HUB Life - Triathlon and Endurance Lifestyle

#13 Conversation with Greg Hawkins Founder and Diretor of Kinetic Multisports - From new athletes to the sport, to competitive triathletes, to Collegiate Triathon - Greg does it all and does it extremely well.

June 25, 2023 Dr. Marion Herring and Dr. Rob Green Episode 13
#13 Conversation with Greg Hawkins Founder and Diretor of Kinetic Multisports - From new athletes to the sport, to competitive triathletes, to Collegiate Triathon - Greg does it all and does it extremely well.
HUB Life - Triathlon and Endurance Lifestyle
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HUB Life - Triathlon and Endurance Lifestyle
#13 Conversation with Greg Hawkins Founder and Diretor of Kinetic Multisports - From new athletes to the sport, to competitive triathletes, to Collegiate Triathon - Greg does it all and does it extremely well.
Jun 25, 2023 Episode 13
Dr. Marion Herring and Dr. Rob Green

www.kineticmultisports.com
www.hubtrainingcenter.com

Welcome to the HUB Life Podcast! In this episode, we have the pleasure of sitting down with Greg Hawkins, the founder, and director of Kinetic Multisports. Greg's incredible journey from the chemistry lab to small business owner has led him to create and oversee over 40 races throughout a four-state area.

It all began in 2005 when Greg took a leap of faith and transitioned from the world of chemistry to become a small business owner. He founded the Virginia Triathlon series, consisting of nine races, as the starting point of his entrepreneurial venture. His passion and dedication paid off, as by 2010, he expanded his reach by launching the Maryland Triathlon series.

Greg's ambition knew no bounds, and in 2017, he acquired Piranha-Sports, a renowned race series, further bolstering his portfolio. In early 2018, he took his vision to the next level by establishing Kinetic Multisports, a unifying force that brought together 50 races across Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

With over 40 events and more than 15,000 athletes participating annually, Greg's role as the founder and director of Kinetic Multisports is nothing short of inspiring. He is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the company, ensuring that each athlete's experience is outstanding. Greg's expertise in strategy, marketing, project management, and logistics allows him to utilize his talents to help people achieve their dreams and live active, vibrant lives.

But Greg's vision extends beyond organizing races. He has two major objectives close to his heart. Firstly, he aims to welcome new athletes to the sport by creating a welcoming and inclusive environment. Greg understands that triathlon can be an intimidating endeavor for newcomers, and he strives to break down barriers and provide the support and resources needed for individuals to confidently enter the world of endurance sports.

Secondly, Greg is passionate about collegiate triathlon racing. He recognizes the importance of fostering and nurturing young talent in the sport, and Kinetic Multisports actively supports collegiate triathlon programs. By providing opportunities and platforms for collegiate athletes to compete and excel, Greg is instrumental in the growth and development of the next generation of triathletes.

Join us as we delve into Greg Hawkins' remarkable story, exploring his journey from chemistry to the world of endurance sports. Gain insights into the challenges he faced, the triumphs he celebrated, and the invaluable lessons he learned along the way. Discover how Greg's commitment to welcoming new athletes and promoting collegiate triathlon racing is shaping the future of the sport. Get ready to be inspired and motivated to push beyond your limits as we dive into this captivating interview on HUB Life Podcast.

Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

www.kineticmultisports.com
www.hubtrainingcenter.com

Welcome to the HUB Life Podcast! In this episode, we have the pleasure of sitting down with Greg Hawkins, the founder, and director of Kinetic Multisports. Greg's incredible journey from the chemistry lab to small business owner has led him to create and oversee over 40 races throughout a four-state area.

It all began in 2005 when Greg took a leap of faith and transitioned from the world of chemistry to become a small business owner. He founded the Virginia Triathlon series, consisting of nine races, as the starting point of his entrepreneurial venture. His passion and dedication paid off, as by 2010, he expanded his reach by launching the Maryland Triathlon series.

Greg's ambition knew no bounds, and in 2017, he acquired Piranha-Sports, a renowned race series, further bolstering his portfolio. In early 2018, he took his vision to the next level by establishing Kinetic Multisports, a unifying force that brought together 50 races across Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

With over 40 events and more than 15,000 athletes participating annually, Greg's role as the founder and director of Kinetic Multisports is nothing short of inspiring. He is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the company, ensuring that each athlete's experience is outstanding. Greg's expertise in strategy, marketing, project management, and logistics allows him to utilize his talents to help people achieve their dreams and live active, vibrant lives.

But Greg's vision extends beyond organizing races. He has two major objectives close to his heart. Firstly, he aims to welcome new athletes to the sport by creating a welcoming and inclusive environment. Greg understands that triathlon can be an intimidating endeavor for newcomers, and he strives to break down barriers and provide the support and resources needed for individuals to confidently enter the world of endurance sports.

Secondly, Greg is passionate about collegiate triathlon racing. He recognizes the importance of fostering and nurturing young talent in the sport, and Kinetic Multisports actively supports collegiate triathlon programs. By providing opportunities and platforms for collegiate athletes to compete and excel, Greg is instrumental in the growth and development of the next generation of triathletes.

Join us as we delve into Greg Hawkins' remarkable story, exploring his journey from chemistry to the world of endurance sports. Gain insights into the challenges he faced, the triumphs he celebrated, and the invaluable lessons he learned along the way. Discover how Greg's commitment to welcoming new athletes and promoting collegiate triathlon racing is shaping the future of the sport. Get ready to be inspired and motivated to push beyond your limits as we dive into this captivating interview on HUB Life Podcast.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Welcome. I'm Dr Moose Herring, Orthopedic Sports Medicine Specialist.

Dr. Rob Green:

I'm Dr Rob Green, Sports Chiropractor, Coach, Trustee Sidekick. We are Lifetime Endurance Athletes. We are Eager Lab Rats.

Dr. Moose Herring:

We are Maker of Many Mistakes. We are Family-focused sports medicine docs that are balancing family work and fitness and are enjoying the ride While we are sports medicine professionals. this podcast is not part of our professional responsibilities. No doctor, patient or coach-athlete relationship developed this podcast. We have no financial support from any outside resources. The only support we get is from our fantastic wives that sit back and look at us in complete dismay.

Dr. Rob Green:

Welcome to HubLife. Enjoy the show. All right, welcome back HubLife. How you doing, moose Fantastic. It's solid week, nice, what's the week like? What's been going on with you?

Dr. Moose Herring:

Well, we raced last week We talked about that a little bit. We spent a couple of days trying to recover. It takes a little longer to recover being 56. And each two and I was 40 or 50 or 55.

Dr. Rob Green:

Don't say that, because I'm appreciating that at 45, 46. I'm like it's Moose, it's not the same.

Dr. Moose Herring:

It takes a little longer, But by Wednesday I was back in the saddle and you and I did a great brick. This morning We're heading toward a new race course next weekend Truly exciting.

Dr. Rob Green:

Going to go see the ghost of Rob Green past. Right, I'm going to Penn State. My wife and I graduated from Penn State, So bring the family up. And actually the cool part is the run goes through campus. So I think about when I was 20 and I was stumbling around through campus. I might be stumbling here at 46 through campus a little bit of a different way.

Dr. Moose Herring:

I expect all the ghosts of Rob Green to jump out at me as I run by.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, my wife gave me a hard time because last time we were there we went for a football game and it was amazing, had a good time. But that last day everybody I saw I was like living up, this is the greatest time of your life, have fun, don't take it for granted. She's like we got to get you out of here. So hopefully I'll be a little bit more stable this time.

Dr. Moose Herring:

My wife says over and over and over Much to my kids. kids dismay that college was the best four years of my life.

Dr. Rob Green:

That's better than the, than Animal House Seven years of college down the drain Right. So it'll be a lot of fun. Man, It's got a good bigger race. We had Jamestown and prep for it And you know some things to come. Next week We'll do podcast before leading in and share some of the excitement And then we'll do a post race breakdown afterwards So we'll give a little bit of feedback what that's like and share the experience with the off. So looking forward to it. But speaking of that, there's some big races this weekend.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Big races challenge Ross coming up Sunday.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You said, court lane is tomorrow or tomorrow.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, court lane is tomorrow Challenge Roth. That's a big, that's a pretty impressive field.

Greg Hawkins:

Loaded.

Dr. Rob Green:

So we did that race. When did we do that? Did we do that 15, 2015, 2016?

Dr. Moose Herring:

15, 16, something like that.

Dr. Rob Green:

Man, that's like that was a fun race. It's an epic race.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Yeah, the swim thing that I remember from the swim was usually you swim in a big open area and you leave the beach where people are screaming and yelling. You go way way out in the ocean or the lake and you come back. Yeah, roth, you're basically swimming in a canal. Yeah, and the sides of the canal are lined like a football scene. People are sitting and cheering and it's a big. All these hot air balloons are all around. Yeah, i mean, the crowd is screaming. He feels like they're right there the whole time.

Dr. Rob Green:

It's narrow. It's a narrow canal. It was amazing.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Yeah, gosh.

Dr. Rob Green:

It's right, it's fast, it's flat. Yeah, i mean, because of that narrowness it was like great draft through the swim, but that's right. I mean that's. The Germans are no joke, man, it's a big party for them It seemed like a bazillion people, though.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Yeah, like 3,500 people, that there were multiple, multiple waves at start. Yeah.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, no, i even remember gosh, because some of the bikers we got done with the first loop on the bike and the relays started on the bike because that's how, that's how long the start was kind of going on And the relays were like there were some serious cyclists They came out of, they came out of transition and I was like what are they doing? They were whoop whoop The Germans. I don't know I could be wrong on this, but they all had a low cadence and huge legs Right And they were just stomping on the pedals Right.

Dr. Moose Herring:

So that was amazing. And that was the same race where I had done a lot of run walk practice And I had all my long runs were nine one and I had come off the canal and I'd gone to that section that went down through, you know, down through the woods. I was on my nine one and there was a guy sitting there with a, with a megaphone and my name tag was on my names, on my number, in the front Marianne, those are not walking shoes, those are running shoes. I wanted to say I'm supposed to be walking, so I had I started running and it ruined up my whole my ruin, my whole run walk interval. But those are not walking shoes, those are running shoes.

Dr. Rob Green:

You start your interval sooner and be like all right, all right, all right, I'll walk extra later.

Dr. Moose Herring:

And I don't know if you remember, but the finish line and that's, that's stating with the fireworks and stuff.

Dr. Rob Green:

I kind of remember that I'll finish lines. I'm a little blurry, I just remember being a little zigzaggy too, Like I remember you kind of like ran around that loop and I was. It was neat because there were stands, but I was like where's the finish line? I?

Dr. Moose Herring:

thought we were here. How do we get there? And before you got the finish line you got to run through all these, all these little towns and these bars had moved the tables outside And so you're running by. You know you're suffering People out there drinking beers and and toasting smoking and, yeah, like I'm on the wrong side of the fence.

Dr. Rob Green:

What a grace. What is the name of that? that hill? Remember that hill. We went up You climb up at like the Tour de France.

Dr. Rob Green:

So like if you can visualize the Tour de France, when you see the cyclist going and all you see is people. They're covering the road and you see no road and they start to part as your bike gets closer to them. And I swear I part of their challenge is to like how close we get to the riders and, as age groupers, to experience that. What was the name of that hill?

Dr. Moose Herring:

Solar.

Dr. Rob Green:

Hill, solar Hill, that. What did you think of that? That?

Dr. Moose Herring:

scary. Yeah, because they're so close. Yeah, i mean they're all in your business. I mean it just takes one person to step in and out, but they very respectful that they and you went through it twice, right.

Dr. Rob Green:

You went through it twice The second time I don't know second time wasn't as as insane as that first one, but it was still pretty big Because you were delirious, maybe, maybe, but how do those Tour guys do it? Like those Tour guys do that in every stage.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Up every climb.

Dr. Rob Green:

Up every climb And like you, don't, you, you don't, they don't look like they're going to get out of your way.

Dr. Moose Herring:

So it's crazy, Yeah, But man that was.

Dr. Rob Green:

Oh, that was what. A. That was a. That was a lifetime experience. But that race is is funny. I remember when we went. When we went, you look at the course, look at the course profile. It was. It's known as being a record breaking course. Right, what? Ironman, austria and and Roth. And we were like man, pr, pr course. And it was. It was, the bike was fast, it was rolling, the roads were smooth, but the it did not strike me as like a PR course. That was not an easy course.

Dr. Moose Herring:

I remember the bike being hard.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, you can keep some momentum and some of the. There's a pretty good downhill So I could. I could see it being faster, but it wasn't like man, this is a. This is the Audubon of of triathlon. So, yeah, all those that that race out there and do really well, i think part of the reason is you get some of the top, top, top pros prime for it because it doesn't get in the way of Kona. So now you've got a relatively fast course and you're the best of the best priming up for it. But but yeah, i was a little taken aback because I was like, yeah, i'm going to. I think when I first was doing I was like maybe I could shoot for like nine hours And and then about halfway through the bike I'm like this bike course is not. This is much different than what I thought it was going to be.

Dr. Moose Herring:

I'm going to hit nine hours, but I'm going to have about an hour's worth of running. Yeah.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, so yeah, what a. what a cool course. And some top pros racing, this time Right.

Dr. Moose Herring:

It's going to be fast. It's interesting because I think like a lot with all the Kona Kona conflict yeah, a lot of the pros are really revving their engines.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, it'll be fun. So that race is tomorrow, that's Sunday And it's in Germany. So pay attention and see how that race goes. Court of Lanes going on. We've got athletes out there Shout out to Dave Shand, that course. Boy, that course is really fun. Too. Cold, cold water, fun, challenging bike and a three loop run. So three loops. That third one is usually you're like okay, i've done two loops.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You mean I got to go do it again? Yeah, i'm leaving again. Yeah.

Dr. Rob Green:

But I did that race, Justin. I did that race in one of the first first Ironman after COVID, So that must have been 2021. And we picked that race because I unless it's Kona, like I don't want to go racing. The heat And Court of Lanes is nice and cool and water's cold. The temperatures are mild, mid seventies, And there was record breaking something with the sun was apparently scorching the earth there, you guys got scored.

Dr. Rob Green:

It's like 116 degrees, yeah, and I could just absolutely decimate it out there. So I still love the course, great course. Just hopefully it's a cooler day out there for those guys. Yeah, we know. So that's about it. I mean, we've got a really cool interview coming up. Greg Hawkins is going to be joining us. We'll chat with Greg. He is just an exceptional guy. He we have the luxury here. He's putting on so many different races across. You know several different states, and so we're excited to interview him. What do you think about Greg? He's a fantastic guy.

Dr. Moose Herring:

He really puts on an incredible product for those of us here locally to be able to race locally in just super well done venues.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, excited to chat with him. It'll be interesting to see. So we can all see what it's like from a producer, race producer director, see what they go through, because he puts them on and they seem so smooth, so seamless. You all have probably been to races where you know they're clunky, because it's hard to put on a race And if you're not doing it at, you know, at a big, high scale, then it's hard and Greg makes it look easy. So if you're on the East Coast, and even if you're not on the East Coast, they're worth traveling for. Check out kineticmultisportscom. We're going to jump on an interview with him and I hope you all look forward to hearing it All right.

Dr. Moose Herring:

We're super excited today to have Greg Hawkins with us. He's a local hero in the triathlon world. here in Virginia He runs Connect Multisport and puts on some fantastic races. He's passionate about triathlon. I think it's going to be a fantastic interview.

Dr. Rob Green:

It's over 50 races now, right, is it 50?

Greg Hawkins:

I think we're down a little bit from 50. It's in the 40s somewhere. It changes from time to time So I have trouble keeping track myself, but I think it's we're at 22, 21 or 22 actual weekends of racing, So you know.

Dr. Moose Herring:

I think you and I have a similar background in triathlon. I was looking at your background a little bit and you started with Bill Scott and set up right. It is in his garage in Wilmington and I was at Carolina and Duke during that time and I was racing the setup set up series at that time. So we have a. We have a similar background, but can you tell us how you got into this and what's your, where's your passion come from?

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, so I got into this in high school. So I did my first triathlon my senior year after. After I graduated, my senior year, you know just saw, like a, you know, a flyer in a local running shop And you know, i was a, not a swimmer, but I had swimming back swimming background from lifeguarding, and so the open water didn't didn't intimidate me all that much And I didn't own a car, so I was biking five miles each way back and forth to school every day, ran cross country and track and bit of a outdoor athlete and weight lifter. So I just, i just, you know, i really love being active. Couldn't you know one of those quintessential kids who could not sit still? And I was, like you know, i'm not a great biker, i'm not a great runner, i'm not a great swimmer. So let's just put all three mediocre abilities together And I ended up getting, i think, third in my first, you know, age group.

Greg Hawkins:

Of course, you know, probably probably out of like four people, but still like it was the hook man. And then I was just like you know, i was on a borrowed road bike And so, you know, three months later I'd bought a used Cannondale with down tube shifting and I'm at. You know, i'm now in Wilmington And, just you know, i put out some flyers to like, hey, let's start a triathlon club down here. And you know, one guy showed up to the meeting and then we became. He was the assistant swim coach at UNC, wilmington, ben Nigro, and so we became training partners and just racing buddies all throughout Wilmington and the Carolinas. And that was, you know, i was hooked.

Dr. Moose Herring:

So. So then you went to school and were a medicinal chemist. That's a big, that's kind of a big switch from nicotine research to try crazy weekends.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, yeah, a bit of a switch. You know, i really enjoyed studying chemistry. It was just I love the science of it, i love just getting getting granular with it, and but I didn't enjoy being inside in the lab all the time And I soon realized that if this was going to be a lifelong career as a chemist, i would need to go back and get a PhD And I just didn't want to do. You know, five years, six years, seven years, and just you know, on rice and beans. So, and God bless, people that do it We need, we need those people, but that was not my, not my path. And during that time as a, as I was working as a chemist and I was in college, you know Bill had this option C program where you could race for free if you helped them pack up after the races, and so then that led into a part-time job and then that, you know, led into, you know, career opportunities for me further, further down the road, which was, you know, forever grateful for, for those opportunities.

Dr. Rob Green:

Man, that's, that's great. I got a lot of similarity to that one. I started racing with you all very, very early. I was out of Cairo school in early 2000. And I would go to your races and sleep in my car the night before because I couldn't afford to go to the hotel room And I wish I had known that I could have helped you, like, clean up afterwards, And so I would have been able to maybe race for free. But but I've been racing with you all for a long time And, man, it's just been great from from the beginning to even now. So yeah, I was right there with you in that that start part.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, that's awesome. I mean it's great to have guys like you that have been racing. you know, as long as we've been in business and you've kind of seen the evolution of it and like the three different name changes and just you know, you know race sites coming and going And it's yeah, it's great.

Dr. Moose Herring:

It's great, dude. I would love to know the conversation around your kitchen table when you went to your wife and you said, hey, i think I'm going to start Virginia triathlon series, and then that goes. And then you say, hey, i think I'm going to go back to Duke and get my MBA, and then you go back in 2017. I think I want to buy Delaware's racing series. Your wife must be a saint We're both married and we have those same conversations and our wife just shake their head.

Dr. Moose Herring:

So yeah, how did that roll through? Because I mean you've really developed an incredible East Coast racing series. I mean incredible Yeah.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, Yeah, Well, thank you, Thank you. You know it's been a lot of trial and error over the over the years, But originally I decided to. I wanted to focus on Virginia because my wife's mom lived outside of Charlottesville And so the plan, the plan when she got done with residency and fellowship, we would move to Virginia to be closer to her family and raise our family up there. But then by the time that, you know, that came around four or five years later. You know, we, the kids, are in school and we're in a church, and she's, you know, got a couple of job offers and it's just like, well, I'm already, I've been driving up there back and forth on the weekends for five years. Anyways, I guess I'll just keep keep doing it. You know, and it's, you know, the 85 stretch is just like you know, you switch your brain off and just keep on, keep on going.

Dr. Moose Herring:

But those trees are hard sometimes, yeah, the trees on 85, they can be a little bit hypnotic. You got to be, you got to be awake or caffeinated. We drive that a lot because both my girls live down there, so we're up and down, uh-huh, up and down that. How, how, how we a lot.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, yeah, it's um. No, it's, it's an easy. I mean, it's an easy drive. It really is Um, but you know she was. It was great.

Greg Hawkins:

You know the the um expanding from Virginia to Maryland. You know we, a lot of our athletes are coming from Richmond, dc, northern Virginia, baltimore, you know Southern PA, so to add more races up there, i'm like, well, that's, that's where our, our athletes are are coming from. Yeah, i think you know any, almost any race that we do, you've got 50% of the athletes coming from the Northern Virginia area. You know, and it just cause they, there's just a lot of people and there's just not a lot of like you, just there's just not many swimmable bodies of water in that immediate vicinity, right, so you know they're willing, they're willing to travel a little bit to to race Um, you know, and then in 17, my, my buddy, neil Semmel from Piranha Sports, called me up.

Greg Hawkins:

He's like, hey, greg, i'm looking to kind of kind of retire and you know, been doing this a long time And I was like, well, yeah, let's have that conversation And um, i, I, i can't say enough good things about, about Neil Um, we, he, i was staying at my parents house and he picked me up at like five in the morning and we visited every single race site. Um, in like a 17 hour, like we just drove it, drove all the routes, you know, popped into a few offices and said hello and just checked them all out and you know, week or two later it was a, it was a done deal. Um, so yeah, and that was the final rebranding into kinetic multisports And I don't think we will rebrand again. Just, you know lesson learned. You know non-geographic specific is better.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Yeah. So when you look at all your races, do you have in your heart what your purpose is? Yeah, what's your purpose for providing triathlons or races for folks like Robyn and I, or folks not like Robyn and I? I mean, what makes you happy? What's your purpose in all this?

Greg Hawkins:

I love seeing and meeting and talking to those first-time triathletes.

Greg Hawkins:

You know, and they're coming out and they're discovering, you know, what this sport is And you know, and it's not even the racing as much, it's knowing like, hey, this is the tip of the pyramid, this is the sharp end of the spear, like they've put in all this work to get there.

Greg Hawkins:

And it's, you know I'm not saying I'm in the character building business, but it's like I feel like if people are able to consistently train for triathlons, like you guys know, like you can't prescribe a drug that has the positive side effects that exercise does And just to like they're swimming, they're biking, they're running, they're doing yoga, they're doing CrossFit, they're, you know, they're hiking, they're biking, like they're just now becoming more active or they're rediscovering a physical physicality that they haven't known since, maybe, high school sports. You know, and it's just to see that joy and to know that we're helping people live healthier, more positive lives. You know, some people use this exercise and this sport as a way to combat addiction. You know, and it's just, i've heard so many wonderful stories over the years that it's just, you know, like, hey, this is, this is where God wants me right now, and it's just it's. It's great, it's great.

Dr. Moose Herring:

That's fantastic. We call that hub life.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, Yeah man.

Dr. Moose Herring:

I love it.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Yeah, triathlon, and that's kind of what I think your answer would be. But that's fantastic because you, dude, you show up with the most unbelievable passion on race day And Rob and I were talking last week's at least podcast and we were talking about you and how you're. You know you're the race director but, dude, you got your sleeves rolled up. You're all in, from 430 to more into the last person rolls out of there and you're, you're pointing your finger, but you, you're, you're in the muck, you're getting stuff done, yeah, and I was just passionate about it and I just think it's an incredible, incredible environment.

Dr. Rob Green:

You got an amazing compliment last time And I think it's what we were even talking about. We were sitting around as, as the race was sort of finishing up and it was a transition between awards and everything, and so many pointed you and said that's, that's great, that's the owner, and they're like that's the owner because you were in, you're in it, man, and you were doing a lot of the the hard work behind it And they've just, i mean, they were complimenting you because, like you walk the walk. So not only are you putting out and and honestly, we've raced, we've raced all over, and we talk about all the time. We are incredibly lucky to have the races that you produce, because you make it look effortless, like you drive the courses, you do all that hard work, that amount of work. I mean you tell us about how much work goes behind making those races for us, just like you go, and it is smooth, man, and that's not an easy thing to do. So how do you do it? That's, i mean, that's pretty magical.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, it's a great question. It's a a 20, 27 years of doing it Like if, if. If you're not good at something, after 27 years you probably find something else. Good, good point. Yeah, yeah, Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you know the weather's, you know the weather's better in the morning and just I, i love being out there and being active outside. So that's, that's number one. So that's just like Greg's wiring really, really helps. But we've got a great team, you know, and they, they do a lot of the heavy lifting. You know, don in the background, with the, the, the awards and shirts, and like I don't have to worry about any of like the operational stuff that you know he brings in and like loads in that Sprinter van, like I don't even touch it, which is awesome, and so that's fantastic. I've got a great volunteer coordinator and water safety coordinator, so I've been able to delegate some of those things to extraordinarily competent individuals who really take the load off. So I can kind of focus on some of the other minor details. It is a year-round job, so when we're not racing, people are like, oh yeah, what are you doing the off season? That must be so amazing. Like, dude, i'm driving a laptop.

Dr. Moose Herring:

There's no.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, no, there's not, and you just got to build that base in order to execute on race weekend. Great partners in the community, the police, the EMS folks, especially ones where we've been working the same venues for 16, 17 years, it makes a big difference when, like, hey, you call them up, hey, these are our dates, any course changes? Nope, hey, you can pull out the plan from last year, dust it off. We need to make some tweaks, we make them And that's wonderful. But then race week looks like we're going to Sam's Club, we're getting food, we're confirming with caterers and police and EMS, we get out there, we coordinate with VDOT and making sure potholes are filled and corners are swept, And we're going out there and ourselves, like in Williamsburg, we got up at 3 o'clock in the morning and went out and swept corners and put duct tape down and we're back in bed at 5 am to get a couple more hours of sleep.

Greg Hawkins:

It was just easier that way. The roads are just too busy to try to do it at 3 o'clock in the afternoon on a Thursday. But yeah, then we've got triathlon. Triathlon in a box, we've got a big trailer. That pretty much everything that you see at the race site. It goes in there and comes out, rolls up, folds up one way or another and goes in, it goes out And it's like a little intricate dance. It's like the circus rolling into town someplace different every weekend.

Dr. Moose Herring:

It's a spectacular show. Another thing that Rob and I are talking about, i want you to comment on, is we are truly passionate about triathlon, about fitness and about life span, which means living healthy forever and ever. We're truly passionate about that. How do we bring newcomers in the sport? So triathlon in my vision, there are a couple of barriers. Number one if you don't have a swim background, swimming in open water with current can be scary.

Dr. Moose Herring:

But one fantastic thing about you and your races is you have all kinds of swims available. You got pool swims, you got lake swims, you got ocean swims, you got the rolling starts, so you don't have to be in the mayhem of the mosh pit trying to get started. So I think you have done a really good job with the swim barrier. That's number one. And the second barrier is money. And if anybody who's ever looked at triathlons, if you look at the price point of what Kinect Multisport comes in at versus some of the big names, it's ridiculous. The value for your money for your race entry is incredible because, as you just talked about, you bust your ass to make a great show, a great circus show, right for an incredible price point. So, in my mind, the barriers to bring newcomers in swimming and money, and you guys do a fantastic job with that. I would just be interested in what you think the barriers are for bringing in newcomers.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, that's. I mean, we're always talking about how do we bring new people into the sport, and I really think it's. I think the best way to do it is to find people. it's tough to go from couch to triathlon, like couch to 5k. it's a little bit more reasonable, but I think it's easier to find people that already have a sport one of the three under their belt. They've got some baseline of fitness And I'm not saying it can't be done with like I have zero experience and I've been sedentary for the last 25 years And that happens all the time too. It's harder, but I think it's.

Greg Hawkins:

you know, showing it's again showing people that you don't need to be like the super stud up front, like it's okay to take, you know, two hours and 30 minutes to do a sprint triathlon Like you like that's okay, you got more people to cheer for you, right, right, And it's just you know. but I think just you know it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a. it's a mental gap that people need to hurdle first, thinking like I want to do this, i'm capable of doing this, and they have to be able to make that. you know, either get that encouragement from a friend you know, or from a coach or a coworker or something like that. Like, hey, i'm doing this thing, you know, i saw you've started working out. or just like, hey, you've said you wanted a new challenge. Like you should come do this with me. Like, if everybody that's racing with this this year, hey, make an admission to go out and bring it. bring. bring someone that is never even considered and just bring someone new into the sport, bring them to a race. Like we've got referral codes like set up. I think it's like 20% off if you refer a friend And you know, just bring it.

Greg Hawkins:

bringing those people in is is is huge And you know, you never know if it's become. you know they're going to be racing for the next 20 years and add 10 to 15 years of quality. you know longevity to their lives, right, you know no one wants to have like the last 10 years of their life be bad. Like you know you want them to be good. Like you want to be able to physically fit and to do the things you want to you want to do in retirement or whatever. So, and I really think triathlon gets people there. I mean, you've seen the sum of the older studs we've got. You're like dude. I want to be like that guy when I'm 75. Like that's awesome.

Dr. Moose Herring:

It's ridiculous. And the and the multi sport that does Robin are both health. You know, we're both involved in healthcare And we see repetitive load injuries all the time And somebody just a runner breaks down. Somebody who's just a swimmer breaks down. Somebody who's just as a cyclist has a has a higher likelihood to crash. So if you're doing all these things with the fourth leg of the stool being nutrition, then you've got a great chance of living a fantastic lifespan Health.

Greg Hawkins:

Absolutely, absolutely, and that's what I mean. you know, that's one of the things I just love about this. We're like I don't race as much as I used to. Like I want that on the record.

Dr. Moose Herring:

I do not. It's hard to race what you're doing. It's hard to race what you're doing, brother.

Dr. Rob Green:

You're the one doing the big endurance event, man. We get ours catered. Yours is longer and more intense.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, yeah, but I mean I still train a fair amount And just because A I need to be ready for, like you know, being on the ground and going for seven months of the year, but it's just, i just love being able to mix up the running and the cycling and the swimming and the lifting and the yoga. And then you know I'm not as good on my nutrition And I need to get on that, but you know, it's just. Yeah, it's just wonderful to always have that fitness and be able to pretty. I mean, you can do pretty, like, if you're a fairly decent triathlete, like you can do anything, like you can literally go out and do like, hey, we're going to go hike the AT for two weeks. All right, great And done, all right.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You know, you've got decent fitness.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yep, yep. Yeah, that's so true. You know you think about the diversity of movements. But what you talked about earlier, i mean all the work that you guys do going into the race for safety. You know the options of many different swims, so that way you know it can maybe buffer that intro. You know it's very conducive. I mean I think we all had our first try at some point and we're hooked afterwards And it usually takes like taking your friend out to dinner, maybe to share in a bottle of wine, talking them into it, and then they wake up and go what did I sign up for?

Dr. Rob Green:

And then you're in man. So if you have those codes, i mean share them, get a friend out there, they'll be intimidated. But you know, if you get them to convert man and they see, and not only the health benefits of exercise but, greg, in the atmosphere that you produce, i mean being around triathletes is amazing because it's just such an optimistic crowd, it's much of the rising positive attitude. So if anybody's listening to this and thinking about it, i mean check out kineticmultisportscom. They've got races. You guys got races all over. You've got, you know, amazing way to enter in and have it be a safe and fun event. So you know, check it out. Tons and tons of races out there And we'll cover that in a little bit. But you know, if there's any place to start and if you're looking to do a triathlon for the first time, it's a no-brainer to search you guys out.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Make another point about kinetic. you know kineticmultisport And one of the things Rob and I have parked on over the last well, last couple of months is you guys provide a fantastic environment. First of all, your locations are spectacular. It's a great place to bring kids, the significant other, the dogs, because it's a beautiful environment. Rob and his in his early triathlon world. he would drive in the rain and he'd wake up in his car and it'd be a beautiful environment. So I think that the locations you guys choose are great places to go, regardless of your racing or not.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Second thing is, as Rob says, is the environment for kineticmultisport is accepting of all. You can be a freak stud at the pointy end of the you know end of the spear race for top 10, or you can be your first, you know your first, you know your first sprint, but everybody in the transition area, everybody cheering, everybody around the environment is accepting of all. If we in America could learn that grassland well, well, well, well environment where we accept everybody just for who they are, that'd be a much better America. right, true that?

Dr. Rob Green:

Take kinetic and put it in the rest of the world.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Right, But the environment you create from all levels of athletes and all level competitors it doesn't matter, matter who you are, you're accepted And it's just a fantastic environment. And the other flip side of that, it's ridiculously competitive. If you want to go and lay it all out there, there is always five or five, five or 10 freak shows there. Well, you know, we were at Jamestown last weekend and the race for top is ridiculous. You guys are freak shows. So, yeah, It can be accepting of all, but if you want somebody to go all in against, you can always find it. This is the great environment in our vision there.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah yeah. I mean what Kyle Hooker dropped last week like 155?. Yes, i mean, i mean she's like oh my gosh, that's a Navy pilot.

Dr. Moose Herring:

He's a freak show. And even Justin I mean Justin, this guy now off the front are crazy But great to see. But you provide that environment where you have the Kyle Hooker, you have the Justin Moores, you have the Rob Greens off the front, but you have it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because in that transition area before and after the race we're all sitting there shooting the shit. It doesn't matter.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, but isn't it kind of you to include me with those two? Yeah, i'm the back of the front, but I'll take it.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You're the less pointy in the field, but you're still in the point of the aspect of the spear.

Dr. Rob Green:

I'm like the wider part of the pointy part, right Yeah.

Dr. Moose Herring:

But just what you know, it's just the environment you create. that's inviting for old dogs like Rob and I who want to come race our guts out, But it's also inviting for, if you're sitting on the couch right now and you're thinking about it, just a great environment.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, it really is. It really is. I mean, it's like it's like cheers and spandex. You know, there's. we got no strangers here, just friends. We haven't had yet It took me a second Cheers and spandex.

Dr. Rob Green:

You know what dude You got to market that That's got to be on the next slide. We are the cheers and spandex. I love that, Love it.

Dr. Moose Herring:

So it helps about your collegiate racing. I mean, you've got some races out there that you're going to bring in some collegiate teams. That's kind of crazy right.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, it's been awesome. So, if folks that don't know, the triathlon is in the NCAA evaluation period right now. So they've hit the 40 women's teams that they needed to officially begin the NCAA review of the sport and if they want to make it an official sport, so we've got two years to make that happen. And that's been a USAT initiative for a long time and we've just really been trying to, you know, push on that, pull on that, whatever you know, just make that happen. Just from being not really when I was in school like collegiate racing really wasn't an option, and to see it really grow into what it is today. And I think it's just going to add a lot more legitimacy to the sport and another platform for it to just grow and again just get more people Like we're just kicking that flywheel around. But you know we've got a really competitive mid-Atlantic racing circuit of college teams. You know you've got Queens University and Wingate and Navy and you know a bunch of others And we offer them.

Greg Hawkins:

You know, we give them a first wave start And we let them kind of lead off the race.

Greg Hawkins:

We'll do the collegiate men wait 30 seconds, collegiate women then wait a minute and then we send off the other folks to the other age group athletes to go through the rest of the race And it's just a great way for those folks to get racing experience, racing head to head exclusively against the other teams, which is really great. And then we've also got the Connecticut Cup at Smithmount Lake in the fall, which is the national qualifier for the women's races for the official NCAA programs to compete in to establish their ranking for who's going to tempi for nationals in November or not. And the cool thing about those races is they're draft legal And we don't typically offer draft legal racing but at Smithmount Lake State Park we're allowed to, we're able to do that draft legal racing. So the dynamics of the race completely shift. So it's like who's in what position out of the water. It's like it's a big group ride, like you don't want to fall off the back because they start going at 28, 30 miles an hour. You're not going to bridge that gap.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You know, unless you get a super stud.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, unless you get a super stud cyclist, that's a really bad swimmer coming out and that's willing to sacrifice their legs to get you to the front again. But it's been really great to watch these teams develop over the years and we've got a really cool success story. I don't know if you know, do y'all know Aaron Church? He's out of DC, he's out of Northern Virginia. Well, he and his daughter, abby Church, have been racing with us for years And Abby's race with us just, you know, through middle school and high school And then she started racing for ETSU East Tennessee University And she, as a freshman, got ninth place at Nationals last year. So that was just for us and our team to see someone who's grown up racing with us to then bring it at that level. It was just awesome.

Dr. Moose Herring:

That's incredible.

Greg Hawkins:

It was really awesome to see, yeah, Growing the sport growing the sport.

Dr. Rob Green:

It's cool to see those kids out there. You see all the different colleges in the community And even the kids like hanging out together and talking and finding that fitness. Like you were talking about the benefits and the physiological benefits, the psychological benefits of exercise and making this new lifestyle habit and race at a high level and get these collegiate athletes out there. It's amazing.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Yeah it's really cool, so this would be a little bit of a bizarre question. It's like asking who your favorite kid is. What's your favorite race? What's your favorite venue? Well, you know I don't have a favorite size I love them all if you want.

Greg Hawkins:

I do love them all. I do love them all, but I do have a couple that are a little bit more special for one reason or another. I would have to say Rock Hall is my favorite race, just because you swim in the harbor, there's sailboats all around And the swim it's a three-quarter loop swim, for the sprint It's one and three quarters for the Olympic And there's a massive sandbar in the middle of the swim course. So if anybody's having problems, they just swim like 10 feet to the left and stand up Like I mean, it's like, this is great, that's incredible, this is great, yeah, yeah. And then you've got a pancake flat bike course, pancake flat run course, and the town generally loves to have us there because every hotel room within 100 miles is sold out. So it's great, it's great.

Dr. Moose Herring:

So Rob and I all have, but we've been racing BTS, we've been racing Kinetic for a long time. We both have vivid memories and I'll speak and then I'll let Rob speak. I think one of the things that stands out in my mind about all your races is the Kinetic half run lollipop You do three times. You go up the hill, you go flat hill, you go down the hill, you go around the circle and you come up the hill.

Dr. Rob Green:

That It's a six times one mile hill workout.

Dr. Moose Herring:

It is spectacular, of course, but we both have great memories and nightmares of things that have happened. on those course, we've had great days. we have not the great days, but there's just some great challenges out there. Just with that, of course, it is legit, rob, it's brutal.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, it really is. Even a good day is a tough day out there. But yeah, i think Kinetic half is our end And what you talked about before. You get a great pool of athletes from all over for that race. You not only have the half but you've got the Olympic, you got the sprint, so it can really be catered to all the different athletes. I mean I think it's a great course to start on. It's a great course if you want to challenge yourself, if you want an environment that have other people push you. But that run course will. You can't fake that run course.

Dr. Moose Herring:

No, yeah, no, it's very honest. And to have to run by the finish line two times you're like this is cruel.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, I love being here because I can be like Greg. Hey, Greg, Well, one more to go, One more to go. You go on to this course. I love it, but don't change it. But think about changing it, Right.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, yeah. Well, it used to be a two-loop course that went almost all the way out to the park entrance and just having bikers and runners and boats and all that mess, it was just so much logistically safer and easier to just back to everyone down to the cabins.

Dr. Moose Herring:

No, i think real loop course is brilliant, but I can tell you it gives me a little bit of nightmare when I'm signed up, when I show up on race day. The other thing is there's something on your bio somewhere I read and I can't remember where I saw it but your favorite workout is called jailbreak. Yeah, man, we want to come down and do some jailbreak. What is that?

Greg Hawkins:

Dude, it's awesome So near my house yeah, near my house is the Eno River State Park And about a mile and a half from the trailhead is the Eno River Quarry And it's 200 meters by 100 meters and about 75 feet deep And you can run there. You can't drive there. You gotta go to one of two trailheads and you can walk in or run in. So I'll just I'll put my trail shoes on and run in there with my dog and a buddy and we'll swim, and then you gotta run back out And it's just like you know you're breaking out of jail.

Dr. Rob Green:

Brilliant, that's brilliant.

Greg Hawkins:

Great name for it too, man Killer workout great name, Man. Oh yeah, I would love to have you guys come down And you know, if you guys are into cold water immersion, you can. In December, January, you can come out there and we'll run out there and jump in and tread water as long as you can.

Dr. Moose Herring:

And then you pray you don't die. Cold water sissy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dr. Rob Green:

Say that. How many times jumped off that?

Dr. Moose Herring:

Cold water sissy.

Dr. Rob Green:

He jumped off the Alcatraz boat like five times into 55 degree water.

Dr. Moose Herring:

So he, he, he's planes about it a lot, but he'll do it. That's cause I need new friends. Yes, my friends like less than this, okay.

Dr. Rob Green:

So here's how. Here's how we're gonna do it, greg. Yeah, i'm just you're right, man, i don't think. I think it's gonna be too cold for you.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You're right, i don't think you're gonna be.

Dr. Rob Green:

In fact, that workout, that jailbreak that Greg talked about, I don't think you have the capability of actually doing it. What's?

Greg Hawkins:

the date again. No, just kidding. No, just kidding. Hey, whenever you come down to Durham to visit your daughter and you know we'll sneak over there- So, greg, you got fantastic races coming up.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You wanna tell us about some highlights and get people signed up.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah. So we've got. We've got a lot of great races coming up. I mean, i definitely do So I'll pick. I'll pick one from each month. How's that Awesome? So we've got we've got Colonial Beach coming up in. I think three weeks now We'll be there. Yep, that's great, you know, nice, nice, nice swim. You never know what the current's gonna get you. They're at the Potomac, but it's always a great, always a great venue. We've got Culpepper coming up And I think that's wow. That's actually in July this year last weekend in July.

Greg Hawkins:

Yep, yep, that's one of. that was one of the original kinetic races in 2005. I went to the mayor and I was like what do you think about swimming in this reservoir, cause it says no swimming. He's like I think it sounds like a great idea And that's you know. it's like awesome.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You don't hear that very often. Yeah, yeah.

Greg Hawkins:

And that's great. And then Northeast Maryland is coming up in August 20th. That was where I did my first triathlon. So it's it's kind of neat, you know, coming full circle on that one And that's now in the kinetic fold. Then you get to September and you were back in Williamsburg for, for Patriots, the half, the Olympic and the sprint. That will be also be a paratriathlon nationals, oh wow. So we're, yeah, we're expecting 50 to 75 elite para athletes from around the country to come out and and compete. So we're really excited to be be hosting that Amazing And yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be awesome, it's going to be really awesome. So we're excited to, we're appreciative of the opportunity to to even host it. And then we're just super excited to, you know, make that, make that happen.

Greg Hawkins:

And then in October we've got, you know, we've got a pleasant landing at the Southern end of Lake Anna, where the hot side meets the cold side. That's. That's one of my, that's one of my favorite places to swim, really, because it's just, oh yeah, cause the, the water's so it's so deep there And it's, you know, all this, any sediment that's come in from further up Lake has all trickled, you know, settled out at that point, and so the water clarity is always really good And it's always generally pretty warm And you can find, like a you can find a nice quiet cove to swim down there, so it's a great. It's a great, great place to swim, and now they've got a Mexican restaurant there too, so you can get tacos when you're when you're done done swimming.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Yeah.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, yeah. And then we've got. we've got collegiate nationals in in Tempe this November 12th, 11th or 12th it's a Saturday of a Veterans weekend, but yeah, we'll be out there and they've got 28 world qualifier slots on the line this year. So, yeah, which is which is great. So there's the collegiate nationals. you know the D1, d2, d3 races, but then they've got we've got at the Sun Devil Classic, which is an age, which is a age group, draft legal race, and so each winner of their age group gets a world qualifying slot to go to, to go to worlds. which is pretty, pretty awesome.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Yep, that's amazing.

Dr. Rob Green:

I mean for you to have all these races to foster that collegiate development man is a I mean that's that's amazing. So that's that's really incredible. You do that.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, we've really been trying to lean into that for the last couple, you know couple of years, just to you know if somebody's got to do the hard work of putting on races and good quality events for those kids to come to. And we got a couple of comments early on. They're like this is the most organized race that we've ever done. And I'm like kind of looking around I'm like well, it's a race, it's supposed to be organized Like you're supposed to start on time, you're supposed to have enough, like you know stuff. I'm like why?

Dr. Moose Herring:

would you?

Greg Hawkins:

go anywhere else, like why put up with that? But I guess they had been So it's just you know I'm very lucky to have been able to create a living out of putting on on races. You know so many folks, so many races are just run by a committee And that committee a lot of times boils down to like one person And so when life gets in the way for that person, a lot of times the race goes away or it gets, you know, point off on someone else in the club who might not be as passionate or have the capability to do it. And just you know I'm very fortunate and very grateful to do what I do every, every day.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Well, rob and I have raced all over. We've been, i'll be brave. We've had the benefit of being able to race all over And I'll tell you you're you're. the race quality that you put on all over the States is just incredible.

Dr. Rob Green:

I mean it really is, it's the standard. I mean and we're not just saying that because we're interviewing them I would say directly but but we've I mean we've been to so many different races and I mean it's hard, man, it's not, it's not easy, so it's not like, oh, you know, they're not doing a great job. It's just a matter of it's a it's hard to make things look smooth. The smoother something looks, the more work behind it And it seems, across the board, you're guaranteed every time you sign up for a kinetic, multi-sport race that it is going to be done professionally and that it is is going to be a great experience, because you know that is, that is not always the standard that's out there. So you know, thank you, Kudos to you and your team man, because you know, we, we know how much work goes behind that And and we're just, you know, very, very grateful for that.

Greg Hawkins:

No, thank you. Thank you, i appreciate that.

Dr. Rob Green:

So it looks like you got about maybe about 11 race weekends left this year, which is pretty incredible, man, and anywhere from Maryland to Virginia, to Pennsylvania to Delaware you're going to be in Tempe as well. Kineticmultisportscom. Check out those races, see what maybe is close to you, what resonates with you, all kinds of different courses, from challenging courses to flat courses, to river swims, to lake swims, so you know there's lots to choose from. So I would definitely check that out. And what else, man? I mean gosh, what I mean? there's just so much to cover with Kinetic.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Just much respect for all you do And thank you for providing an environment so we can come and just race and have a great time and have fellowship with our other triathlon brothers and sisters. So fantastic, we really appreciate it.

Greg Hawkins:

Oh my gosh guys, it's been, it's been wonderful hosting y'all for so many years and we look forward to many, many, many more Awesome.

Dr. Rob Green:

I got homework for everybody. Here's homework.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Oh boy.

Dr. Rob Green:

Take your closest friends, or maybe two friends, take them out to dinner, right, they kind of maybe.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Bring your credit card.

Dr. Rob Green:

Bring your credit card, get them signed up for Kinetic Multisport Race. They will not regret it. They'll regret it the next day. But it's a. There's a. My wife's an attorney. I've talked to her about this. It's separate from regular law. It's a binding contract If you commit to it verbally.

Greg Hawkins:

And you sign up That night.

Dr. Rob Green:

And you, even if you didn't sign up, you committed to it verbally. So so get out your phone, get out your credit card, go to Kinetic Multisports and talk them into doing it, and you will definitely not regret it. So that's your homework.

Greg Hawkins:

Awesome, I love it. I love it. And you know if you need some selling, if you need some promo material, we've got videos of all the races on all the websites So you can just show them Like, look, look, how fun this is. Look at all these smiles out there And you know, yeah, yeah, people are going to have a great time.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Once people come, once they're hooked, they're hooked.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, and you guys put those videos out like within 24 hours of like the last person crossing the finish line And they're, they're beautiful, they genuinely reflect what the race looks like. So, no, definitely check that out. I mean social media. Where are you guys on social media?

Greg Hawkins:

Kinetic Multisports And then on Facebook, I believe, and I think it's Kinetic Multisports on Instagram as well. Can you tell them that on there? very much.

Dr. Moose Herring:

That's called delegation. Yeah, you've got a good marketing crew.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, Yeah, i really do. Brian does the videos. I neglected to mention him earlier, but he does a fantastic job of getting out there and getting on motorcycles and getting great footage and the drones and just you know they're awesome, yeah, so yeah, yeah.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Well, greg. Thanks for your passion, brother.

Greg Hawkins:

Yeah, man. Oh, you're so welcome, thank you. Thank you, cheers Lessons from the Knuckleheads.

Dr. Moose Herring:

All right, Lessons from Knuckleheads. So we have a very special lesson from Knucklehead heads by our incredible race director, and he's going to give you some incredible lessons from Knuckleheads.

Dr. Rob Green:

He gets to see all the Knuckleheads. At one time There's just two of us here, but he gets to see all the Knuckleheads It all massed together. So what are some good lessons for Knuckleheads from race director Greg?

Greg Hawkins:

Hocken, oh my gosh. Number one don't forget your front wheel next to your car in the parking lot. Number two remember that your bike is on top of your car. if you're going through a drive-through, don't lose your through axle. when you take your bike off, make sure that you just put it back on the wheel and when you put it in your car so you always know where it is.

Greg Hawkins:

If there's a long run from the swim, after the swim, don't leave the running shoes you plan to do the 5 or 10K or 13.1 mile run at the swim finish because someone else if they're mission critical, i guarantee you someone else will think that they are theirs. Label your wetsuit. Label your wetsuit. We have a garbage can full of wetsuits that are unlabeled and unclaimed. Just keep track of your stuff. Don't show up late to races. We've had a rash of people coming in like well, after athlete check-in is closed and everybody's got a story, everybody's got a reason, but it's just like my people have other things. That window of opportunity has closed and it really screws us up. I don't know the best way to tell people. no, like hey, packet, pick up close at 7.30. It is now 7.55. No, that might be the answer, but I'm a people pleaser and it's like customer service, customer service. that customer is always right at this point.

Dr. Moose Herring:

It's like hey, show up on time, for goodness sake. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Greg Hawkins:

If you're going down 9.95 and you know you are definitely going to be late, maybe just need to turn around. Go to Denny's Go back and get your donuts. Yeah, or just come and cheer or something, but it's just, yeah, I mean lessons learned, more lessons learned.

Greg Hawkins:

Bring a garbage bag and a five gallon bucket for your stuff, because it's all going to be wet and you can use that garbage bag to throw all your wet stuff in or to keep your dry stuff dry if it's going to be raining. Bring your own floor pump. Bring. Know how to change a flat. If you need a lesson on how to change a flat, ask, Just ask. I mean, oh my gosh, like you can save. We might have one, two mechanics on a bike course and if they start getting busy it can take a while to get people fixed and back riding. And you know tubes, two cartridge, a lever and you're dude, you're back in business. Like that, six ounces is not going to, it's not going to make a big old difference on your bike split, but it could really save your butt, You know. Yeah, lessons from Nucka heads, I love it. I love it.

Dr. Moose Herring:

That's fantastic. That's fantastic, correct. Thank you very much, that is a beautiful list.

Dr. Rob Green:

It's worth the lessons from Nucka.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Dang it is fantastic. We didn't have to use those over and over because those were good.

Dr. Rob Green:

Well, I'm going to go back and re-listen to this and I'm going to take my pencil and write it down because I'm likely to probably do about three quarters of those. So thanks, greg, i mean that's you've seen it all, i imagine. right, i bet you see it all.

Greg Hawkins:

We've seen it all over the years. Yeah, you know, if you don't, if you don't see a yellow duct tape arrow, just the general rule of thumb is keep going straight. Yeah, just like random Nucklehead stuff, people going off course, like I thought I was supposed to turn. I was like did anybody tell you to turn? Did you see any arrows? No, yeah, Yeah, you can't save them all, nope Still fun Less.

Dr. Rob Green:

Those are great lessons, yeah, lessons from the Grand Commander of all the Nuckleheads Right. Giving us brilliant lessons. Awesome Thanks, Greg.

Greg Hawkins:

Pre-drive, pre-drive, pre-ride, the course. That would be. That would be my number one mantra for any race Pre-drive, pre-ride, the course, know the course, know the course, know the course. Athletes responsibility to know the course, justin.

Dr. Rob Green:

Justin, I'm going to. we need to get Justin a special number so that way you can keep an eye on him.

Dr. Moose Herring:

That dude. He takes more wrong turns. I think he races so hard he gets delirious.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Well, his fault is the front. Yeah, his fault will always be way out front, see, Yes, yes, it's so funny, man.

Greg Hawkins:

I tell my staff I'm like dude, mark this duct tape. or like mark this course, as if everyone you know. it's like IQ has gone down like 25 points. Right, because I swear. I swear like it's because it's the God's honest truth. Like people are racing and they get race brain and they're so like the aperture is so small They've got this tunnel vision and like they just, you know, and you know sometimes they're wanting to have a conversation with the stationary volunteer, or while they're going 30 miles an hour, buy them on a bike and then they come in and mess, you know, yell at me because the volunteer didn't tell. I'm like dude, like what do you want us to do? Like I'm sorry, but like this is dude, this is on you, you know. like the signage is there, the duct tape on that ground is there, and like I can't ride the bike for you.

Dr. Rob Green:

So, hey, they got more for their money, their entry fee. They went further. They went further. So they have more exercise, they got. They got higher quality workout and racing. They were out there longer. Yeah, it's kind of like my golf game I get, i take extra strokes, everybody else takes less. I take more strokes, i get more out of it.

Greg Hawkins:

Dude, that's a win, that is winning, totally a win.

Dr. Rob Green:

So you need to tell them next time be like you. You, you. You are the winner of getting the most out of this course. You owe me five more dollars, yeah.

Greg Hawkins:

We're going to run your credit card again.

Dr. Moose Herring:

You're on the course longer. Yeah, you owe me five dollars.

Dr. Rob Green:

Well, brilliant, some knuckleheads. Man, we appreciate you being director of all, all us dumb knuckleheads and keeping us on the rails as much as we can be kept on the rail.

Dr. Moose Herring:

That's awesome.

Dr. Rob Green:

Do it again.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Do it again. Just wrapping up Greg Hawkins And he puts on some fantastic races. It really does go along with the hub lifestyle. We were we're 12, 13 podcasts deep, Is that right?

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah.

Dr. Moose Herring:

Man, i think it's might be 12, 12. And the things you've covered, you know setting goals, training strategies, how to do it, how to live well, do you do you train hard, your priorities, priorities, and we, and you know how to recover from injury. A lot of different, different topics about triathlon and health, really.

Greg Hawkins:

And.

Dr. Moose Herring:

I think what Greg really provides is a race series that you can set a goal or use multiple, multiple races to have step by step approach to a larger goal. That's a fantastic opportunity, if you hear, if you live here locally or even regionally.

Dr. Rob Green:

Yeah, You know what else we didn't cover with him And I wish we would have now. You say that Not only those goals, there are some really cool goals within it. He's got that race series. So you get points per race. So if you race five races, you get into the system about like in that. So if you're looking to be competitive and it's about performing over a series of races, that can be a season goal. I know plenty of athletes that make that a season goal and that's that's a competitive, and maybe it's not only to to win an age group or an overall, Maybe it's to improve your performance from last year. So, yeah, I know he boy, he embodies all the things that we talk about in hub life and he's passionate about it and it's great to see.

Dr. Moose Herring:

I just think he provides a very specific opportunity to set goals on a certain weekend, on a certain beautiful course, to challenge yourself And hub is to be the best. You and I would challenge you to be the best. You look at kinetic multi sport, find a weekend, find the sites you want to, you want to go to and set a goal and work to get there.

Dr. Rob Green:

And he said it, he said it in the interview and I'll reiterate it He's changing lives. He's changing lives. It's not just a weekend to go challenge yourself. When you extend your boundaries and you challenge yourself I mean, we see it all the time This transcends the sport. So it's not just this multi sport lifestyle, It's really, you know, challenge yourself, set those goals. If you haven't, then you know, don't be intimidated. When we talked about uh and the different things that they offer, There's a lot of safety, There's a lot of races out there that are conducive to the first time. And, you know, challenge yourself and, honestly, once you get and you get around the environment, it's, it's likely to change you for the better. And you know.

Dr. Rob Green:

But for Greg, we don't have kinetic multi sports and we don't have the vehicle to change lives like he's doing. And that's the hub way, It's the hub life. This transcends sport. This is, um, not who could be the best on the day. It's about, you know, challenging, being the best. You and and um, and boy, are we lucky to have kinetic multi sports. Amen. Well, that was a fun, fun interview, fun podcast coming to an end. So I guess, when you, when you come to a fork in the road. What do?

Dr. Moose Herring:

we do Sign up for kinetic multi sport and go uphill, get it up.

Updates
Interview With Greg Hawkins
Bringing Newcomers Into Triathlon
Kinetic Multisport Races and Collegiate Development
Lessons From Kuckleheads