If you’re Steve Bergstrom, age 30, the answer is this: take off your shirt, write a personal ad across your back, and then run in a marathon. And, in the Chicago Marathon on October 17, that’s exactly what he did.
After removing his shirt, he got his cousin to help him by first writing “Single” across his back. Then, he made sure to include his first and last name and mention that he could be found on Facebook. From there, all that was left was to run the 26.2 miles for everyone to see.
Image credit: runnersworld.com/Photo by MarathonFoto / Sony Shah
“I have a job that occupies a lot of my time,” Bergstrom told Runner’s World. “Having a ridiculous hour commute each way, and then also being dedicated to my gym and dedicated to my sports, I don’t have a ton of spare time on my hands.”
In his sixth straight year running the Chicago Marathon, the sales channel manager at Bosch Power Tools completed the course in 3:47:58, and more importantly, reached the limit allowed for friend requests on Facebook. He also has gone on a couple of dates with a fellow marathoner.
“It’s basic marketing, to make sure you’re broadcasting your message to the audience that you’re wishing to capture,” he told Runner’s World. “If life is easy when you’re dating an athlete, why not broadcast in this sort of a venue? When you run a marathon shirtless, you get a couple of people with the catcalls. So I would kind of turn my back one way or the other if I saw a group that was particularly worth broadcasting to.”
Source:today.com