How can former athletes regain the thrill of intense competition when casual rec leagues and pick-up games aren’t enough?
That’s the question Max Peara ’15 and Karishma Kapoor ’15 are hoping to answer with Run It Back, which held its first multisport competition—with $8,500 in prize money—at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in July.
“I think a common thread for a lot of athletes is that once it’s over, you never find it again,” says Peara, a former co-captain of the Fordham tennis team. “I want to give people like myself that feeling again.”
Peara pursued a pro tennis career after earning a degree in finance at Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business, but injuries shifted his focus to startups. He co-founded, built, and sold a fintech company before returning to his passion for sports. He has also served as a pitch-challenge judge for the Fordham Foundry, the university’s hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Kapoor, a fellow 2015 finance graduate from Gabelli, spent eight years in positions at JPMorgan Chase and FT Partners before founding the K Project in 2023. She balances building up Run it Back with the company, which offers mindfulness-based leadership experiences to corporate and community partners.
The inaugural Run It Back event drew 125 participants, more than half of whom had previously played at the Division I or pro level. Among the competitors were about a dozen Fordham grads and graduate students. They competed in flag football, soccer, track, and volleyball at Moglia Stadium and around Edwards Parade.
The winning team, composed mostly of former soccer players with an average age of 31, took home a $5,000 prize. And while Peara and Kapoor hope the purse will grow for future events, they’re committed to keeping the cost down for participants through a pay-what-you-can model.
“We are not building Run It Back for profit margin,” Peara says. “We’re building it for sustainability.”
Check out photos from the event by @cgst.reet_photography, @scottmediafilms, and @stevexwho, along with Run It Back’s hype video.
