Run of the Mill sponsorship in doubt

  • John Santana<br>Mill Creek Enterprise editor
  • Monday, March 3, 2008 6:50am

The Run of the Mill, Mill Creek’s oldest and one of its largest annual events, could be in jeopardy.

The South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce wants to withdraw its lead sponsorship of the event, a July tradition in Mill Creek, but doesn’t want the race to die. The chamber has been in contact with the Mill Creek Rotary Club about taking over as the event’s lead sponsor.

“We have been looking at taking it over, but club members have concerns about the scope of activity and the end results,” said Geoff Owen, president of the Mill Creek Rotary Club. “There’s a lot of work involved, a lot of risk and not much reward.”

Owen said that in his talks with the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce he’s learned that after expenses, the event netted a profit of approximately $2,000. Combine that with the labor-intensive nature of putting on the event, and that’s where some of the concerns of local Rotarians are coming from.

Rotarians are also concerned about competing with the Mill Creek Business Association for event sponsorships. The business association’s Meet Me In Mill Creek Festival has taken place the last few years immediately following the Run of the Mill, and is financed largely through sponsorships and vendors.

“We’re still looking at it, kicking around numbers,” Owen said.

Jean Hales, president and CEO of the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce, said the decision to drop its sponsorship came after careful deliberation.

“Every year we assess what we do and what makes sense for us and the community,” she said. “We’ve looked at what makes sense for the community and it makes sense for (a local organization) to run it.”

Owen said his club has talked with the Lynnwood Rotary Club about that group’s sponsorship of the Hi! 5 Run, an event it has put on for the last two years.

“We got a lot of great information,” Owen said. “It was funded internally, mostly, through businesses in which owners were club members. It sounds like they had a successful run.”

Owen said he was set to have more discussions this week with the South County Chamber. The chamber, meanwhile, has pledged to help whatever organization takes the event over, Hales said. That help come in the form of the chamber being “a resource,” Hales said.

“We hope to have something done soon,” Owen said. “We like the program, we just have some issues with it that need to be addressed.”

This year’s Run of the Mill attracted approximately 260 runners, down from 2004 and 2003, when the race drew more than 300 participants. Approximately 360 runners took part in the 2004 event.

The Run of the Mill has taken place in Mill Creek for 20 years, and traditionally occurs on the second Saturday in July. This year’s event also went through Mill Creek Town Center for the first time.

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