Interview with Ben Cohoon
Get to know the mastermind behind the Market to Market Relay. Ben Cohoon is the visionary who launched the very first Pink Gorilla Events races and helped turn a big idea into the event company we know today. From dreaming up new adventures and opportunities to keeping the numbers in line behind the scenes, Ben continues to help lead the charge and shape the future of Pink Gorilla Events.
What’s keeping me excited at Pink Gorilla Events?
Everything! I love the variety of work that comes my way. My day to day varies from mono-tasking on solving a complex problem, that I spend all day on my computer. Then on the flip side I spend about 30 days a year outside doing manual labor to make the events work.
Quote of the week:
Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
What am I up to health-wise?
I’m in a good place right now feeling healthy. So that is allowing me to do many things run a few times a week, play soccer once or twice a week, doing some free weight workouts and mountain bike season started.
What is something funny that has happened to you or you have seen at an event?
Jason told me a few days ago that I will hit 100 Pink Gorilla Events this year. I usually find something funny or ironic at nearly every event.
The most recent one is at this years Early Bird 10 Mile Run we had pretty good rainstorms the Thursday and Friday before the race. This created several mud zones around Zorinksy that TJ reported to us after he set the course up. So Travis and I went out to shovel them off. We fixed the two major areas and then an intense rainstorm hit with about 1″ of rain in 30 minutes. This lead to a major flood of the area we just cleaned up. So we spent the next hour creating drainage ditches for the water to escape instead of sitting on the trail. Then I went back after dinner and threw water with a shovel and created drainage ditches for several more hours.
When I was walking out to the spot I was carrying a shovel and a bag of mulch and 3 teenagers walked by and said “What are you doing? Going to bury a body?” I laughed and then I had to explain what I was doing.
These are the moments I find funny because walking a 1/2 mile to scope water isn’t exactly what I anticipated doing that day. But also the reaction of others.
What am I reading?
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert, Reasons Not to Worry: How to Be Stoic in Chaotic Times by Brigid Delaney
What am I listening to?
The Daily Stoic Podcast, Pop Punk Spotify Mix, The Meaning of Your Life by Author Brooks
What i’m into lately?
Thursday Night Fun Active Night with the family. We have been trying to make each Thursday Night something my wife, daughter and I like to do that is active. Last week we did mini-golf at Adventure Golf in Lincoln. I missed out on getting on the leader board of the red course by 1 stroke, but my daughter got a hole in 1 on #19 so she got a ticket for a free round.
What would you like to share with people (your Strava, Podcast that you like, music playlist)
I’ve been focused on learning Spanish the past few years. This podcast has been really helpful: https://www.espanolistos.com/
