Run for the Brass 5K happening June 3; Apex Promoz to bring more races to Danville
BY FIONA MORGAN
The Run For The Brass 5K and 10K race will be held Saturday, June 3 at Millenium Park in Danville.
The race is part of the four-day Great American Brass Band Festival. It’s a family event, and runners, walkers and strollers are welcome. There will be a 5K, 10K and 1-mile race. The event will be chip timed.
Each participant will receive a custom Run For The Brass medal, a stein and a Danville-themed beach/picnic towel. The top finishers will receive Apex Race Series award medals, which are new this year.
The event will have a bouncy house, cotton candy, popcorn, and a food truck. They are giving away a Myrtle beach trip as a raffle prize at this race.
The 10K will start at 7:50 a.m.; the 5K at 8 a.m.; and the 1-mile will begin at 8:05 a.m. The start and finish lines will be in the same location close to the parking lots.
Money raised at the event will go to the Danville-Boyle County Arts Commission. Some of the awards will be provided by the Arts Commission.
This year, the event is presented by Apex Promoz, which is based in South Carolina. Apex Promoz Event Director John Bodner is from Danville, and still has family in town. They recently started the Titletown Turkey Trot, which happened Thanksgiving Day in 2022 and will be a yearly event.
Run for the Brass has happened in the past, but this is the first year that Apex Promoz has directed and managed it. Bodner said they expect the event to have a different feel than prior years, and are focused on growing the event every year.
“Our races are much different than in the past years,” Bodner said. “We focus on providing a lot of value to participants and creating a festival vibe. Those items are expensive and will take away from what we donate, but those items are what grow races in the future.”
Bodner said they have about 60 people signed up, but are expecting at least 150 on race day. They will cap the race at 175 people, in order to have enough medals and beach towels for everyone.
Bodner said their goal is to grow this event each year, and have more people traveling to Danville for the race. They also want to bring more races to Danville.
Apex Promoz currently has four races happening in Danville. They are Run for the Brass on June 3, Old Glory Twilight Run on July 4, Titletown Turkey Trot on Nov. 23, and The Frosty Feet Run on Dec. 30.
“We are trying to change the race industry in Danville by bringing in races that offer more of the ‘big race’ feel,” Bodner said. “Past races in Danville haven’t given finishers medals to all participants, and don’t have some of the swag options such as beach towels, socks, beanies and other items that we are bringing in.”
He continued, “The vast majority of races in Danville also don’t offer chip-based timing of races, which is a major draw for events and almost an expectation nowadays; all of our events will have this. I am doing all of this to try and ultimately get a half marathon or marathon in Danville.”
They want a marathon distance event to be a substantial economic event for Danville and Boyle County, as a big race would bring in lots of visitors to stay in Danville hotels and eat at local restaurants. Bodner said that in order to get to that point, the community has to have good smaller races that people are excited about.
“Ultimately we want to be able to bring in additional revenues to the county from non-residents, and hope to be able to start with a marathon or half marathon in the fall of 2024,” Bodner said.
