RGM Hosts Annual “Pizza Hut Runs” for Cause Close to His Heart
Tomorrow, RGM Ryan Tresnak will be hosting his fourth annual Freezin’ For a Reason 10K Trail Run in Vinton, Iowa.
In 2009, Ryan started running 5Ks for charity, so when Pizza Hut was raising money to fight world hunger a few years ago, he got an idea.
“Charlie Heyer, our AGM, asked each person how much they were going to commit to raising for the program. When I said we would hit $500 and another store said they’d raise $501, I thought, what a shame that we are trying to one up each other by $1 – only feeding four extra people,” Ryan said.
So that year, 2012, Ryan organized and hosted the first Pizza Hut Runs 5K Trail Run.
Over the last several years, Ryan’s runs have continued to grow in popularity… and in distance.
“We have had as many as 60 runners attend,” Ryan said. “And as I grew as a runner, I developed a 10K Trail Run, then we added a 50K run to our roster of runs when I started in running 50Ks.”
Ryan works hard to make the runs both fun and personal, which is why his attendees keep coming back.
“The 5K that we host in October is a ‘beat the manager’ run, where if the runner beats me, they get a coupon for a free Personal Pan Pizza at our location,” Ryan said. “So far, the most I have had to give out is 14 – thankfully!”
Ryan also uses his “Own the Zone” marketing skills to get the word out there.
“When I go to other runs, I place www.vintonpizzahutruns.weebly.com business cards on windshields to help grow our runs. We are also located on the Running in the USA website as well as a couple of local running website calendars.”
But as his runs have grown, Ryan’s passion for and focus on feeding the hungry has remained at the center of the Pizza Hut Runs.
“When I was in first grade, my parents divorced and I lived with my mother,” Ryan said. “She was attending college, and we lived in a low income apartment complex and ate a steady supply of government cheese and beans. If my brother and I were good all month, Mom would take us to the bakery and let us pick one doughnut a piece to have. We would take them back and sit on a chair in the complex and other little kids would come up and say things like… ‘I like doughnuts too…’ and we would have to move inside to finish without being disturbed. Thinking back on it, it seems like something most of us would take for granted – having a doughnut to eat when you wanted (then figure that you only might get one a month).”
All of the runner fees from Ryan’s Pizza Hut Runs (minus the shirt fees) are donated to organizations that are committed to feeding the hungry and fighting to end hunger.
“There are so many people in this world who have less than we do,” Ryan said. “We should try, best we can, to make the world a better place by helping out those in need.”
Very “cool”.
yea – the 10k is in March and we called it Freezin’ For A Reason — usually is “cool” (like the play on words) — this year it will be near 50 !
Wow! This is awesome… thank you Ryan for sharing your story. I will never eat a doughnuts again without thinking of your story.
there is a local run called the doughnut run where you have to eat so many doughnuts to take time off your 5k run time … thought about entering that one , since the doughnut is one of my most favorite things 🙂
Ryan, Thank you for sharing your experience. Super Cool that you are involving your community.
yea it is fun to see local runners come out to have some fun – makes for a nice connection for me to find running buddies too:)
Awesome story..THANKS for sharing…
Thanks back at cha’ 8D
Now That’s SUPER SUPREME! Great Work Ryan!
thanks for the note !
Thanks for the shout out !
Ryan, I am a half marathon runner, I pick my runs by the charities they support. I believe it is important to give something back whenever you can. Thanks for all you do!
I actually look forward to all the planning and am always hyper focused on the runners having a good time, its fun to talk to other local runners – thanks for the note !
great job “owning your zone” you’re the man
Wow what a cool idea! You are an inspiration! Go Ryan, go!
We had 19 people sign up , which is lower than years before , but we had an awesome time and the runners were all very happy – good day all in all – $414 after the run that we can donate to stop hunger 🙂
Great idea, make it a virtual and more people can run where ever they live to support this great race
Ryan – really appreciate the way you inspire all of us. Thanks for the support and “delivering (or running) fun to your community!”.
Thanks for having the vision to unite us with the World Hunger program years ago – It has been a blessing being able to give back in a way that is personal to me. Thanks again!