Mike Nishi - From 5,000 Runners to 55,000: An 11x Story
Pioneers goes behind the curtain of the greatest experiences in sport, speaking to the people who contribute to and build the key moments we all remember. In this episode, Sam Browne sits down with Mike Nishi, COO and President of Chicago Event Management and General Manager of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, to talk through more than 35 years in the sport from accidentally running his first Chicago Marathon at 14, to leading the race through its toughest crisis in 2007, to building the partnerships, technology and community programmes behind one of the world's biggest marathons today. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:53 A 14-year-old runs his first Chicago Marathon by accident 03:54 Meeting Carey Dukowski and joining Chicago Event Management 06:21 Why they share their playbook with competitors 11:57 Inside the Race Management Program 18:53 The secret behind a 35-year business partnership 25:38 Leading through crisis: the 2007 cancellation 30:59 Inside the forward command facility 34:42 Advice for organisers without decades of experience 36:35 Founding the World Marathon Majors 41:23 The three pillars: participants, workforce, spectators 44:03 Responsible growth, and the flour-and-salt metaphor 44:45 Building trust with the City of Chicago 47:24 How Bank of America became the title sponsor 52:05 What legacy actually means to him 54:25 The 29 neighbourhoods that define the course 55:41 Watching a world record unfold live from command 59:48 Why running got cool again 1:06:21 Designing the ultimate Chicago welcome experience 1:08:22 Innovating fast without losing trust 1:12:03 $47 million raised for charity 1:13:57 Building a year-round race series 1:19:00 Keeping the sport accessible as costs rise 1:20:30 Entries for Equity 1:29:29 Reimagining the start line experience 1:32:36 Borrowing ideas from the NFL, F1 and Lollapalooza 1:35:36 Chasing the two-hour marathon barrier 1:40:25 Advice for first-time Chicago marathoners 1:43:00 The Mike Nishi fingerprint on the sport 1:46:02 The best business advice he's ever been given 1:47:16 Looking ahead to the marathon's 50th anniversary What you'll learn: How Mike went from a 14-year-old who accidentally ran the whole Chicago Marathon to running the organisation behind it Why Chicago Event Management shares its playbook with race directors it competes with, and what the Race Management Program actually does What really happened behind the scenes when they cancelled the Chicago Marathon in 2007, and how that decision was made How the World Marathon Majors partnership came together, and what "responsible growth" means for a race scaling past 55,000 finishers How the Bank of America partnership came about — and why it wasn't CEM's doing What legacy means to Mike after 35+ years, and how the marathon's 29 neighbourhoods shape the whole experience Why running became culturally "cool" again after COVID, and what's driving the current participation boom How CEM is trying to keep the sport accessible as costs rise, including its Entries for Equity programme What it actually takes operationally to help set up the conditions for a world record Mike's advice for first-time Chicago marathoners, and the best business advice he's ever been given
