Managing Miami’s Largest Office Party: 18,000 Participants, Hundreds of Teams, One Race

The Opportunity

The Miami Lexus Corporate Run presented by First Horizon Bank is not a race where TeamFootWorks can communicate only with individual runners. The organization also works with business owners, HR departments, and team captains who coordinate participation across their companies. They estimate that the previous year’s event involved nearly 1,000 captains and co-captains.

That scale creates a practical challenge: how does a small event team keep each company moving without spending its days tracking down registrations, rebuilding contact lists, and repeating instructions?

The answers can change throughout the planning cycle. Registration activity, team formation, tent orders, and upcoming deadlines all affect what a captain needs to hear. Meanwhile, TeamFootWorks’ broader audience spans South Florida, so a message meant for a Miami captain should not automatically go to every contact in its database.

Those details matter even more as race day approaches. The event takes place on a weekday in downtown Miami, with only a few hours after street closures to finish preparing the 5K course before the 6 p.m. start. TeamFootWorks needs companies and captains ready to do their part before that window begins.

Where haku Made the Difference

haku helps TeamFootWorks turn thousands of registrations and company-specific needs into manageable work for its staff and clear next steps for team captains.

Captains can manage their teams through a dashboard, while TeamFootWorks can communicate deadlines and required actions directly to them. The TeamFootWorks staff can also place reminders in the dashboard, giving captains a way to see important information when they log in, even if they missed an email.

Mario Gomez, Operations Manager, TeamFootWorks said haku has made it “really simple” for them to teach captains how to manage their teams. He also expects upcoming updates to make that work even easier. Reflecting on the partnership, Mario said:

“I have nothing but great things to say about haku, I think it's an amazing platform and it's even better people.” - Mario Gomez, Operations Manager, TeamFootWorks

For broader outreach, TeamFootWorks can build audiences around details such as registration status, corporate team, captain status, and purchases. As people register and their information changes, those audiences update without the team having to rebuild a list for every campaign.

The difference is practical: staff can respond to what is happening across hundreds of teams, while captains and participants receive information that is more relevant to them. TeamFootWorks can spend less time on administrative coordination and more on supporting companies and preparing the race-day experience.

Keeping Hundreds of Captains on Track

TeamFootWorks starts working with captains months before the Corporate Run. Over that time, captains may need to complete registrations, arrange team packet shipping, or respond to a new request from the event team.

TFW is able to easily view all the data including registration activity, the number of teams, and other event details to decide what captains need to know next.

With haku, TeamFootWorks can send those messages directly to captains and reinforce key deadlines in their dashboards. As Mario explained:

“The notifications I send to team captains through the dashboard are really helpful. We can easily put deadlines and reminders there. The team captain might miss an email, but as soon as they log in, that information is right there in front of them, hard for them to miss.”- Mario Gomez, Operations Manager, TeamFootWorks

Rather than expecting a captain to find one email among months of correspondence, the team can put the next action in front of them while they are managing their company’s participation.

Reaching the Right People as Teams Register

TeamFootWorks’ contact database includes more than 150,000 people across South Florida. A broad send to that audience would often include people who are not participating in the event or are not responsible for the action in the message.

Audience segmentation gives the team a more precise way to communicate. It can distinguish captains from participants, reach people based on their registration activity or team, and tailor messages to a specific location. As registrations change, dynamic audiences keep campaigns aligned with who needs the information.

Last year, TeamFootWorks moved its email marketing from Constant Contact to haku, saving thousands of dollars on a separate subscription. Saved templates and lists make recurring campaigns easier to manage, while location filters help the team send Miami-specific updates only to the participants they’re meant for. Staff spend less time maintaining lists, recipients get more relevant emails, and the team can track communications alongside event activity. 

As Mario Gomez, TFW Operations Manager  put it, “it’s been great to have everything in one place.”

Supporting the Team Behind Race Day

The Miami Corporate Run brings thousands of people together in a short window. While runners take on the 5K, the TeamFootWorks staff is also managing company tents, sponsors, team captains, and all the details that keep the event moving.

That’s when having the right people to support you matters. haku supports TeamFootWorks through planning, the captains’ rally, and race day, with a team that understands how the event works and can help when questions come up.

“The haku team is so knowledgeable on race day, and it’s a relief when they arrive. We know they can step in and help when there’s so much going on." - Paola Colorado, Social Media Manager, TeamFootWorks

That support helps the team stay focused on the companies, captains, and participants depending on them when activity is at its peak.

The Results

Efficient Corporate Team Coordination

• More than 18,000 people brought together for the Miami Corporate Run
• Hundreds of corporate teams supported, with nearly 1,000 captains and co-captains at the previous year’s event
• Deadlines and reminders visible in the captain dashboard as teams prepare for race day

More Relevant Communications

• A database of more than 150,000 contacts across South Florida, with audiences tailored by location, registration status, team, captain status, and purchases
• Dynamic audiences that update as participant information changes, reducing the need to rebuild lists for each campaign
• Thousands of dollars saved by moving email marketing from Constant Contact to haku

‍Expert Race-Day Support

• More than 500 company tents coordinated alongside the 5K
• haku team support during planning, at the captains’ rally, and on race day
• More time for TeamFootWorks staff to focus on companies, captains, and participants when event activity is at its peak

Making One Big Race Work for Every Company

To participants, the Miami Lexus Corporate Run presented by First Horizon Bank feels like one shared celebration. For TeamFootWorks, delivering it means helping hundreds of companies make thousands of individual decisions in time for the same start line.

haku helps turn that complexity into work the team can manage: clear responsibilities for captains, communications shaped by current registration activity, and support when race day arrives. That gives TeamFootWorks more capacity to focus on the people and experience that make Miami’s largest office party possible.