Running: The Delaware running man

When Wayne Kursh opened his first running store in 1977, amateur races were a little bit different than they are today.

"The way we timed races back then was to hand runners a Popsicle stick with a number on it and send them to a scoring table," he said. He had just bought his first computer, an IBM, for $12,000. His first cellphone? It looked like a brick.

"Technology is constantly changing. The business has changed too," he said.

Kursh, 60, has changed right along with it, and today he runs three successful companies that time and manage running events in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

But first, he had to give up on the retail end of his business. He had three stores, called Marathon Sports, in Wilmington until 1991, when "the Persian Gulf War hit, and DuPont downsized for the very first time," he said. No one was buying shoes. Since he had opened his first store, he had also been managing races, including the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon and the Newark Turkey Trot.

"Checks were coming in for my management fees [for races], and I was taking that money and having to pay New Balance, having to pay Nike. My cash flow was with the races," he said. So he sold two of the locations, and rented the building of the third one to AT&T, then focused solely on managing races. In 1992, he put together his first race management website using Microsoft FrontPage.

Today, Kursh has three main businesses that fall under his running umbrella. The first is Races2Run, which is a race management company putting on events for nonprofits in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Last year, it managed 125 events, including the Delaware Marathon and the Mayor's Icicle 10 Miler, which is being run Sunday.

Five years ago, he partnered with Ed Hartwell, the son of one of his best customers when he operated Marathon Sports, to start NOVA Timing Systems. That company handles the timing of races only, not management oversight. In addition to timing Races2Run events, they have also worked with other events, like the Rutgers Half Marathon, and are hired to time specific splits in major races, like the 15K and 40K marks for the Boston Marathon and 5K split for the Chicago Marathon.

His third venture is Signup2RaceUSA, which provides online registration services to races. He and partner Mike Reph started that business in 2011 after the company they previously used to manage online sign-ups, Raceit, was bought out by the Competitor Group.

"That's the big gorilla," he said, and was worried about losing the customer service that Raceit provided.

Other races - not just those put on by Races2Run - can use the technology to do online sign-ups on their own. Last year, 60,000 people signed up to run races through the site.

It's a little bit more sophisticated than when he was running a website with FrontPage, which doesn't even exist anymore. (They use Wordpress now.)

The person he works with most is his wife, Barbara, who retired from a job in Delaware state government three years ago.

"I bring in the business, and she takes it from there," he said, and lets his partners on NOVA and Signup2RaceUSA "run with what they do best," he said.

"People keep asking me when I am going to get out of the business," he said. "What else am I going to do? I'm having too much fun."

38th Mayor's Icicle Ten Miler, 9 a.m., Wilmington. Fee: $35 ($40 after 1/8) www.races2run.com/events/icicle-run/

BCRR Winter Series Polar Bear

8 Miler, The Boathouse, Tyler State Park, Newtown, 9:30 a.m. Contact Janet Lewis (janet.lewis@alumni.duke.edu) or bcrrclub.com $10 per race.

Browning Ross Winter Series. 5K every Sunday, through Feb. 23. Rowan University parking lot on Bowe Blvd. Race: 1 p.m. Race day registration only. Age group awards.  

BCRR Winter Series Honest Abe 4.6 Miler. The Boathouse, Tyler State Park, Newtown, 9:30 a.m. Contact Janet Lewis (janet.lewis@alumni.duke.edu) or bcrrclub.com $10 per race.

BCRR Winter Series, Winter Series Terrible Tyler 9.3 Miler (15K). The Boathouse, Tyler State Park, Newtown, 9:30 a.m. Contact Janet Lewis (janet.lewis@alumni.duke.edu) or bcrrclub.com $10 per race.

Browning Ross Winter Series. 5K every Sunday, through Feb. 23. Rowan University parking lot on Bowe Blvd. Race: 1 p.m. Race day registration only. Age group awards. Contact Ringo Adamson, 856-904-3543 or tuffgangrunning@yahoo.com

BCRR Winter Series, Winter Series Pick Your Way 5.3 Miler). The Boathouse, Tyler State Park, Newtown, 9:30 a.m. Contact Janet Lewis (janet.lewis@alumni.duke.edu) or bcrrclub.com $10 per race.

Browning Ross Winter Series. 5K every Sunday, through Feb. 23. Rowan University parking lot on Bowe Blvd. Race: 1 p.m. Race day registration only. Age group awards. Contact Ringo Adamson, 856-904-3543 or tuffgangrunning@yahoo.com

Chilly Willy Frostbite 5K, Camp Okanickon, 1303 Stokes Rd. , Medford, 9 a.m.

$12 preregister, $20 post. JTiming.com

Feel the Love 5k, start and finish at Navy Yard, South 17th St., 3:30 p.m. Early registration by 1/15: $25. Before 2/6: $30. Race-day: 2-3:15 p.m. Total limited to 700 entrants. brynmawrrunningco.com or e-mail brynmawrracing@gmail.com

BCRR Winter Series, Eenie-Meanie-Minie-Moe Half Marathon. The Boathouse, Tyler State Park, Newtown, 9:30 a.m. Contact Janet Lewis (janet.lewis@alumni.duke.edu) or bcrrclub.com $10 per race.

Browning Ross Winter Series. 5K every Sunday, through Feb. 23. Rowan University parking lot on Bowe Blvd. Race: 1 p.m. Race day registration only. Age group awards. Contact Ringo Adamson, 856-904-3543 or tuffgangrunning@yahoo.com

BCRR Winter Series, Staggered Start 4.6 Miler. The Boathouse, Tyler State Park, Newtown, 9:30 a.m. Contact Janet Lewis (janet.lewis@alumni.duke.edu) or bcrrclub.com

$10 per race.

Browning Ross Winter Series. 5K every Sunday, through Feb. 23. Rowan University parking lot on Bowe Blvd. Race: 1 p.m. Race day registration only. Age group awards. Contact Ringo Adamson, 856-904-3543 or tuffgangrunning@yahoo.com

Fireside Frostbite 5 Miler, 9 a.m. Wissahickon High School in Ambler. Register at www.aarclub.com. Limited to first 1,500 runners. Fee: Before Wednesday, $30 adult, $27 student; after Wednesday, $35 adult and $32 student. Feb. 21-22, $40 for all.

Final races of Browning Ross Winter Series. Glassboro 10-miler and 5K. Rowan University parking lot on Bowe Blvd. Race: 1 p.m. Race day registration only. Age group awards. Contact Ringo Adamson, 856-904-3543 or tuffgangrunning@yahoo.com

Icebreaker 5K and 8K Fun Runs at CrossFit Nassau, CrossFit Nassau, 255 Nassau St., Princeton. Races at 9 a.m. Day-of check in: 8 a.m. Proceeds benefit Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund and Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad. www.princetonac.org

Phillies Charities 5K, registration opens Monday, Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. on phillies.com.

"Fourth Spring Run" 6K cross-country run at the Institute Woods. Princeton Friends School, 470 Quaker Road, Princeton. Check-in at 8:45 a.m. 6K starts at 10. Limited to 150 participants. Walkers are welcome. Anyone expecting to take longer than 50 minutes should arrive by 9:30 a.m. for possible separate early start. Online preregistration only, until March 22: $30 including T-shirt, after $35. Discount for no-shirt option. www.princetonac.org. Questions: iaswoods@princetonac.org