Race to the (Liquid) Death: Copywriter Challenges Canned-Water VP to an Ultramarathon

115 miles and so much sand

Liquid Death VP of creative Andy Pearson is constantly inundated with chaotic pitches and people asking for jobs. When he’s not delivering outrageous campaigns for LD, he’s running ultramarathons, races that range from 50 to 100+ miles.

Copywriter and Miami Ad School student Aidan Haas challenged Pearson to an ultramarathon. If Haas won, he’d score a job. Pearson countered with an offer to look at Haas’ portfolio. Challenge accepted and race chosen: the grueling Utah 115, across mostly desert wasteland.

Pearson came in first overall and Haas ran more than 52 miles before halting his journey. 

Muse caught up with both men to learn more about the training, the challenge and camaraderie built between the pair.

Muse: How did you come up with this idea to race Andy and how soon after did you reach out to him?

Aidan Haas: The idea came from my love of running and the fitness app Strava, hearing from a clip online that Andy also was big into running, and a brief from the D&AD awards. The brief called to “make your mark” on an agency or individual in a creative way. I log all of my activities on Strava and after seeing that Andy also had a Strava profile, I knew he would see my post on Instagram or LinkedIn, where he has hundreds of thousands of followers. I made a video where I part called him out, part made fun of him a little, and that ended up getting his attention. 

What was your first reaction to being challenged to an ultra?

Andy Pearson: I was like, “Oh no. This poor guy doesn’t have any idea what he’s getting into.” An ultramarathon is a pretty serious undertaking. I’ve been running them for 15 years, and I’ve spent so much time training and preparing. So, when I saw Aidan’s video, I brushed it off as just another crazy person looking for a job. But then I learned he was a student trying to break into the industry. I had a lot more sympathy then, because I also did weird stuff as a student. I decided I’d respond and accept his challenge. But I wasn’t going to show any mercy. He actually told me, he thought I would choose a 50-miler or something. He didn’t expect that I would challenge him to a 100+ mile race. Whoops.

What was your stunt as a student?

Pearson: Two teams from the Creative Circus won a Cannes Future Lion in 2008. We got an email from the organizers asking if we were going to come pick up the awards in person. We calculated that for the four of us to fly to France for a week, we needed $10,000 immediately. So, we started thinking about how they raise money in movies. Eventually, we came up with the idea of doing a bake sale where we would sell cookies for $500 a piece. That way, all we had to do was sell 20 cookies. 

We did a photoshoot and put our Cookies for Cannes website up overnight and blasted it out to anyone we could think of. The next afternoon, we got a call from Leo Burnett Chicago saying they wanted to buy a dozen cookies. And by the end of the day, we sold all 20 cookies and got the $10,000. Honestly, the cookie stunt was what landed me my first jobs, not the award.

Who chose the Ultra?

Haas: I said we can run “an ultramarathon of your choice,” because ultras are his thing, even though I had never done one before. He chose the Utah 115 in Kanab, which was definitely more mileage than I’ve ever done. But I stated the challenge, so I was in no pace to be making rule stipulations on what distance he chose.

What was Andy’s initial response?

Haas: He followed me on Strava and liked my post, but it took a few weeks for him to formally respond. He tagged me in one of his runs saying that “He’s training for a race to the death.” He told me to listen to the latest episode of the podcast, “Between Two Pines,” where he accepted my challenge while also throwing some playful jabs at my current lack of running at the time.

Was this your first Ultra?

Haas: Yes. I never ran more than a marathon. I’ve done Ironman triathlons, which are 140 miles of swim/bike/running, but ultras are a completely different experience. It was crazy, but it was an amazing experience to be out in the desert climbing 3-story-tall sand dunes in the middle of nowhere.

What was the most surprising thing that happened during the race and post-race?

Haas: There was so much sand. Around 60 percent of the entire course was deep sand, so it totally cooked my legs pretty quickly. My mind was getting pretty foggy from the heat and probably some dehydration, so I made some costly multiple-mile-detour wrong turns. All of the people on course were so awesome, though. The volunteers were great, extremely supportive. Post-race, I was surprised at Andy’s winning margin. I had a feeling he would win, but he really dropped the hammer on us all. I limped over to him at the finish line to give him his promised beers and congratulate him.

Pearson: I was honestly scared of Aidan. He is a really strong athlete (and one who’s much younger, too), so I didn’t know what would go down on race day. But as soon as the race started, I pulled out front and realized I was going to be just fine. The biggest surprise was that he got lost for about 7 miles and went off course. For his sake, I wish he could have finished, but it’s a tough sport. 115 miles is a really long way, and I’m impressed Aidan even showed up. Kudos to him.

Has Andy reviewed your portfolio?

Haas: Not yet, but I did frame it in glass. It will be a “break in case of emergency,” when I get the formal review to cash it in.

Talk about your background in advertising.

Haas: Before advertising, I worked in the financial services world as an accountant, but I made the change a year or so ago by going to the Miami Ad School in NYC. I’ve been building my book since then. 

What’s next for you?

Haas: I want to continue to make work that steps outside of what are perceived as, and connect to whatever audience I’m targeting in a way that feels authentic to them and myself. Most people outside of the industry don’t like ads, and I think making work that is more entertaining or helpful is a better way to connect.

Andy, up for more challenges?

Pearson: Please, no more. My job is work enough. 

(Editor’s note: Aidan’s entry won a Yellow Pencil at the D&AD New Blood awards. He’s still in portfolio school and freelancing while he looks for a full time agency position. He made a “bake sale” video to raise funds, and a “greatest hates” pump up training video from the online comments people left about him. Check them out here.)