Many people consider Smart Tan’s Nashville convention and trade show to be the industry’s equivalent of a marathon. For James Whipple, Smart Tan’s 2013 convention was actually two marathons.

Whipple is a dedicated competitive runner in his free time. Smart Tan’s most recent convention just happened to coincide with the running of the Nashville Marathon. So Whipple stood all day working the trade show floor in the PC Tan booth after spending the morning running the 26.2 mile marathon.

“I had no intention of running a marathon in Nashville since I had just completed one 4 weeks prior in New Hampshire,” Whipple recalled. “Smart Tan’s Joe Levy sent me a message on facebook about a marathon that weekend. I looked at the details and figured, “What the heck?” Seeing as the race started a few blocks from the hotel at 7 a.m. and I didn’t have to be on the floor until 11:30 a.m. how could I pass it up?”

Oh, and did we mention he won the race?
Whipple technically finished second in the event. But a poorly marked course and no on-course marshals led to a wrong turn and some backtracking. “From the start until about mile 13 I had a bike and a police escort in front of me,” Whipple recalled. “The bike escort stopped at mile 9 and the police escort stopped at mile 13. At mile 15 I came to a slight left/right and had to guess. There were no signs or arrows. A mile later I ended up at mile 21 and knew there was an issue.”

He backtracked and finished 59 seconds behind the first-place finisher, but actually kept a faster pace than the winner. “The race director called me to apologize,” Whipple said.

Whipple’s account of Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 — the day Smart Tan Downtown opened:

• 5:00 a.m.: Woke up. This allowed me to have a bagel and coffee 2hrs prior to the start of the race as usual. The race started at 7 so I left the hotel at 6 to give myself plenty of time.
• 7:00: Race starts.
• 10:09: Finished the 26.2 mile marathon in 3 hours and 9 minutes — placing second overall in the race.
• 10:30: Back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the day.
• 11:30: Worked the trade show floor until 6 p.m.
• 7:00 p.m.: Dinner with customers.
• 9:30 p.m.: Went to the New Sunshine party at the Wildhorse Salloon
• 12:00 a.m.: Zzzzz.

“Tanning for me is not only a job but a way of life,” Whipple says. “I tan because it makes me feel good. Whenever My wife and I have an upcoming race we make it a point to tan 2-3 times a week for a couple of weeks leading up to our race. This always makes us feel better and I believe this has helped us improve our results in races. The periods where I haven’t tanned for a few weeks I never have the same amount of energy. I truly do believe in a moderate tanning ritual.”

The Nashville Marathon was one of 10 that Whipple has completed — including the Boston Marathon in 2013 and 2014.

Whipple wasn’t the only tanning community member in the Nashville Marathon that Saturday morning. Angie Woodhead, co-owner of Cabana Tan in Victoria, British Columbia, sprinted through the half-marathon in 1 hour and 55 minutes –-giving her just enough time to walk back to the convention center to participate as a panelist in a 10 a.m. Smart Tan workshop — still wearing race gear.

The convention really IS a marathon.