One Force Run Brings Casper Community Together, One by One
This is not your granddad’s 5K run. In fact, it’s not your dad’s 5K run, either. It’s not your sister’s or your brother’s, or your estranged uncle’s 5K run.
This 5K, called One Force Run, is like… It’s like your cool cousin whom you only see once every three years or so because they’re too busy traveling the world but every time they see you, they tell you the best stories and show you the prettiest pictures and bring you the coolest present that you didn’t even know you wanted until you got it and then they run back off into the night, never to be heard of again until 3 years later. It’s like that cousin’s 5K Run.
At least, according to Anthony Coscino, it is.
Coscino is the founder of One Force Run, a community-wide 5K “fun” run that’s taking place on June 12 at the Ford Wyoming Center from 8:00 p.m. to well past midnight. It’s going to feature a live DJ, food, drinks, black lights, black powder and more. It’s a 5K-run-cum-rave and, according to Coscino, it’s going to bring Casper together in a way that has never been done before.
He would know, as he previously worked on similar events in the entertainment capitol of the world, Las Vegas.
“I was teaching nutrition full-time at the University of Las Vegas,” Coscino stated. “But I really needed a second job where I could make really good money. A friend of mine in Vegas was working for this company called ‘Cool Events’ and he offered me a job. I didn’t know much about it, other than we would travel around to different places across the country and build obstacle courses.”
Coscino said that from his very first race, he knew that he had found something powerful.
“My first race was in Atlanta, Georgia, and I became obsessed,” he said. “Not with the obstacle course racing, not with the activities or the physicality of the race; it was the energy in the environment. We had over 28,000 people. In one day, we had 28,000 participants come to our event. There were people of all shapes and sizes and, usually, when you think of obstacle courses of 5K runs, there’s always some sort of competitiveness, right? But that wasn’t a thing at all. People were just going to it to have a good time, to have fun, and it was just something positive for them to do.”
Coscino said it was the positivity, and the sense of unity in the event that was what really piqued his interest and captured his heart.
“In three months, I went from just being a course builder to actually being a race director,” he said. “And I found a true passion for it. Everything is an art and I believe there’s a true art to directing these types of races. You have to be efficient, you have to move with urgency but you also have to be patient because you’re dealing with your crew, you’re preparing a race for 28,000 people in three days.”
But it wasn’t just the adrenaline or the art of those races that he fell in love with – it was seeing such a diverse group of people doing something together.
“We set up these massive events and it was just amazing to see the energy of these people,” he said. “The energy of so many people in one place, enjoying the scenery, enjoying each other; there was a sense of community and a sense of unity and it was something that people won’t forget, and it’s something they looked forward to every year.”
Coscino fell in love with the job and, when he moved back to Casper, his number one goal was to create a similar event for the community he called home.
“I knew I could run my own events,” he said. “I was blessed and very grateful to work for the company that I worked for, and I realized that I should utilize those skills that I learned and not let them go to waste. And it means a lot to me to be able to bring so many different people together, to do something different and fun.”
‘Different’ and ‘fun’ are exactly what One Force Run is going to be, according to Coscino. It is a 5K run, but he says it’s so much more than that as well.
“We’re going to have a DJ, and we’ll have an outdoor bar,” he said. “We’re going to have black lights, black light powder, neon water being sprayed on people, and thousands of glowsticks. It’s going to feel like a concert. But it’s not a concert. And it’s not a bar. It’s something that is positive for people. They’re going and they’re trying something new, that they haven’t done before. And it’s going to be an experience that they’ll never forget.”
According to One Force Run’s Facebook page, this is a “new kind of 5K Color Run – and it’s at night.”
“One Force Run is a UNIFIED, SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER, IN-IT-TOGETHER night run for everyone, full of blacklight trail lights, LOTS of blacklight powder, and more,” the page stated. “This event is for everyone–friends, families, the young and the old, the competitive, and the “just for fun" runners!”
That “in-it-togetherness” is something that, Coscino said, Casper needs right now, especially in light of the past year-and-a-half of isolation.
“People want something to look forward to,” he said. “People want to feel like they’re a part of something that is bigger than them, and that’s what this run is going to be. It’s going to be an event, an experience. It’s going to be something to remember as something that united the community and it’s a chance for me to create something that will make people feel better about themselves. To me, that’s the most important thing. It’s so easy to get down on yourself, so to give someone the opportunity to feel better about themselves – that means the world to me. And I would give every piece of myself to make somebody feel that way, whether it’s with a group of people or just one by one.”
One Force Run is happening June 12 at the Ford Wyoming Center, and it will consist of two phases. ‘Heat One,’ as it’s called, will take place at 8:30 p.m. and ‘Heat Two’ happens at 9:00 p.m. Anyone in attendance will want to show up at 7:30 PM for the “pre-party” and stay well past the last heat for the after party. The early bird registration fee is $25.00 and it includes the insurance, waiver fee and a free t-shirt. Day-of registration is $50.00. More information and links to registrations can be found at their website or through their Facebook and Instagram pages.