vision and legacy will not change, even as the last few years have brought on new challenges as a result of the pandemic.
At the height of the pandemic, there was zero in-person race participation, so the foundation pivoted to virtual programs.
With COVID restrictions gradually lifting and the ebb and flow of transmission, registration trends have shown steady growth, Miller said.
Race participation last year still lagged pre-pandemic levels, but the foundation is forecasting significant growth in 2023, as it looks to bring back participants who have been on the sidelines the last few years.
The foundation has more than 4,000 volunteers annually, with about half of that number required just to organize the marathon.
This year’s marathon will take place Oct. 14, and it will mark the 30th running of the event, which brings thousands of people to downtown Hartford annually, and has generated an estimated $185 million economic impact from its inception, according to the foundation.
