A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
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A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Inside Life Time's Big Sugar Classic with Michelle Duffy
On this episode of the New American Town podcast, we're joined by Michelle Duffy, Senior Marketing Director at Life Time, who shares about Life Time's impressive ecosystem.
Listen to the conversation on how The Big Sugar Classic came to be, the Life Time Grand Prix, and the world champions that are attracted to race Bentonville.
Whether you're a cycling enthusiast, a Bentonville resident, or a tourism professional, this episode offers invaluable insights into the intersection of sports, community, and economic development.
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Hey, welcome to the bicycle edition of a ew American town podcast. So this is proudly presented by Visit Bentonville. I'm your host, Nat Ross, and I'm broadcasting live from Haxton Road Studios. I am here with Michelle Duffy she is from Lifetime Fitness and she is the Senior Marketing Director and we are lucky enough to spend a few minutes with you, Michelle. So welcome, happy to have you on the podcast, and we want to know more about Lifetime. So what is Lifetime? What is Lifetime Fitness?
Michelle Duffy:Awesome. Thanks for having me, Nat. I'm excited to be here in beautiful Haxton Studios. Lifetime is basically an ecosystem of the healthy way of life. So we own and produce athletic events around the country, which is what some people may know us for. But we also own an entire ecosystem of programs and athletic country clubs around the country and Canada. So we have 170 of those and we serve people from 90 days old to 90 years old in our programs.
Nat Ross:So I think a lot of folks are familiar with certain lifetime events, and you guys now have a plethora of events that span throughout the season. So in general there's a little bit of a spawning of Leadville when people talk about lifetime and there's a heritage piece, but now Bentonville is starting to ring true with lifetime.
Michelle Duffy:For sure. Yeah, I think our portfolio kind of speaks for itself. We have, of course, the anchor or flagship of our Lifetime Grand Prix Series right here in Northwest Arkansas, but we also produce events including the Miami Marathon, the Chicago Half Marathon and the Leadville Race Series in Colorado.
Nat Ross:One neat thing that I've experienced with all of the events that you guys do so Lifetime. It's a massive company. You guys have a lot of support, a lot of members. The expos are amazing. So walk us through like an expo at an event and what one can expect, Because I think when we come to this fall, some folks might want to visit.
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, I think one of the major hooks and the things that set us apart as an event promoter is our focus on experience as a whole, and we're an experiential first company. So when we think about an event, experience it's more than just the start and finish line and what happens on course. And so we kick off majority of our events with a one to two day expo, depending on the event, majority of our events with a one to two day expo, depending on the event. And that's an opportunity where endemic or industry brands from around the country, and sometimes outside of the country, come to activate and engage with community members and participants. It's also an opportunity for community organizations to be active within the event and have a place to get their programming out in front of prospects.
Nat Ross:Yeah, what a neat experience. So if we look at Lifetime coming into Bentonville, when did the first event kind of start occurring and what's the progression of what Lifetime's doing in Bentonville and Bella Vista this year?
Michelle Duffy:Well, matt, you would have a peek behind the curtain there, as you've been really active in our growth here within the community and we appreciate you. We started to pay attention to Bentonville back in 2018 when Amy Ross came and was leading Bike Bentonville and at that time, lifetime was looking for an opportunity to expand our portfolio. We had just went through a series of acquisitions, including the largest gravel event in the world, unbound Gravel in Emporia, Kansas, followed by Crusher and the Tushar in Beaver, Utah, and we started to assert ourselves as a leader within the cycling space, and it happened really quickly. We started to assert ourselves as a leader within the cycling space and it happened really quickly, and at that time, we were starting to look for other communities that fit the mold for what we were looking to build, and Bentonville quickly rose to the forefront of those conversations and we did a few site visits and I think the team which included Christy Moan on our team, Leland Danes, a former staff member, gabby Thomas and her husband here locally um all being really active players within that conversation Um, it helped us to see the potential here and I think we've believed in the community for many years and all of that's really had great payoff.
Michelle Duffy:Um, one of the keys for us when looking for a community is looking for a place that's not just great for cycling though that's so important but also a place that cyclists want to bring their families. And if you look at a lot of the other events that we work with, it's usually within communities that have personality, that have something that's ownable and that have family-friendly activities on and off the bike and that have family-friendly activities on and off the bike, and the work that's been done here in Bentonville really leans into that mission for us.
Nat Ross:Yeah, what a great home and I think the Bentonville community really likes hosting. There are some nonprofits and there are some ways that folks can get involved this year with the event. Perhaps they've been on the fence about getting involved or perhaps they want to get involved. So if, if a group or an agency or a company wanted to get involved, um, with one of the upcoming events this year with lifetime, um, how would they do that? How would they go about that?
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, so we have, uh, a couple of different ways that organizations can get involved. Um, we've worked with groups like well, we work with a group like the trailblazers year after year and they're like at the core of our ability to be able to pull off what we do and we love and appreciate their partnership. Um, we also have worked with uh groups like women of Oz and leading group rides and creating a safe place for women to feel more comfortable on the bike, and I think that's really important. So if there are any not-for-profit groups that have a mission that aligns with the work that we're doing, we definitely welcome that.
Michelle Duffy:From a programming perspective, we also have plenty of like partnership and expo opportunities for companies that are looking to get exposure. But then, most importantly, we have a series of volunteer opportunities for people and I think that's such a great way to get involved with the event, whether you appreciate the bike or you just like to be around people. And if you go to big sugar classiccom, you can find a link there for volunteer opportunities, and that's we can't do our event without volunteers and we can't do our event without the surrounding communities to Bentonville as well. So I think that's so important and we love to get more people involved.
Nat Ross:Yeah, that's the neat part and the finish line has a great experience. So I think in general Lifetime, when you do the training, put in the prep and make it to the finish line, that says a lot about the events that you guys put on and the energy and the spirit and the town camaraderie.
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, I think the the finish line is like. It's so much more than just like the point in which a rider crosses the finish line of that specific day. It represents a lot more for people and I always encourage our team to take a shift at the finish line of any of our events and get the emotional experience. Um, I think it's the best way to connect with a rider. But then, more than that is the community as well, and having those quintessential finish line experiences that are like in a in the downtown of that community, it just like it is an experience you can't emulate anywhere else. It's not like we're using a built out event venue. Our event venue is the town and when you get to like cross the finish line, you finish, you're right in the community. In the situation here where DBI is putting on the farmer's market, for example, like that is a unique experience that can't be emulated anywhere else.
Nat Ross:Yeah, it's pretty special. Fill me in on how quickly these events once you open up registration and what that process looks like, because I know a lot of folks they're gonna have to wait or perhaps volunteer a year to get in. But what does it look like when registration opens up and how quickly does Big Sugar typically sell out?
Michelle Duffy:Great questions. I think that's a testament to the growth in this community on a national scale to when we launched Big Sugar. So we vetted it in 2018, when we launched it in 2019 for a hopeful 2020 first event, which later got deferred into 2021, we sold our 2019 event out in four minutes, which is incredible because it had never happened before and Bentonville was still a new place for many people within the cycling community outside of this region and that that progression has just continued. So our event continues to sell out in less than 30 minutes and we have doubled that event size in in capacity year after year. So the event has continued to grow and it sells out very quickly.
Michelle Duffy:Um, but something that we do provide for all local residents is we had an early registration window. Um, we held a group right here and a couple of hundred riders from this community got registered before that. Um, we also I mentioned volunteering, as did you earlier, and if you volunteer this year, you're guaranteed entry into the following year. So it's a great way, if you're still on the fence, to get into the event for next year.
Nat Ross:And also, what if you're a mountain biker? What does Lifetime offer for mountain bikers? Because that growth in the area is immense.
Michelle Duffy:So we kicked off the partnership with Bentonville with a gravel event, but we've since grown Big Sugar Gravel to the Big Sugar Classic and it includes Little Sugar Mountain Bike Race, which takes place on the trails in Bentonville and Bella Vista, and it has only happened one year. It started in 2023. So we'll have our second Little Sugar Mountain Bike Race this year and it has quickly grown as one of the top mountain bike races in the conversation. It also sold out near immediately this year, in just its second year, which is amazing and a testament to all the work that's been done here. And, um, yeah, we couldn't be more grateful to have like a true mountain bike race and a partner that like what we have here with Bentonville and Bella Vista um, for a little sugar mountain bike.
Nat Ross:Yeah and I think, uh, your partnership with the NWA Trailblazers is key and it kind of highlights the ability to come into a community but be part of that community and share those experiences. The one piece that I noticed last year at the mountain bike race was you had a world champion show up and get to enjoy the experience in Bentonville and said they wanted to come back.
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, last year we had Tom Pidcock here riding Little Sugar and we also had a gravel world Kasia, Niewiadoma, riding the gravel race. And to have two world champions in this community at the same time, racing one week apart, is such a testament to the work that's been done. But we hear that Tom Pidcock is coming for his redemption. So the world champion, uh, did not come out unscathed on the trails last year. He had a rough go of it a couple of flat tires. So hopefully he'll get his redemption tour this year.
Nat Ross:Oh, that's exciting to watch. Um, one thing that I like to see that lifetime does is you kind of book in the season. So you start the beginning of the season with the Sea Otter Classic. So you guys have the Sea Otter Classic, which is the premier bike event in the world, an outdoor festival. You do that in April. How many participants roll through during Sea Otter, get to experience Sea Otter? What are those numbers?
Michelle Duffy:Yes, sea Otter Classic's in Monterey, California and this year we saw close to 80,000 spectators across four days at that festival. Um, and almost a thousand brands where they're activating and a series of different races across multiple different disciplines. And that really is the industry kickoff and the cyclist kickoff, the media kickoff to the domestic the here in the United States, the cycling calendar, and we acquired that event a few years ago. Great job done by that team building that event up.
Michelle Duffy:The unique thing for us is that we've done a series of acquisitions, but our relationships here that we have in Bentonville were done between lifetime and the community. So we're really proud of what we've been able to build as like what we call greenfielding these events, so building them from the ground up and very quickly. We had a vision and a shared vision with our partners here at Runway and the other groups within the community to create a like Sea Otter experience. So our goal is never to come in and take what exists in Monterey, California and apply it exactly here, but instead to create a like experience where, the same way, people feel like they cannot miss the Sea Otter classic. They also feel like they cannot miss the Big Sugar Classic at the end of the year, and that's part of the reason we end it with a gravel rave. Who wants to miss a rave?
Nat Ross:That is, and I think Taylor Finney was djing last year. So you had someone come over from Spain that was extremely famous in the cycling community but also an artist, and you launched a end of the year celebration. Because really, at the end of the year, can you walk us through what let's say the lifetime? In general, the Grand Prix series is, if somebody wanted to challenge themselves or if they want to follow it. What is the Grand Prix?
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, so we've mentioned a few different events as we've been talking, and many of those are part of the Lifetime Grand Prix and we're a mass participant first organization. Right, we put on events around the country for the mass participant to engage in, to set goals against, to encourage them to live healthy, happy lives. In conjunction with that, we very quickly started facilitating these top tier cycling events and that was attracting top tier talent. So for a long time we had a little bit of internal friction with ourselves where we're like, but we're a mass participant first organization and that remains tried and true. But along the way, as we started to attract this top tier talent into our events, we realized that we have a unique opportunity in the United States to actually make the U? S relevant in the cycling conversation again.
Michelle Duffy:And why let that opportunity go to the wayside when so many events here in the United States that used to exist no longer have the ability to exist because they don't have the proper funding or, um, the relationships with the community that once existed or the talent that rides, you know, traditionally road in the United States weren't staying in the U?
Michelle Duffy:S anymore. They, they were going to to Europe and to be successful as a cyclist meant you were going to Europe, um, but the portfolio of events that we grew very quickly, uh, created an opportunity for us to to create a series. So we created the lifetime grand Prix a few years ago, and it features 60 of the top cyclists from around the world. Majority of that talent is born and bred here in the United States, um, but we do have athletes coming from as far as Uganda, south Africa, australia, um yeah, france, et cetera, uh, participating in the lifetime Grand Prix. It features seven events, uh, we score the best five of seven, and a big sugar classic is the end cap. We give a $300,000 prize purse to the top 10 men and top 10 women.
Michelle Duffy:There's a hundred percent parody. So that means that we are providing equal prize money, equal opportunity, equal media coverage, that we are providing equal prize money, equal opportunity, equal media coverage, equal video exposure, social media exposure to men and women. So it's definitely been a jump-off point, a trampoline for women within the cycling space as well, to believe that they can have professional careers globally and here in the United States.
Nat Ross:And I've noticed that there's some athletes moving to town, training in town and doing a lot of prep for the event. So there's a big emphasis on Bentonville or the terrain in Bentonville or something.
Michelle Duffy:Yeah yeah. There's a few Lifetime Grand Prix athletes that are living here now, as well as a series of elite riders. Super cool to see.
Nat Ross:Definitely, if we're talking about the mountain bike race this year and someone wanted to talk about the big Leadville 100. So Leadville, Colorado, back in the showdown days had Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, Dave Weins a bunch of big guns racing. It made it an incredibly popular mountain bike race. Um, in it to qualify for the Leadville 100, you could actually race in Bentonville this fall to qualify for the 20, for an upcoming event for Leadville. So how does that work?
Michelle Duffy:Yeah. So we've built out a series of qualifiers for um some of our our key events. So that's the Leadville trail 100 mountain bike race and trail 100 run. And the little sugar mountain bike race acts as what we call a qualifier for Leadville, and that doesn't mean you have to finish in the top 15 in order to earn a spot into Leadville. That just means it's an opportunity for you to come, participate in the event and essentially test your luck.
Michelle Duffy:So we give out a series of coins I think it's around 40 coins at the Little Sugar Mountain Bike Race and a coin earns you entry into the 100 mountain bike race, which is very hard to get into. We have a huge lottery. Some people have been trying for years to get into that event and this qualifier system allows you another alternate option to get in. So 50% of the coins are given out based on age group performance. So the bigger your age group is, the more coins that are given out, because the odds of you qualifying are lower. And so there's a tiered performance distribution method that we give out half of our coins and then the other half is just drop your number in a hat. We'll pull from the hat. We give out 50% of the coins in that way.
Michelle Duffy:So it's a great way to earn a spot into Leadville, especially if you're local here, um. And then the other benefit is if you are already going to Leadville or you plan to enter the lottery or attend another qualifier. Participating in the little sugar mountain bike race is, um what we call like a corral enhancer. So we? Um have different corrals and people tend to want to bump up in corrals to be closer to the front when they start, and based on your finish time at Little Sugar, it can earn you a higher spot in a corral. So people like that too.
Nat Ross:For sure they do. And one thing about those corrals it sounds intimidating but you actually do a very safe lead out. So the procession out of town, there's a lot of adrenaline, a lot of pre-race nerves and jitters, but, um, it's a very safe escort out of town and and pretty neat to watch. So the community can come watch the start, watch the finish, um, or you could even go out on the course, um, which is several spots that are aid stations or spots that are easy enough to get to to be a part or help or even spectate.
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, for sure.
Nat Ross:Yeah.
Michelle Duffy:We had a lot of spectators at little sugar mountain bike race last year, which was such a pleasant surprise Not that we didn't expect it, but we didn't encourage it. We didn't. We weren't proactively recruiting spectators. So for a year, one event the first, the first year we've ever had little sugar. To have so many family and friends out there around the course playing music and cheering the the riders on was it was amazing. We got such amazing feedback from that event that is true.
Nat Ross:So you have the backyard bash, an opportunity to kind of get your feet wet, meet some folks and and definitely get a taste of it. Or you could race the shorter distances, um, for the gravel or the mountain bike. So for the mountain bike, what is the shortest distance available and what does that look like? If somebody wants to get their feet wet they're not quite up to the Leadville 100 or some of those distances but they want to experience a lifetime mountain bike race or a lifetime event.
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, I think we do have insanely challenging events like the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race and candidly, that race is not for everyone. But our goal is to always provide a platform in which everyone feels like they belong. So there's a series of other events in Leadville, for example, that like we just had an event this past weekend that offered a 50 mile and a 15 mile distance in Leadville For Little Sugar we offer a 20 K, a 50 K and a hundred K, and then for gravels the 25, 50 mile and a hundred mile. Um, so it provides an entry point.
Michelle Duffy:That's still a goal, a reach um for for those that want to have something on their calendar that they can strive and train for. And also, um, there are folks who have families or competing priorities and they just don't want to take on that big, big distance anymore. There's opportunities for them to find a balance there.
Nat Ross:Yeah, that's fantastic because it's such a community event. If folks want to follow a little bit more, learn about this, what website do they go to? And then on social media, if they really want to get down and dirty and start digging into the details, where do they go on social?
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, BigSugarClassic. com, and on social media we're at BigSugarClassic and we'd love to have people follow along and see what we're up to.
Nat Ross:Great Well, Michelle, super happy that Lifetime has found Bentonville, Northwest Arkansas and made some spectacular events. Is there anything else that you can prime the audience and the folks out there? Can you give us any exciting things coming down the pipeline or things that Lifetime's doing, Any insight or intel?
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, I mean we're going to bring the gravel rave back. So that's kind of the last hurrah for the lifetime grand prix. It's the grand finale of the lifetime grand prix, but also it's open for community and attendance and it's an awesome celebration that we host at the momentary um, so everyone's welcome to attend that. And a new addition that we'll have this year is what we're calling like a race highlights video, so a like broadcast piece that we're going to be putting out within a day of the event completion and um. It's going to be super special way to showcase this community. So, uh, stay tuned in October for that to come out.
Nat Ross:That is exciting. So I think, uh, it's great to have a lifetime. And Michelle Duffy, so senior marketing. She's running the marketing team out of Bentonville here and it's really neat to have Lifetime just growing and expanding. You guys are doing great things.
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, thank you, and I failed to mention that we actually just had a new race director join us right here in town as well. So Lifetime now has a team of two full-time staff here, myself being the first and now Sean Thur. Lifetime now has a team of two full-time staff here, myself being the first and now Sean Thurman, who's joined us as a full-time Bentonville resident. So we're really excited about that and thank you guys for having me and thank you to the community for welcoming us.
Nat Ross:Oh, can't wait. And you're right about Sean. So what a great contribution. So he'll be down the road, he'll be in Arkansas, and then he'll be putting on the events and living here, being part of the culture, just like yourself.
Michelle Duffy:Yeah, really excited about that.
Nat Ross:That is great. Well, again, this is Michelle Duffy. She's been a part of the new American town podcast. That's prevented by visit Bentonville, and we would like to thank Haxton road studios for hosting us. Michelle and I had a great time and we'll see you out on the trails and out on the gravel roads.
Michelle Duffy:Awesome. Thank you Bye now.