For three months we walked, jogged, ran, and whimpered around the lake in front of our office. We trained as a team, we stretched, we mumbled, but we stuck with it. This past weekend running in circles paid off with a very successful showing at the 11th Annual Pat’s run at ASU. I you were at the race, you may have seen our bright orange shirts in the sea of the official blue that most people were wearing.
To get to Saturday’s race, every Tuesday and Thursday we sat on big foam cylinders and yoga mats in the grass. We butt kicked and we pranced in the parking lot. And then we starting making a clockwise orbit around the lake across the street. At first, it was walking with a little running. Invectives were hurled. But over time the walkers got faster, the walk/runners ran more, and the runners got faster. We found out that the sidewalk around the north lake here at the ASU Research Park is exactly a half mile, as if the designers planned it that way. We learned that if it is 82f outside you need to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. With the help of our fantastic Training, Susan Leveque from Physix, we worked through upset joints, asthma, and too much time spent in front of the computer. Everyone that could make it to Pat’s Run this past Saturday did fantastic. The most noticeable characteristic was that every single one of us had a smile on their face at the finish.
If you are not familiar with Pat’s Run, it is a charity race to honor Pat Tillman and other courageous men and women who have sacrificed everything for their country. It is a 4.2 mile loop starting and ending at the Arizona State University stadium where Pat played for ASU and then the Cardinals before he put his NFL career on hold to serve his country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The course loops around Tempe Town lake and ends with a run in to the stadium and on to the field. Over 30,000 people participated this year. The weather was perfect, the event was well organized, and everyone on the 2015 PADT Running Team walked, jogged, and/or ran a great race. Until you have done a big event like that, it is hard to understand how encouraging the large crowd is. They count your top 5 finishers, so our official team time ws 39:37 or a 9:26 min/mile pace. We were fortunate enough to also have friends and family run with the team.
A big shout-out to Shannon, Cyril, and of our primary trainer Susan from Physix for setting up the whole thing. We literally did not have the time or bandwidth to do this without your help, and we certainly didn’t have the knowledge. The plan worked and you took all of us way beyond where we started.
Here are pictures from the event below. Another thanks to Michael Dunn, Physix client on dealing with some knee issues who came out and took pictures for both teams. Great job making us look good.
We hope to see more customers and friends at next year’s run. We may even follow Shawn’s lead and go for the bright green shorts next year.
