Mar. 4 For over 40 years, The Tech Group has established a reputation as a global leader by providing on-time commercialization of projects ranging from product design, to complex, turnkey manufacturing solutions. Now they can add accomplished relay runners to their resumes as 12 employees from The Tech Group came together and ran the Ragnar Del Sol as Team Tech. I talked with several members of their team to get their take on the race.
Mike Treadaway has been a resident of Scottsdale for the past 14 years. He began training 16 months ago to prepare for his first marathon, the 2009 PF Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon. The experience sparked a love of running and in the past year Mike has completed six marathons, five half marathons and three 10Ks. This is Mike’s first time running a relay.
Jim Boblett thinks, as a husband and father of two young children, the health benefits of running (and biking), very important to him. He considers himself still in the “freshman/rookie” status, but loves the energy and& excitement of running and appreciates the wonderful opportunity to support such a deserving cause in the Upward Foundation.
Shari Krusniak started running almost three years ago as a way to improve overall health and get in shape. She is now a certified Jazzercise Instructor and a self-proclaimed fitness junkie. Shari has run the Prescott Whiskey Row 10K, the Lost Dutchman 10K and the 2009 Chicago Half Marathon.
Heather Muir is originally from Chicago, IL, Heather relocated to Scottsdale, AZ in July 2007. She has been running for a little over a year. Her goal is to work on training more consistently in order to improve her time.
Dave Mulera has lived in Tempe with his wife and three children for seven years. He started running five years ago, at age 39, to meet a longtime goal of completing a marathon—which he did—and has been running ever since.
Jerry Schmidt is at age 56 the oldest runner on the team. He began running at age 27 and ran faithfully until age 47, when two young children entered his life. This relay has served as motivation for him to get back into shape.
1. The obvious fist question, how was the race? Mike: It was a fantastic event, well planned, well organized. The staggered start spread out runners and kept congestion at exchange points to a minimum. It was a blast watching sine if the teams that dressed and decorated their vans in a theme. Dave: It went well, the actual running was not as hard as enduring the minimal sleep and not being able to shower.
2. How did running a endurance relay race compare to other races you have run? Jim B.: It was totally different in that there is no way to fully prepare for the fatigue, but the camaraderie and team atmosphere more than made up for the los of sleep and physical/mental fatigue. Jerry: Yea, the 12 hour gap between the runs and lack of sleep was difficult.
3. You guys were raising money for the Upward Foundation, a Phoenix based charity that helps kids with special needs. What was your goal? How did you do? Mike: We had a goal of 75% participation within our employee group here in the Phoenix area. As far as our goal in dollars, we were hoping to exceed the $10,000 mark and to date we are at $15,000!
4. Each team is required to provide a couple of volunteers, how in the world did you convince anyone to agree to standing out in nowhere at who knows what hour of the day? Dave: We lied to them and said it was easy work. Just kidding. Being a corporate team and raising money for a worthy cause as the Upward Foundation made it easy. Shari: That’s true; we had great volunteers that just wanted to be part of the event, so I don’t think a lot of convincing was necessary.
5. Spending all that time in a van you learn a lot about your teammates. Do tell? Jerry: We were reminded how regular hygiene is a must! Shari: I learned that as the only girl in my van, I am a lot quicker to get ready than some of the boys…I mean, how long does it really take to lace up your shoes? Dave: I also found out that you might want to pay attention that when someone says, “don’t go in the van for a minute, I am going to change my clothes”. Sorry Shari!
6. How did you train for this race compared to other races? Jim B.: I tried to simulate the legs I was assigned to run as far as distance, terrain and time between runs. Having said that, there is no way to simulate the difference in stretching, or lack of cool down time, inability to rest properly and a good shower. Heather: I didn’t do anything different than I do for other races. I know it was recommended to try and run every 12 hours, but I figured I would just roll the dice when it came to race day. Dave: You really cant train for the no sleep or shower part!
7. The race takes 24 hours or so, but each runner probably does around two hours of actual running. How did you pass the time? Shari: Surprisingly, it went by really fast, I wasn’t the least bit bored…and somehow we managed to keep each other entertained. Heather: Excactly, I brought an iPod and mini-DVD player to pass the time, but I never touched them. Jim B.: Most of the time was passed by driving ahead and cheering on our teammates, stopping to eat and going on to the next exchange.
8. There was the unfortunate tragedy of Robert Mayasich being hit by car during the night. Our prayers go out to his family and friends. How well do you think safety was handled by the race organizers? Dave: I thought they did ok considering the length of the course, number of support personal and the night running involved. I believe they do need to look at this incident however and determine if something can be done to keep it from happening again. Shari: Yea, we had Safety Dave who was our enforcer and reminded us to put on our vests if we went outside the van. Jim B.: The race safety stipulations are more stringent than most of us who run on our own at night.
9. The big question is: are you going to run the race again next year? Mike: Absolutely. We are hoping to have at least one more team if not two. Heather: In a heart beat! I’ve already started recruiting other friends outside the company to do it. I think it is something a lot of people would enjoy.
10. Now the really big question. Who needed a shower the most? Jerry: No comment. Dave: I will say Jorge because he was sitting next to me. Mike: I did.
Enjoy other 10K-uestions here
