The Team
Mr. Pots is a subsidiary — along with several trash collection companies and a gravel yard — under parent Materials Management Company owned by Jay Baker. The company’s headquarters are in the mountain village of Woodland Park, Colorado.
Baker purchased Mr. Pots in 2017 and immediately started growing the company. A few years later he opened a second location in Buena Vista 75 miles west. They now have about 800 portable restrooms in inventory and service five counties in the central Rocky Mountains.
Mr. Pots employs 14 technicians, four of whom worked on the Leadville Race Series — Josh Jacobson, Bob Criswell, Jon Marshal and Rick Wallen. David Royar also helped with setup. He has the title of business manager for all the subsidiaries but says job duties could be anything, and he fills in wherever needed. “I’m the problem-solver,” he says. “The fireman who puts out all the fires.”
MAKING CONNECTIONS
The company first serviced the Leadville Race Series in 2021. Organizers saw the company’s trucks and portable restrooms around town and reached out to them.
“We gave them pricing and they said if we did good the first year they’d like to have us for 10 years so they wouldn’t have to worry about calling around for it again,” Royar says. “These are the biggest events in this area, so we were really pleased to get them and work hard to keep them.”
After the first year, Royar met with Tamira Jenlink, the event manager, to make sure everyone was happy with how it went and to determine where it needed to be tweaked in future years. “She really liked that,” Royar reports, “And this year it went even better. For next year she’ll probably just say, ‘Ditto.’ ”
THE MAIN EVENT
The Leadville Race Series encompasses a number of foot races and bike races held over seven weeks in June, July and August each year. Amateurs and elites come from around the world. The kick-off event for the runners in 2022 was a marathon on June 18 through Leadville’s mining district, up to the top of 13,185-foot Mosquito Pass and back. A 50-mile race took place in July and a 10K in August. And the highlight event, a 100-mile race, was held Aug. 20. Biking events included a 50-mile course, a 100-mile race held over three days, and the 100-miler done in one day on Aug. 13.
Challenges included rough mountainous terrain and altitudes ranging from 9,000 to 13,000 feet. In most years, less than half the 800 runners complete the 100-mile course within the 30-hour time limit. The 2022 winner did it in 16. The 2022 bike race winner finished in just over six hours.
BY THE NUMBERS
The company provided portable restrooms and hand-wash stations (Satellite Industries) for all the races and the two three-day training camps held the first two weekends in July. All their units have hand sanitizer and are typically stocked with three rolls of bathroom tissue — “But we stocked them with extra paper,” Royar says. “They loved that.”
For the marathon, the two training camps, the 50-mile races, and the three-day bike race, the company provided between 28 and 36 standard units, one ADA-compatible unit, and three hand-wash stations, some in town and the rest spread out in five or six locations along the routes.
For the 100-mile biking event, they placed 77 standard units, four ADA-compatible units and 10 hand-wash stations, in 11 locations. And for the 100-mile foot race, they brought in 108 standard units, four ADA-compatible units and 10 hand-wash stations placed in 14 spots including 16 at the start/finish; 20 at vendor, crew and check-in areas; and the rest at aid stations along the route.
“And some were just in the woods,” Royar says. “There was one site where the road was so rough, and we’re pulling these things on a trailer. It was down the road about eight miles but it took nearly an hour to get to it. It was hard on the truck. But for most of them the roads weren’t bad.”
LET’S ROLL
Although the company’s storage yard is in Buena Vista about 35 miles north of Leadville, the company leased space from KW Construction & Restoration in Leadville so that in the months leading up to the first event, whenever they were in the area, they could drop off a few units to avoid a last-minute marathon of their own to deliver everything. Units were stored at KW through the summer until after the final event when they were all picked up in one day and returned to the company yard.
The company also had the luxury of putting units in place several days before each event. “That made it easy for us,” Royar says, “because then the guys could go out and set up 12 or 18 in one day and still run their routes for the day. Then we’d set a few more up the next day. We zip-tied them and then the organizers came through and cut them when they were ready to go.”
KEEPIN’ IT CLEAN
Servicing was done with a 2019 Chevrolet 5500 with a 600-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater steel tank and Masport pump and a 2014 Dodge 3500 with a 400-gallon waste/200-gallon steel tank and a Masport pump. Most units were serviced once during each event. “Tamira had a spreadsheet, so it was real easy for us,” Royar says. For the two final races, units were serviced on Friday and Saturday, some in the morning but most between 6 and 8 p.m. A few challenges arose, but nothing unusual, Royar says. “Sometimes it was hard because people were trying to use the units or there were vehicles in the way. But we made it work, just like any event.”
The techs wore yellow safety vests, gloves and glasses. They used deodorizing products from J&J Portable Sanitation Products. And waste was taken to the Leadville treatment plant.
HAPPY PARTNERSHIP
The summer events all went off without a hitch, Royar reports. He doesn’t hesitate to give credit where credit is due. “Tamira said, ‘Great job, David,’ but, let me tell you, it was Josh, Bob, John and Rick. They made it happen. It was a lot of hard work and some stress involved. They worked late, overtime, at night.”
He also applauds Jenlink and the event organizers. “They were so organized on their end. Tamira had GPS coordinates for us. It was just easy. It was great to work with them. And once we were done it was nice to hear her say, ‘Great job.’ So, it’s been a feel-good situation.”
