Building a Community — One Scooter at a Time

Here’s how I remember it…

The 2024 Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI was hyped to be a battle of the ages.

Three former World Champions in one race — plus a deep field behind them.

My wife and I wanted to watch the race.

Challenge: watching an 8-hour race with two boys under the age of 3 wasn’t happening.

“Let’s have a party!” I proposed.

And that was the origin of the 1st Ever Scoot-athlon on Saturday, October 26, 2024.

Admittedly, selfish origins.

But, something much bigger than me emerged.

Humans connecting with other humans.

Community.

All photos courtesy of J-Photography. Complete set: 2025 Scoot-athlon

I’ve been around sports my entire life.

Sports have been such an amazing teacher for me.

As I reflect on my athletic career, both practices and competitions have always been a wonderful vehicle to bring people of all different backgrounds together.

I love the conversations — the connections — that happen before, during, and after.

I love the stories.

I love the lessons.

I love the laughs.

I love the successes.

And, I love the challenges.

I love how sports creates a space to exist both side-by-side and face-to-face with others.

This past Saturday, my wife and I hosted the 2nd Annual (and Ever) Scoot-athlon.

Building from 2024, we wanted to create a kid-centric event that creates memories for kiddos and their parents.

After hours of set-up and preparation, around 11 o’clock in the morning, families started arriving to register their kids.

A 1-year-old.

Some 2-year-olds.

A whole bunch of 4-year-olds.

And an 8-year-old.

It didn’t matter — if you were a kid, you got to play.

At 12:15pm, all the kids lined up on our lawn. Just like the professional athletes competing in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI that day, each scoot-athlete got a personalized introduction followed by a raucous cheer from the crowd.

At 12:30pm, the scoot-athletes were off.

13 kids zooming around our block on their scooters — or bikes.

Then, they dropped their scooters in transition, and ran around the block.

The finish line: a Spider-Man bounce house.

The top 3 got to stand on a podium — 2 chairs and a stool — and were presented with a medal.

Food, stories, and connection followed.

And it took a village.

Jump City Inflatable Party Rentals provided the finish line — and the majority of the fun for the kiddos (and even the parents).

The City of Minneapolis helped block our street.

5 volunteers — neighbors, parents, friends — kept the turns and alleys safe.

1 volunteer helped with transition.

2 volunteers were on electric scooters to be the lead and sweeper vehicles.

Another 2 volunteers held the finishing Christmas wrapping paper for each scoot-athlete to break through.

And a host of neighbors, parents, and friends lined the street and sidewalk to cheer the kids on and make them feel like the most important people in the world.

Community is an amazing thing.

And sport is such a wonderful vehicle to create it.

Despite selfish origins, when you have a vision to build experiences for others, amazing things happen.

People come together — side-by-side and face-to-face — and connect on a human level.

And maybe all you need to do to build it up is have a little fun and play like a kid.