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Business
RECESSION & RECOVERY
Tech crowd reaction mixed over rebound
CAROLINE WILBERT
STAFF
03/08/2002
Atlanta Journal - Constitution
(Copyright, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution - 2002)
Business marathon
The phrase --- "running a business" --- has taken on new meaning for Bill Stewart.
Stewart, 36, was laid off in June from an e-commerce post at Worldspan, where he earned a salary in the $50,000 to $70,000 range. Despite an MBA from Wake Forest University and
plenty of travel company experience, he couldn't land a job.
After Sept.11, the difficult search became impossible.
So he turned his passion into a livelihood. Stewart, already a running coach on the side, founded Advanced Running.
The idea: Runners pay him $50 to $150 per month to coach them to better race times. Stewart's own best time on a 10K race is 30.07 minutes. (That's 4.85 minutes per mile.)
So far, he's landed 16 clients. His goal is to sign up at least 25 and also to parlay his coaching expertise into running camps sponsorships and eventually paid speaking engagements.
While the travel industry may be in the dumps, running is surging in popularity. Participation in road races has jumped 18 percent during the past five years, according to Runner's World magazine.
Stewart attributes the growth to less-than-stellar athletes running marathons for charity. Still, some of those new marathoners may get serious about the sport.
"There are always a few that trickle down and become a little more competitive," he said.
Stewart is happier than ever in his career --- something he must attribute, ironically, to the recession.
"The best thing about all this is being able to do something I really love," he said. "That is more important than the money."
cwilbert@ajc.com
Next article: Training for Peachtree by Coach Stewart
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