Meet Alexandra Weissner and Cortney Logan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Weissner and Cortney Logan.

Alexandra and Cortney, before we jump into specific questions about your organization, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Our story starts like this, “a blonde and a brunette go to brunch”. Cortney (the blonde) and Alex (the brunette) both discovered their passion for running at different points in their lives, yet, both have the same affinity for the sport! Running is what bonded us together but bRUNch is what made us besties! We donut take ourselves too seriously and we love a good pun, a good run, and of course a good meal.

We met through a mutual friend more than a decade ago and hit it off right away. When Alex moved to Denver in 2010, we started running races every weekend and running together during the week. Running was our “social hour”, our time to decompress. Naturally, our runs were always followed by food and drink! During our runs, we started brainstorming ideas on how we could produce our own running event(s) because we felt like something was missing in the racing industry! Some of these races we were participating in lacked a sense of community and celebration. You train hard, for weeks, if not months and when you cross that finish line you expect it to be magical (which it is for .5 seconds) until you are ushered through a line (a long one at that) where you are congratulated on a job well done by being handed a browned banana and a half bagel, where’s my cream cheese at? Like, where were the high-fives and the after party celebration? We just ran our hearts out and everyone is just heading back to their cars, back to their regular lives. We knew that there had to be more to these events than just bananas and bagels.

We started small. Our roots are similar to a run club but we are a community of runners. Having both worked in hospitality ourselves, we knew that many brunch restaurants were not busy right when they opened on the weekends. So, we thought, why don’t we bring the runners to the restaurants? Keep it simple and start and finish at the restaurant, do it as a “ticketed” event that includes run, food, and drinks. Our first event produced over 30 people. And it only grew from there, now having over 15k followers on social media and 60-200 people per event. In early 2019, we pivoted away from ticketed events and now offer a majority of free or $5 events that include a fun run (walk, skip or stroll), complimentary mimosas, and the best morning ever. Phoenix was the second market we launched in.

Alex lived in Arizona for a while and attended Northern Arizona University. As we were running around Denver, many of our friends in the Phoenix area kept asking about bringing the concept down south in winter. With family and friends throughout the Valley, we hosted our first run in January 2014. Since then, we have been bRUNching on the regular in Phoenix October – May every year.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha! Nope, there have been bumps along the way, but building a business and a brand is never an easy task as it sometimes involves blood, a lot of sweat and tears, and of course mimosas. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves individually and together, our friendship, and how to build a business. Our advice for others looking to start their business venture, “go for it and don’t look back!” You will make mistakes, that’s inevitable. You’ll cry, get angry and want to quit, but as long as you keep your head up and focus on your overall goal, you are in for nothing short of an awesome adventure. Embrace any failures that you may encounter and take comfort in knowing that failure is the mother of all successes!

Tell us about your organization.
As a company, we have multiple things that go into what can define us. From a consumer side, we are the best running community you will ever be a part of. We are RRCA certified running coaches, who will be here to guide you on your running, walking, movement adventures. We are known for our community events in Denver, Fort Collins and Phoenix, Arizona. We also have a national following and have produced pop-up bRUNch events in New York City, Austin and San Diego.

The B2B side of our business is all about experiential marketing. If you are looking to reach fitness enthusiasts, brunch/food lovers, families and dog lovers, we would love to work with you. We have worked with brands to launch in new markets, product launches, seasonal collections and much more.

We are most proud of the people we have met through this business. Our community is amazing and it is so exciting to watch them set and hit their goals.

The thing that sets us apart from others is our inclusive community. It does not matter how fast or how far you go, we are here to support you. We can be your people. Everyone belongs at bRUNch.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
One of the things we have become known for is our quality. We have amazing partner restaurants that serve up quality food, which has allowed us to build a reputation for producing quality experiences among our community. They know they will get an amazing sweat session followed by delicious eats.

When taking a step back and looking at the company, it is our persistence and hard work that has to lead to our success. The quote, “every overnight success is ten years in the making,” holds for us. Since 2013, we have made sacrifices for our dream of what bRUNch Running will become. Our ideas on day one are very different from today, but our endgame is not. We want to create a running community filled with everyone that calls themselves a runner and loves brunch. We want to bring people together to support each other everyday through their fitness, health, and life journeys.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brunchrunning.com
• Email: hello@brunchrunning.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brunchrunning/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebrunchrun

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