Meet the Track Shack Events Team...................

Jon Hughes, Co-Owner

Recognized as a leader in the sport of running, Jon began running competitively at Winter Park High, and continued running at Seminole Community College and Appalachian State. He has since completed 12 marathons, including Boston, Berlin, Chicago and Marine Corps. Since the late 1970’s, Jon has pioneered the organization of amateur athletic events, first in his home-base of Central Florida and today throughout the world.

He has been recognized for his outstanding leadership and organizational achievements by the Florida Athletics Congress (USATF), the Pan American Junior Games, the Governor of Florida, and the Grand Bahamas Promotions Board. Jon was one of the youngest inductees into the Florida Track & Field Hall of Fame; admitted in 1987 at the age of 29. In 2008, he and his wife Betsy Hughes (Track Shack Co-owner) were inducted into the Running Event Hall of Fame, and the Running USA Hall of Champions in 2009. Also in 2009, Jon became a member of the Running USA Board of Directors.

Jon has been the Race Director of the Walt Disney World Marathon since it’s inception in 1994. His expertise has led him all over the world. As president of EMMI, he directs the overall marketing effort as well as operations and staff, and has positioned the organization to offer the best in technology, marketing and management skills.

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Betsy Hughes, Co-Owner

Betsy's passion for running began at age 14. She competed on one of the first girl's track team at Glenridge Junior High and ran quite successfully while attending Winter Park High School. She continues to run and has completed five marathons. She has put her running knowledge to work for 25+ years, as she teaches the community about the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle through shoe clinics and customer interaction. With a B.S. in Communication from the University of Florida, she brings valuable skills in the area of marketing and event management. As well as being the creative mind behind the unique awards given in the 40+ events put on each year, she helped design and implement the registration process used for the races. In 1990, she and Jon established Event Marketing and Management International (EMMI), one of the most successful road race companies in the industry. Together they are the heart and "sole" of the Central Florida running community.

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Natalie Casey, Vice President Communications

A graduate of Florida Southern College (B.S. in Sports Management, 1986),Natalie has been with the company full time since 1987. She handles sponsorship procurement and fulfillment and event marketing for EMMI and the Track Foundation. Her expertise is utilized to build relationships, develop successful sales concepts and marketing campaigns that provide value for sponsors, and create extraordinary experiences for our participants. Natalie lives in Winter Park with her husband Mark and has two children Kevin, 12 and Elizabeth 10, and enjoys church, travel, learning new things and any outdoor activity that can be done with family and friends.

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Tom Ward, Vice President Operations

Tom is EMMI's point person as it relates to overall event operations. He is the manager of our state of the art timing system, known as ChampionChip. Tom also does all course creation and measurement under USATF certification guidelines. As Technical Director of the Walt Disney World Marathon he is in charge of all staffing and course details which includes all coordination of security, transportation and volunteers. The logistical guru is EMMI's lead in coordinating the Disneyland® Half Marathon. A Rollins College graduate, (B.A. in Psychology, 1982), Tom has been with EMMI for over 20 years, and in his time as a runner has participated in more than 25 marathons, including the Boston Marathon (8 times).

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Steve Lapierre, Director of Finance

A graduate of Notre Dame 82', Steve manages the day-to-day finances for EMMI and the Track Shack Foundation. He oversees the registration process for the Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend (44,000 participants), and the Disneyland® Half Marathon Weekend (18,000 participants). Steve joined the team 9 years ago, but has been active with the company for over 17 years. When he's not busy crunching numbers, you can find him enjoying time with his family, watching his alma mater battle on the gridiron or diamond, or hitting the little white ball around the local golf courses. GO Irish!

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Susan Zwer, Registration Manager

Susan has been a member of the day of race team for many years, working at registration at events, and in August 2005 became the registration manager for EMMI. She oversees the entire registration process: data entry, assigning race numbers, labeling packets, downloading online registrations, packet pickup, etc. Susan graduated from Florida State University with a B.A. in English and a Masters of Library Science. She loves to travel and is an avid reader. She has run two marathons, including the London Marathon.

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Doug Heitman, Operations Manager

A graduate of St. Leo College in 1998 with a BA in Sports Management, Doug joined EMMI in August 2005 after 5 years with Disney Sports. He is responsible for all equipment up-keep, race day staff management and race day set up and tear down. When he's not at work, Doug enjoys rooting for the Phillies, Eagles, and Mark Martin and playing golf.

 

 

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Annie Lolagne, Marketing & Registration Coordinator

Born and Raised in Haiti, Annie is a graduate of University of Central Florida, where she earned a B.S. in Micro/Molecular Biology and was a member of the Cross Country/Track and Field team. Though she pursued a Science degree, Annie's passion remained in running. She joined our team in September 2008. Annie is currently overseeing marketing operations and services and manages Track Shack's C.A.R.E. Program. She also handles Track Shack race registration as well as Disney events race registration. Annie loves road races, and she has participated in a few half marathons and three marathons.

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Mike Zwer, Computer Consultant

A seasoned EMMI veteran, Mike began producing race results in 1984. With over 20 years of history at EMMI, Mike is credited with building our extensive database of 24,000 Track Shacker's as well as web programming. His expertise in information technology keeps Track Shack and EMMI current in the vast world of technology. Mike has completed over 10 marathons worldwide. During his free time he enjoys gourmet cooking, fine wine, traveling and scuba diving.