WYSU ‘Fund Run’ takes station director to Greater Allegheny Passage

During the COVID-19 pandemic, WYSU-FM adapted to the challenges of sustaining listener-supported radio at Youngstown State University. Station Director Gary Sexton this week described the last three fundraisers as “much more low-key,” a practice that continued this year due to the pandemic.

“When we make our pitches on normal breaks, we aren’t interrupting anything. We’re not bringing volunteers in. So we’ve been transferring the donation process to the website – away from phones,” said Sexton. Although many supporters still mail in their renewals, he said the vast majority now come in through the station’s website.

As many listeners already know, Sexton is an avid runner. It’s even mentioned in a station promo, where Sexton’s interest in running is paired with his love for classical music. On Monday, Oct. 25 these two interests will meet on the Greater Allegheny Passage.

Sexton, who recently turned 65, plans to run 65 miles on the trail during “Support WYSU Month.” In a supplemental fundraiser called the “Fund Run,” listeners are encouraged to donate a dollar amount for every mile Sexton runs on the trail.

The following interview took place earlier this week. Sexton spoke about his upcoming run and WYSU’s goals for “Support WYSU Month.” (An update on the fundraiser appears below.)

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Metro Monthly: Have you ever done a fundraiser incorporating your running and WYSU? Or is this the first time?

Gary Sexton: No, this is the second time. I actually ran my very first ultra race, which is anything longer than a marathon, 16 years ago and it was up in Michigan. It was a 50-mile race in northern Michigan near Manistee. And I only had run in marathons up until that point. I was putting myself out there for a whole new thing. It was twice as long as I had run before. I trained for it. It was called “Gary’s Run for the Transmitter.” We were buying a new transmitter (for WYSU) at that point. It was a separate fundraiser not connected to the fund drive itself. And it really resonated. We developed a Michael Jordan-style logo of me in shadow running and had some special premiums, special thank you gifts because we do that sort of thing in public radio. And we raised somewhere around $40,000 for our new transmitter. I went into this race having no idea of what an ultra race would be like. I was kind of used to running fast. Even in a marathon or a 10K, I would run fast. It’s just a whole different world. But, anyway, I stumbled a little toward the end, but I made it through. It was a big success.

Metro Monthly: Describe what kind of race that is. When you said you hadn’t done it before, what exactly does that involve?

Sexton: Well, the one I’m doing this time is not on forest trails. I can tell you more about that later. This one I did (earlier) was on trails through the Manistee National Forest. Most races in a city environment try to avoid hills to attract people. These kind of races kind of embrace hills and embrace tough conditions like rocky and rooty trails just to add a certain level of difficulty to it. So, whereas, I might have run a marathon race in a 7-minute-per-mile case, a good per-mile case for an ultra, a 50-miler like that – because of the distance, because of the terrain – might be anywhere from 11 to 15 to 20 minutes a mile. You just don’t know. You have to go into those with a totally different mindset. You’re just doing it to run it the best you can, based on the conditions that you’re dealing with, including weather. And weather is much more impactful for a trail race, obviously, than it is for a city road race.

Metro Monthly: A trail race also brings out a different set of problems because the terrain can be uneven. Isn’t that right?

Sexton: That’s exactly right. It’s very uneven. I run a lot of races over in Pennsylvania. Not only are they extremely hilly – way hillier than any road race would be – but you’re navigating all sorts of rocks and roots and other things when you do that, so it’s a delicate dance. You can fall and you can hurt yourself. 

Metro Monthly: This fall fundraiser that you’re doing right now. What do you have planned for this particular one? How is it different than what you did in Michigan and how might it be similar? And what are the goals of the fundraiser?

Sexton: So the goal of the fundraiser is to have 1,000 people donate to the station, either by renewing their membership or becoming new members or providing an additional gift. One thousand has been a nice target for us over the years. Sometimes we make it, sometimes we don’t. I always think it should be easier, but (laughs) it never is. Our audience is obviously vastly more than that. Our job during the fund drive is to convince as many people as possible that something they get for free, like public radio, also requires a certain number of people helping to support it. That’s the whole point of this run then, too. I’ve done these (fundraisers) for so many years now, sometimes it’s fun to bring something different into the mix. We talked about it a few years, about doing another run. It just seemed like a cool year to do it. I turn 65 and I’m going to run 65 miles in support of the radio station. And, again, people are responding to it. Of the 550 donations we’ve received so far, 70 of them have been specifically related to the run. And we know that because their gift is in some multiple of 65. … When we see a pledge come in with that multiple we know that they’re doing it because of the run, for one reason. Hopefully, primarily for the radio station’s success, for the other reason. 

Metro Monthly: This fundraiser is unusual because you’re integrating a milestone in your life, turning 65. A lot of races are measured in kilometers. I did the equivalent and it’s about 105 kilometers. So is this race, for you, a long race? Is this a medium-size race? How does it fit into the spectrum of what you’d usually do?

Sexton: That’s a really good question because ever since I ran that 50-mile race, I run my age in either a race or a particular day in just a run every year. Already this year, during the course of a 24-hour race I was running at, I ran 86 miles, so I already met that goal of mine for this year. So this is something extra. So I would say that this is a medium-kind-of race for what I’ve been doing. Over the last 16 years, I’ve done races as long as 48 hours and in the range of 50 miles. There’s a lot of variety, availability in these kind of things.  

Metro Monthly: How does the run factor into the station’s overall fundraising goal? How much does WYSU hope to raise in October and what percentage do you think the race might contribute?

Sexton: Since we haven’t done this ever before, it’s hard to say. Like I said, I hope it provides some extra incentive for people to give money, maybe pushing them over the edge because they think it’s a cool idea. Historically, the past four of five years, we’re usually somewhere around $130,000 per drive, so somewhere between $260,000 and $280,000 for the year, which is a large percentage of our budget. Part of our budget goes pretty much totally for purchasing programs, especially network programs or supporting local programs. So it’s really an important part of what we do. It’s increasingly, increasingly, a more important part of what we do. In my mind, I’m just trying to find ways to connect with people more than maybe we have in the past. I have to talk to Ed Goist (WYSU-FM Coordinator), but I think our rate of donation per listener is somewhere around 5 percent, which isn’t bad, but you always want to push that up a little more.

Metro Monthly: Sixty-five miles is like running from Youngstown to Pittsburgh. Did you have to train for that? And because it’s in the Greater Allegheny Passage, is there anything special you needed to do to train for this? Or are you just doing it?

Sexton: Basically, you just need to get the miles in. And this isn’t a race, so the speed doesn’t necessarily matter. It’s just a matter of getting to the 65. Back when I was faster, I could probably run 65 miles in 12 hours, but now that I’m older and slower, it’s going to be some time longer than that. Have you been on the Greater Allegheny Passage, Mark?

Metro Monthly: No, I haven’t, but I looked it up and I know how far it extends. Is a large part of it on an old rail bed? Is that how it goes?

Sexton: It is. It’s like the Mill Creek Park Bike Trail, but it’s crushed limestone, which is a very forgiving surface on which to run. I go there and train a lot on the Greater Allegheny Passage Trail or just regular hiking trails. So I know the area really well, and I’m comfortable over there. The place is kind of in the woods, a place I like to be, and it would be a nice place, a pleasing place to do it. 

Metro Monthly: Describe what the Greater Allegheny Passage is like. What’s the terrain like? What do you like most about the trail?

Sexton: Well, it’s basically a flat railroad trail, a former railroad that becomes a trail with some elevation gain, but it’s very, very gradual. So you’re running on a flat, clean surface. … It’s a better surface to run on than asphalt or cement. And I have a couple people helping me. One’s from over that area and one’s going over with me, so we’re going to try to be self-contained and take care of it ourselves. There’s nothing technical I have to do to run this. Miles in and click them off till I reach 65.

Metro Monthly: Are you running solo are are these people that you’re working with running with you? How’s that going to work?

Sexton: A friend of mine on campus, Dan Kuzma, who’s head of the [YSU] recycling program, he’s an ultra runner, too. We’ve gone to a lot of races together. He’s younger than I am. He’s actually looking forward to running the whole thing with me. 

Metro Monthly: Is anybody going to be documenting this on social media in real time or taking photos, or anything like that? Or is it going to be a more solitary, in nature, no-technology thing?

Sexton: It’s going to be a little of that, but mostly the second. We’ll be taking some photos. We’re not doing anything live on social media documenting it. MapMyRun [a running program] will show that we actually ran 65 miles and where I ran it. But other than that, we’ll just follow it up the next day talking about it on the air a little bit. Hopefully it’s going to trigger some more support for the station.

Metro Monthly: Does the run occur rain or shine?

Sexton: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Metro Monthly: Have you been watching the weather forecast?

Sexton: Yeah, it’s not too cold. It might be rainy. In all these ultra/adventure runs, you get what you get. Just as an aside, I was working a hundred-mile race at Oil Creek State Park over by Oil City and Titusville this past weekend. It was a hundred-mile race and a hundred-kilometer race on a super tough loop trail in Oil Creek State Park. And it poured on that from the start. And from that moment on, the trails were like rivers – muddy, soupy, sticky rivers. And, still, they kept going. In this particular run, I’m not experiencing anything quite like that. 

Metro Monthly: For people who want more information on supporting the event or supporting WYSU in general, where can they find more information?

Sexton: There’s more information about the drive itself at wysu.org…. There’s a big button link that says “donate now,” and you can go in and see “choose your level,” “pick your thank you gift” and there’s information on the run itself.

Metro Monthly: Thanks for speaking with me today, Gary. And good luck with the run.

Sexton: Well, thank you. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll be out there for everyone to see it. I do these races fairly frequently and the only two I’ve felt significant pressure on was the first one I did for the station and now this one. 

Metro Monthly: Well, you’ll do well. 

For more information on WYSU-FM, visit here. For information of Gary Sexton’s “Fund Run,” click here. WYSU-FM’s mailing address: One University Plaza, Youngstown, Ohio 44555. Phone: 330-941-3363. Fax: 330-941-1501. Email:

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