We attended our first Running USA Conference in Houston in 2012 and promoted Race Director University as the First National Certification Program for Race Director.

In February 2015 we attended the Running USA Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. In March we requested a partnership with them and were told in April that their Conference was

We were told in April 2015 that the RUSA Conference for 2016 was complete and that they didn’t have any opportunities for us. The following emails and statements (letters) were drafted and sent between 2016 and 2024.

On Sep 28, 2016, at 10:59 AM, Gregory Evans <greg.evans@racedirectoru.com> wrote:

Mr. Harshbarger,

What is the timeline for Press Release postings after submission?

Addition:

Richard, hope that everything is going well for you and your staff these days. The Seaside Semper Five incident with the bomb alert raised some eyebrows because we (race directors in general) don’t think that a venue of that nature would pose a threat for runners since it is a low-profile event.

I want to bring you up to date on Race Director University and the RDU ACADEMY, but first please allow me to rehearse any conversation or initiative that we have made in the past.

Back in March 2015, we sent you (Scott Erwin) information on RDU’s availability to host the Level I & II program in LA in two rooms at the hotel for individuals who had five years of experience or less in the industry. The goal would provide a financial share of the registration fee so that the “presume” attendees would have the same opportunity to share in open sessions, exhibits and food and post conference activities.

In our conversation the next month (April 2015) you stated that this wasn’t available because the curriculum was set for 2016. Perhaps there was some miscommunication because Scott Erwin who was working with me wanted some integration with your new June program hosted in Chicago which focused on mud, electric, foam and non-traditional runs.

In November 2015 Running USA advertised a new campaign labeled: “Race Camps, our newest innovation of the Running USA Industry Conference, debuts on Friday, February 12 in Los Angeles. Race Camp is the “un-conference,” giving the power to the attendees to select which topics and sessions they value most. Our lineup is set, you helped us pick the sessions, and now it’s time to submit the questions you’d like discussed at the three sessions you plan to attend.” 

I was baffled when I saw the notification back in November because it was obvious to me that the 2016 program format was not set in stone, since you were able to create an additional structure that add 175-200 additional attendees.

When I saw the description of race camp concepts listed, I was curious on how they were constructed. Curious….

Fast forward, I have compared our general program format from 2012-2016 as reviewed against your 2016 Race Camp program.  I have identified at least 50% of the content to be the same, with other common themes crossing over to other categories.

We can’t correct the past. The foundation for program development in this industry is common, and there will be some duplication. I am not sure what protocol that Running USA follows when developing conference material; however, the past is the past.

The RDU Academy is orphan waiting for a parental adoption. This campaign is designed to bring in 17 – 24-year-olds into the road race industry by giving them an intensive 60 hours of training which would include classroom and on-race course training.  Designed for a diverse group of individuals who would be recruited or selected by a variety of organizations.

This would be a great inception for the Disney Conference 2017. I have more details on this structure of this program if you are interested in some collaboration.

I have attached information relevant for the Road Race Industry. I hope that this Press Release gets submitted.

I was amused, this morning when the second press release was blasted with the leading article about DRONES in Road Racing and Other Top Industry News when our campaign with SmartDigitalScreen includes the use of Drones with the ten ft. platforms.  This could simply be timing; I don’t give every thought that conspiracies are active within RUNNING USA.

By the way, the attached did not make this release. Curious

D. Stone, Executive Director                              Running USA

It is with much regret that I am preparing this document and adding statements that point to one of the most egregious harms in product development which is the violation of intellectual property, if not blatant theft, which took place in 2016.

I will give you a timeline of events that occurred and then soon send you additional commentary regarding this situation. I will try to stay on point. However, upon my recall, other things bridge the gap between 2012 and 2020.

In 2012 we attended the Olympic Trials, Houston Marathon the Medical Conference for Physicians who provide Medical Coverage for Road Races and the RUSA Conference Expo.

Nancy Hobbs was the contact for RUSA at that time.

2012 was the launch date for Race Director University (RDU), the First National Certification Program for Race Directors. I had spent 19 years developing the daylong Seminar/Conference for Race Directors under the auspice of the USATF Illinois Association. In 2011, I decided to stop producing this one-day program, not because of a matter of interest, but because the attendees collectively were not gaining the skills that would afford them the complete understanding of Road Race Management from the perspective of a producer, programmer, director and researcher in the Road Race Industry.

The RDU 2012 program commenced at the College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL, for 5 days with approximately 21 attendees and 14 instructors. This was a fee-based event without sponsorship and the attendees received an iPad, plus a 4” binder, lunch, snacks, a beverage, t-shirt, and certification. It was in the process of developing into a much-needed program for individuals who would begin or continue their careers in event production and race management.

Post the RUSA Houston Conference we requested to attend the Road Race Club of America Conference to promote RDU Level I & II and were told that we could attend as attendees; however, we could not have a booth or table because they were in the process of developing their own Certification Program with Road Race Management. If there was a case for collaboration of educational programming, this would be the case. Road Race Management was created in 1983, and Road Race Club of America was founded in 1958. 2

There were 83 years between them in 2012. I have been involved in the Sports and Recreation Industry as a professional since 1984 and I have never seen groups of the same or similar agency excluded from any local, regional, or national not-for-profit venue.

Whatever threat that we posed to either of these agencies was simply off the rails.

We did produce two luncheon programs back to back in 2012 and 2013 with the support of the USATF Illinois Association for Race Directors, Event Managers and Parks and Recreation staff in Oak Brook and Naperville, Illinois.

We had produced a program guide and proposal for RDU and distributed it to at least 50 attendees at the RUSA Expo in January. This was developed to edu-sell race directors on the categories of training that should be explored for incoming race directors, individuals new to the industry, because the running industry was exploding with running events all over the country and led by individuals who had little if any academic training in safety, security, public health, liability, logistics, or risk management.

In 2015 we attended RUSA’s full conference and expo. During this time, we decided to re-think how we could promote and brand RDU Level I & II for race directors with less than 5 years’ experience. At the end of that program, I contacted Rich Harshbarger by email, and then we spoke by phone. Mr. Harshbarger has always been a sincere man and while I was at another conference in Las Vegas he returned a call and informed me that it would not be possible to add RDU Level I & II for 2016 because the curriculum was already set.

That call took place early in April 2015 and the RUSA Conference ended in February 2015. I thought that the timing was unusual to close programming two months after a conference. I did not resubmit a request during that time.

In November 2015, I received a promotional email from RUSA announcing RACE CAMPS, a new program for 2016.

The sessions were featured inside the link. And there it was, 60% of the program content of RDU I & II, with long descriptions. While I did attend the 2016 RUSA Conference in Los Angeles, I was stunned. I mentioned the exchange that I had with Rich Harsbarger in 2015 to a few individuals who I know and met at the Conference.

RUSA had attracted an additional 200 people for the conference. I attended a few of the program sessions and while what we had planned to do as a full two – three-day curriculum, was available without our involvement and financial gain.

RDU Level I & II was created for a variety of reasons; however, the work and creation of this product was breached.

We will give you time to review this document and reserve time to send you the letters, emails and other documents as they were prepared for this initial request to offer our program co-existing with RUSA Conference. RDU Level I & II was not a competitive 3

program against RUSA, however, what the RUSA staff and volunteer board members did against RDU was wrong on a variety of levels.

You can reach out to us at our contact information below. We are currently scanning and re-creating the documents that were sent in 2015. We have not named the associates with RUSA that were involved in this action. We believe that you will be able to get this information through your own inquiry.

Sincerely,

Gregory J. Evans

Gregory J. Evans, President

Race Director U LLC

1920 Rena Ln.

Yorkville, IL. 60560

E: gregoryjevans@yahoo.com

M. 630.327.1619

CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS 2020

Virginia Brophy Achman

Tanner Bell

Alex Bennett

Tim Cole

Donna Grogan

Stevie Jones

Bryan Lively

Jeff Matlow

Kyle McLaughlin

Meghan Najera

Troy Schooley

Max Siegel

Lonnie Somers

Heidi Swartz

Matt West

Tony Yamanaka

Matt West

5123 W. 98th Street #1132

Minneapolis, MN. 55437

Dear Mr. West:

Race Director University, formally registered in the State of Illinois as (Race Director U, LLC) is the first National Certification Program for Race Directors, established in 2012.

Producing Road Races (Running) events from one mile to ultra-marathon distances is a non-regulated industry. No academic degrees (undergraduate courses) are offered to certify an individual as a “race director.” A race director could be considered a practitioner because they would need to develop their skills during the duration as it is regarded as a lifelong learning skill, much like a physician. There is no finish line.

LEGAL ACTION

On February 7th, 2016 – Running USA Inc., hereinafter referred to as RUSA, a non-profit organization registered in the State of Minnesota for the running industry, used our curriculum program to develop a new edition to their Annual Conference titled Race Camps.

PROBLEM: Intellectual Property, Breach, Infringement, and Copyright violation occurred in 2016 between Race Director University and Running USA.

FACT: They did not have permission to access our content.

FACT: The former Executive Director informed me that the staff created the program. They fired him in 2017.

FACT: One of the staff/volunteers was one of our presenters, and another was a key staff person promoted after the 2016 conference.

FACT: They excluded Race Director University from participating as a contributor for their own financial gains.

FACT: During a period from 2012 – 2016, Race Director University’s website and contact information were not visible to other members. This was challenged, and communication was unacknowledged.

HISTORY:

In 2015 we attended the RUSA Conference in New Orleans, La., from the 8th to the 10th.

We decided to re-think how we could promote and brand RDU Level I & II for race directors with less than five (5) years of experience. RUSA was geared toward advanced race directors, event managers, event producers, and affiliated organizations that had a stake in the running industry.

So, at the end of that conference, we contacted Rich Harshbarger, Executive Director, by email, sending him a two-page solicitation memo, and then we spoke by phone.

The request was that we host RDU Level I & II upstairs in other breakout rooms and pay half of the registration fee to RUSA so that our registrants could access their post-conference activities and exhibits.

Mr. Harshbarger has always been a sincere man, and while we were at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas, Nv. April 11th – 16th, we accepted his call, and he informed us that it would not be possible to add RDU Level I & II to the 2016 RUSA Conference because their curriculum was already set for 2016.

Running USA Industry Conference & Exhibition event was held from 10th February to 13th February 2016 in Los Angeles, California. The 2015 Running USA, Inc. conference ended on February 10th, 2015.

That call took place early in April 2015, and the RUSA Conference ended in February 2015.

We thought the timing was unusual to schedule and close all programming two months after a conference. did not resubmit a request during that time and accepted the announcement as factual.

In November 2015, we received a promotional email from RUSA announcing RACE CAMPS, a new program for the RUSA Conference in February 2016.

FACT: RUSA attracted an additional 200 people to the conference. We were also in attendance and participated in a few of their new RACE CAMP program sessions, while what we had planned to do as a full two to three-day curriculum was available to these registrants without our involvement and/or financial gain.

The RUSA member fee is $225.00 (depending on the number of members from one agency). The RUSA conference fee is $700.00 (depending on early bird, late, or day of registration).

RUSA was created in conjunction with USA Track and Field (USATF) to improve the status of road racing in the United States through collective marketing and promotions, services to runners and events, and the development of American distance stars.

We have additional information and have spoken to various individuals in the industry over the past few years about this project. At this time, we have decided to bring this matter to several bodies inside the current board of directors at RUSA.

Some of the current Board of Directors have knowledge about this [breach], and at least two letters regarding this have been sent to interim Executive Directors. Some of the Executive Directors were also informed about this situation, and to date, none of them have decided to make amends for this obvious breach.

We have been involved in the Road Race Industry since 1989.

RDU Level I & II was created for a variety of reasons; however, the work and creation of this product were breached. Additional words that could be used are intellectual property, infringement, and copyright violation.

The State of Minnesota has a compendium of timelines for its statutes of limitations for filing civil suits, some from 10 to 70 years. We simply request the 2023 Running USA Inc. Board of Directors to provide a suitable remedy for this action.

The Race Director University website, https://racedirectoruniversity.com, is online; however, the information has been removed.

SPECIAL NOTE:

The following information is relevant for this grievance and will be used in whole or part as our requirement for compensation. We are the curriculum developers and founders of Race Talk America Coursebook, 2nd Edition. During the interim of attempting to get this resolved with some of your former leadership we constructed a manual for professionals and agencies who are interested in eradicating racism, bigotry, implicit bias, and understanding the systemic and structural issues around racial and social equity.

Let us know if you need additional information on how your infringement (using partial material from our coursebook) has created a loss to Race Director University (Race Director U LLC) from 2016 – 2023.

We are interested in a quick resolution of this issue. Please respond by mail to us before January 25th, 2023. Sincerely,

Gregory J. Evans, President

Race Director U LLC 612 Magnolia Street

DeKalb, Il. 60115

Tel: 630.327.1619

E: greg@gregoryjevans.com

WEB: https://racedirectoruniversity.com

cc: Attorney General, State of Minnesota – Keith Ellison

RUSA, Board of Directors 2023

Jeff Matlow, Interim Executive Director Tanner Bell, V.P., Ragnar Relay

Alex Bennett, Meow Wolf

Donna Grogan, American Academy of Forensic Sciences Brandon Hough, Mayor Gifts Officer Antioch College Bryan Lively, ACL Squared Consulting

Kyle McLaughlin, Clear and Partner, Parachute Group Max Siegel, USATF

Heidi Swartz, The Cowtown Kathleen Titus, All Fitness Events Tony Yamanaka, Bib Rave

Meghan Najera, RunFar Racing Services Michael Nishi, Chicago Event Management

Note: A duplicate copy of this letter was sent to Matt West, previous Executive Director Dawna Stone (currently CEO, Abbott Marathon Majors) and two other Executive Directors, copying their Board Members by mail all received letters and emails concerning this 8-year breach.

We were told to contact Jay Holder at this year’s Running USA Conference by a board member to discuss the ongoing issue which nobody would “address” except Dwanda Stone at the Road Race Management Conference in 2021, informing me that she was not at Running USA in 2015, or 2016.

Un-acknowledgment signifies:

Unacknowledged things have been ignored or disregarded. And it’s the same when a person is unacknowledged: she deserves to be recognized for some accomplishment or quality, but she hasn’t been praised for it. A brilliant artist who isn’t able to sell many paintings might be an unacknowledged genius, for example. This word comes from acknowledge, a combination of the Middle English aknow, “show one’s knowledge,” and knowlechen, “admit.”

 ___________________________________

Matt West

5123 W. 98th Street #1132

Minneapolis, MN. 55437

Dear Mr. West:

Race Director University, formally registered in the State of Illinois as (Race Director U, LLC) is the first National Certification Program for Race Directors, established in 2012.

Producing Road Races (Running) events from one mile to ultra-marathon distances is a non-regulated industry. No academic degrees (undergraduate courses) are offered to certify an individual as a “race director.” A race director could be considered a practitioner because they would need to develop their skills during the duration as it is regarded as a lifelong learning skill, much like a physician. There is no finish line.

LEGAL ACTION

On February 7th, 2016 – Running USA Inc., hereinafter referred to as RUSA, a non-profit organization registered in the State of Minnesota for the running industry, used our curriculum program to develop a new edition to their Annual Conference titled Race Camps.

PROBLEM: Intellectual Property, Breach, Infringement, and Copyright violation occurred in 2016 between Race Director University and Running USA.

FACT: They did not have permission to access our content.

FACT: The former Executive Director informed me that the staff created the program. They fired him in 2017.

FACT: One of the staff/volunteers was one of our presenters, and another was a key staff person promoted after the 2016 conference.

FACT: They excluded Race Director University from participating as a contributor for their own financial gains.

FACT: During a period from 2012 – 2016, Race Director University’s website and contact information were not visible to other members. This was challenged, and communication was unacknowledged.

HISTORY:

In 2015 we attended the RUSA Conference in New Orleans, La., from the 8th to the 10th.

We decided to re-think how we could promote and brand RDU Level I & II for race directors with less than five (5) years of experience. RUSA was geared toward advanced race directors, event managers, event producers, and affiliated organizations that had a stake in the running industry.

So, at the end of that conference, we contacted Rich Harshbarger, Executive Director, by email, sending him a two-page solicitation memo, and then we spoke by phone.

The request was that we host RDU Level I & II upstairs in other breakout rooms and pay half of the registration fee to RUSA so that our registrants could access their post-conference activities and exhibits.

Mr. Harshbarger has always been a sincere man, and while we were at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas, Nv. April 11th – 16th, we accepted his call, and he informed us that it would not be possible to add RDU Level I & II to the 2016 RUSA Conference because their curriculum was already set for 2016.

Running USA Industry Conference & Exhibition event was held from 10th February to 13th February 2016 in Los Angeles, California. The 2015 Running USA, Inc. conference ended on February 10th, 2015.

That call took place early in April 2015, and the RUSA Conference ended in February 2015.

We thought the timing was unusual to schedule and close all programming two months after a conference. did not resubmit a request during that time and accepted the announcement as factual.

In November 2015, we received a promotional email from RUSA announcing RACE CAMPS, a new program for the RUSA Conference in February 2016.

FACT: RUSA attracted an additional 200 people to the conference. We were also in attendance and participated in a few of their new RACE CAMP program sessions, while what we had planned to do as a full two to three-day curriculum was available to these registrants without our involvement and/or financial gain.

The RUSA member fee is $225.00 (depending on the number of members from one agency). The RUSA conference fee is $700.00 (depending on early bird, late, or day of registration).

RUSA was created in conjunction with USA Track and Field (USATF) to improve the status of road racing in the United States through collective marketing and promotions, services to runners and events, and the development of American distance stars.

We have additional information and have spoken to various individuals in the industry over the past few years about this project. At this time, we have decided to bring this matter to several bodies inside the current board of directors at RUSA.

Some of the current Board of Directors have knowledge about this [breach], and at least two letters regarding this have been sent to interim Executive Directors. Some of the Executive Directors were also informed about this situation, and to date, none of them have decided to make amends for this obvious breach.

We have been involved in the Road Race Industry since 1989.

RDU Level I & II was created for a variety of reasons; however, the work and creation of this product were breached. Additional words that could be used are intellectual property, infringement, and copyright violation.

The State of Minnesota has a compendium of timelines for its statutes of limitations for filing civil suits, some from 10 to 70 years. We simply request the 2023 Running USA Inc. Board of Directors to provide a suitable remedy for this action.

The Race Director University website, https://racedirectoruniversity.com, is online; however, the information has been removed.

SPECIAL NOTE:

The following information is relevant for this grievance and will be used in whole or part as our requirement for compensation. We are the curriculum developers and founders of Race Talk America Coursebook, 2nd Edition. During the interim of attempting to get this resolved with some of your former leadership we constructed a manual for professionals and agencies who are interested in eradicating racism, bigotry, implicit bias, and understanding the systemic and structural issues around racial and social equity.

Let us know if you need additional information on how your infringement (using partial material from our coursebook) has created a loss to Race Director University (Race Director U LLC) from 2016 – 2023.

We are interested in a quick resolution of this issue. Please respond by mail to us before January 25th, 2023. Sincerely,

Gregory J. Evans, President

Race Director U LLC 612 Magnolia Street

DeKalb, Il. 60115

Tel: 630.327.1619

E: greg@gregoryjevans.com

WEB: https://racedirectoruniversity.com

cc: Attorney General, State of Minnesota – Keith Ellison

RUSA, Board of Directors 2023

Jeff Matlow, Interim Executive Director Tanner Bell, V.P., Ragnar Relay

Alex Bennett, Meow Wolf

Donna Grogan, American Academy of Forensic Sciences Brandon Hough, Mayor Gifts Officer Antioch College Bryan Lively, ACL Squared Consulting

Kyle McLaughlin, Clear and Partner, Parachute Group Max Siegel, USATF

Heidi Swartz, The Cowtown Kathleen Titus, All Fitness Events Tony Yamanaka, Bib Rave

Meghan Najera, RunFar Racing Services Michael Nishi, Chicago Event Management