Back in the early 1980s, my job was to find ways to gain traction for Utah's newest daily newspaper. The Daily Spectrum was breaking even financially and on the doorstep (pun intended) of becoming a significant force in the state's publishing sector. As its publisher, I needed to find a little more oomph to push it over the top.
Meanwhile, the St. George Marathon was on the same trajectory. Launched with just 57 runners about the same time as The Spectrum went daily, it was transitioning from a local fun run into a premier, high-profile destination event known for its fast, scenic downhill course.
In the summer of 1982, I decided to hitch the newspaper's wagon to the soaring marathon and signed a significant sponsorship agreement with Sherm Miller of the St. George Parks and Recreation Department. That year, the St. George Marathon surpassed Salt Lake City's Deseret News Marathon in size, attracting over 1,500 runners. (The 2026 marathon has a cap of 6,000 participants). I thought a partnership was worth the risk.
Our management team opted to go all-in with the sponsorship and I sent a memo to the staff, encouraging participation. When no one stepped forward, we decided we'd take a chance and seek out someone on the team to "volunteer" to run.
As Mark Marine tells the story, he had little choice when confronted in my office by a "half-dozen of his bosses." With only a couple of months until the race, he was likely the only person at the paper already in decent enough shape to jump right into training and then survive the 26-mile, 385-yard ordeal. He was willing and did just that.
Mark was the resident jock at The Spectrum. A football and baseball star at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake, he had come to Dixie College on a baseball scholarship. He had married and stayed in St. George, eventually ending up as a manager in our circulation department — and catcher on the company softball team. In a time when the success of a daily newspaper depended on 12-year-old kids getting the morning edition on porches before school, Mark was the guy at our paper that made that happen.
Always willing, Mark suggested he write a weekly column about his venture into long-distance running. The "Spectrum First Timer" was born.
The task before him was arduous. Mark employed his friend and neighbor, legendary marathoner Debbie Zockol, as his mentor and trainer. Mark's humor was second to none as he penned (with assistance from a newsroom full of helpers) a regular column about the preparation for his first (and, as it turned out, last) marathon. A platoon of Spectrum journalists and photographers were often seen following his training runs, and his carefully retooled accounts were accompanied by pictures of a struggling novice runner.
The company printed T-shirts that read "I'm a St. George Marathon First Timer, just like Mark Marine" and offered the shirts free of charge to anyone running the race for the first time. On race day, the blue-trimmed shirts were abundant.
Well, Mark not only finished the race, but posted a respectable time. The risk had paid off.
The next summer, the "First Timer" trained and fought in the traditional Washington County Fair boxing tournament. I bought him the mandatory silk shorts and a shimmering, embroidered robe, but his weight paired him with an experienced brawler, and Mark lasted just a few rounds. But again, the hype and goodwill that came to the paper was worth any investment.
In 1984, the idea was to enter Mark as a first-time bull rider in the annual Lions' Dixie Roundup rodeo. But our insurance carrier stepped in, and the First Timer went back to wrestling 12-year-old paperboys who missed their delivery deadlines.
So, what do these fun stories have to do with business?
When is it OK for a business to take a risk? Were the "First Timer" promotions risky for a budding daily newspaper? What if the marathon try had flopped? Did we give Mark enough time to prepare? What if he didn't finish and became an offense to serious runners? What if the easily superior fighter at the county fair had seriously injured Mark?
Nearly every successful enterprise has achieved its stature by trying something new — by taking risks. It's a strategy that is not only acceptable, it's often the only way to get to the top. For your business, that may be a new product launch, entering a new market or investing in new technology — like AI.
But risk-taking must be done wisely. If driven by emotion, overconfidence or incomplete information, your risk is bound for failure. Base everything you do on research, careful planning and a realistic understanding of the possible rewards and consequences. It is unwise to gamble with a company's financial stability, reputation or legal responsibilities without thoroughly evaluating the potential consequences.
A business that never takes chances may avoid losses, but it may also miss valuable opportunities for growth. Seek to understand the difference between those risks being calculated and reckless.
"Yes, risk-taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called 'sure-thing-taking.'"
– Jim McMahon, BYU and NFL quarterback
John Rogers is a 50-year veteran of Utah media. He retired as managing editor of the Salt Lake Business Journal in 2024 and is now a part-time contributor to the paper. He can be reached at john.r@thecityjournals.com.
