Kaitlin Heck on how Mascot Sports is reimagining running events

Welcome to Pioneers. In this series, we have conversations with some of the most exciting innovators in the endurance events industry who are driving us forward. We explore how they’re using technology and AI to evolve their events, where they find inspiration, the goals they’re chasing, and the lessons they’ve learned so we can all grow together.

‍

If you have been to a Diplo’s Run Club this year, you know their 5K events are anything but an ordinary run. I was part of the team race day support at Diplo’s Run Club New York this October, and wasn’t sure if I was at a 5K race or a morning rave with thousands of other 20-30 year olds ready to party alongside me on a Saturday morning. The energy was nothing short of electric, and made me forget about the 5am weekend alarm!

This is just one example where Mascot Sports has shown that there is space for the traditional 5K experience to evolve. By blending running with live music, cultural collaborators and festival-style energy, they’ve created a format that feels familiar to runners but exciting to new audiences. For Kaitlin Heck, Mascot’s CMO, the shift is less about chasing trends and more about understanding what people want from communal experiences today.

“People don’t just want a start and finish line anymore. They want to be part of something bigger. The run is the anchor, but the atmosphere around it is what brings people in.”

– Kaitlin Heck CMO Mascot Sports

This approach has helped Mascot grow quickly. In just over a year, the company has expanded from three to eleven full-time employees, sold out major events across the US, and worked with artists like Diplo and Travis Barker. Crucially, it’s also widened the audience for running: one in five of their attendees is taking part in their first 5K at a Mascot event, many of which are returning to the sport for the first time since college. As someone who has been to many running events, I found this so refreshing to see. PB pursuits took a backseat, and the focus was instead on having a great time with your mates. 

“Twelve thousand people, early on a freezing Saturday morning,” Kaitlin says. “ASAP Ferg ran his first 5K. Mark Ronson ran and then opened the concert element of the morning. You could feel that people were showing up for more than just the run.”

Scaling to Meet Demand With a Small Team

Mascot’s events may feel big, but they’re produced by a team intentionally kept small. As another marketing director in a small team, I can vouch for the benefits of this, as being small forces clarity and a nimble mindset. “When you’re small, you can’t hide behind layers of process,” Kaitlin says. “You have to prioritize, and you have to be willing to try things before you have every detail figured out.”

However, without some discipline, the wheels can come off, so it’s been essential for Kaitlin to create some structure. Kaitlin has encouraged her team to continually document what worked, what hasn’t, and what should be refined for next time. The beauty of this is it helps the whole Mascot team learn from everyone’s experience - no matter if you were there or not - allowing the whole team to grow together. “It’s the only way to scale something that’s still evolving,” Kaitlin comments. “We want to stay creative, but we also need a backbone that supports growth.”

As with any other high-performing marketing team, technology is an integral part of the day-to-day. Registration flows, automated comms, CRM connections and on-site scanning all remove friction and keep the team focused on the parts of the event that need human attention. “Tech gives us time back,” Kaitlin says. “When it works well, participants can focus on the experience, and we can focus on finding new areas to innovate to keep them coming back again, and again.”

“Nova already understands our data. Instead of pulling multiple reports across different tools, I can just ask one question - it’s genuinely gamechanging!”

– Kaitlin Heck CMO Mascot Sports

No big surprises that AI plays a supporting role too. “AI helps with the groundwork,” she explains. “It summarizes notes, highlights early trends, and shapes a first draft. But you still need the human context.” Mascot’s early use of Nova, Let’s Do This’ AI growth agent, has also made gathering business-critical insights quicker for Kaitlin and her team - a consistent pain point for many marketing teams. “Nova already understands our data. Instead of pulling multiple reports across different tools, I can just ask one question - it’s genuinely gamechanging!”

Another benefit Kaitlin and team have found is that Nova already knows their context and event data inside out, “I don’t have to feed it everything because it already has that data and can give us the insight we’re looking for.”

For a team running around 30 events a year, these time savings and streamlined access to insights are a life saver, freeing up time to invest in other important (but often neglected) projects, such as team development. “We’re focused on upskilling our junior staff,” Kaitlin says. “They’re going to lead events and strategies in the future, so they need the space and support to grow.”

Innovation That Keeps People Coming Back

For Kaitlin, Mascot’s success isn’t just about the innovative race-day formats, but about consistently creating new experiences that bring people together in ways they remember long after the event. I can attest to this - yes the post-run gig element was exciting, but it was more the spectacle of the overall event that I found irresistibly sharable - the scale, the ‘audacity’ of people raving in broad daylight in their running gear. That energy and excitement was insatiable and something I would come back for again and again. 

“Operational excellence is expected, but the stories, the atmosphere, the connections - that’s what people remember. Those moments don’t happen by accident and are the result of meticulous design with curating these types of connections in mind.”

– Kaitlin Heck CMO Mascot Sports

Her advice for other organizers focuses on this obsession with human connection: stay adaptable, build frameworks early, invest in your team and create moments that encourage people to share their experience. Also be willing to adjust as culture shifts. “What’s resonating now might not resonate in a year,” she says. “You have to be ready to evolve.” 

Mascot’s focus for 2026 includes expanding Diplo’s Run Club and Run Travis Run to more cities, exploring international opportunities (I’m crossing my fingers that London is on that international expansion list!) and continuing to develop new formats that sit at the intersection of running and culture.

In an industry built on tradition, Mascot Sports is ripping up the proverbial rule book, and showing that when it comes to putting on incredible experiences for people, being brave and culture-first works. By employing smart applications of AI to drive efficiencies and identify new opportunities, they are able to focus more on delivering innovative experiences for their participants. This is bringing a whole new generation of runners into the industry, which can only be a good thing.

‍

Want to see Nova in action for yourself? Join the waitlist