We were lucky to catch up with Sean Blanton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sean, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I’m 37 years old and I’ve run over 300 ultra marathons. When I started trail running About 17 years ago, they didn’t have a lot of trail running races or for that matter a lot of trail runners. It was an underground sport. As a college drop out who felt like a failure compared to all my college attending friends, running was the only thing I felt half way good at. It gave me confidence and a sense of identity. At 21 I was almost always the youngest person at any ultra marathon I ran. That’s unless someone brought their kid. Traveling around the world to run and compete in races I would always get told that we didn’t have real mountains or anything worth running in the South. Living all 37 years of my life in Atlanta this really got under my skin. So much so it no tire me to start putting on my own races.
13 ish years ago I started Run Bum Races, a trail running race company based out of Atlanta, Ga. We now have 11 events from Virginia to Florida. They are all based on scenery and an experience. Trail running got me out of a dark depression and I want to give other people the chance to get out and do uncomfortable things in beautiful places.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I hold the fastest time for the 1,108 miles Florida Trail at 22 days and change. That’s 50 miles a day. I’ve run over 300 ultras. We have 11 races that get over 5,000 people a year. Last year we / I donated over $20,000 to non profits that help maintain the trails we use and lots more to state parks. We also donated 1500 hours of trail work.
Personally I did 49 days of trail work. Ever wonder why the hiking trails you use stay mostly clear of trees and overgrowth? It’s all volunteers. We use the races as an excuse to do trail work. I get the unique opportunity to bring people out to the trails and train them how to maintain the trails. I am a volunteer chainsawyer for the United States Forest service.

I Paraglide and skydive.

Very fortunate that all of our races sell out (usually in less than a day).

I host a podcast and give away free training plans on our website, runbumtours.com

My goal is not to make money. It’s to help people do hard things and believe in people because so many people are capable of great things but their mind talks them out of it.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

I’ve not sold my races but I’ve given 2 of them away to friends. I’ve also retired several events I’ve made. My art is designing trail running races. I spend soooo much time energy and effort on each one trying to create the perfect experience. Sometimes the stars just don’t align. The hardest thing I’ve had to learn is to let some of these events die or go to another home. We can’t do everything all the time. You can’t take anything with you when you die so why not unburden yourself of the things that no longer serve your overall well being. It’s hard to have events not be for forever. It’s the nature of it. We pivot. We have to adapt or we get washed out to sea. This was hard for me to do and I kept a couple races going that drained my battery for a year or two too long. So know when to walk away. The power of letting go of the hold you’ve got a death grip on to climb higher is harder than you think but once you do it you’ll wonder why you don’t earlier.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

It’s funny how much I don’t like social media. I feel a lot of people are so close to amazing things but their phone is in the way. It’s a necessary evil for business these days. I started out on Facebook with a personal brand. I didn’t know what a personal brand was. I didn’t go to business school. I just added people I met through my hobby which was running. I then just gave advice and tried to lead from the front. I think to truly lead people you have to do it because you’re not chasing money or fame or any other superficial bs. You have to be trying to figure how you can make people better and bring happiness to their lives. Sure we charge for races but if that’s all folks come to do and see then they are missing what we’re really doing which is building a community where everyone who shows up be it in person or online is part of it.
I would say the best thing you can give people is 2 things. 1. Acceptance 2. Hope:

Contact Info:

• Website: Runbumtours.com
• Instagram: Runbumraces
• Facebook: Run Bum