Eeet's Aliiiiive!

Look! Look what I have made!

Sometimes, creating monsters is fun. Where I work, I was lonely as an endurance athlete. Sure, there is the manager who is also an Ironman. He has completed several iron distance races during his triathlon career. But work constraints have severely limited his ability to race at this time.

Another co-worker is married to a 9-time (and elite) marathoner. Injuries have put her distance running on hold. They both compete in the Birkebiner cross-country ski race, but not in other endurance events.

Then, last year, some hope bubbled to the surface. A co-worker who previously balked at a 10K race mentioned that he was signed up for a sprint triathlon (which we both wound up racing). He then continued his training and completed his first half-marathon. His race schedule for 2007 mirrors mine, culminating in his longest race yet, the Spirit of Racine half-IM race. We will run the Green Bay Marathon (his first full) and the High Cliff sprint triathlon, as well.

We are also encouraging two other co-workers to race at least the GB half-marathon with us, if not the sprint tri, too. That resulted in an interesting exchange, this morning, beginning with one of them giving the other a Christmas gift in the form of a half-marathon training program. Then, an e-mail exchange that went something like this: (Names changed to protect the not yet registered)

Happy Holidays.........

Bellin Chick, not to put any more pressure on you then what already is, but I am not signing up for this race until you are. So your decision is going to affect two people now.
13 plus miles can we do it??

Merry Christmas...........

That resulted in a reply from my training partner:

Me too, I'm not signing up until you sign up. (Editor's note - "you" being Bellin Chick)

Ahhh, the fun. Like I said, I've created a monster. And hopefully, with more of us involved, we'll be able to bring more people into the fold. There's just something cool about having more and more known faces at events.

Update - The Saga Continues

It appears that the brief exchange above wasn't sufficient. This is betting better than a Greyhound-Nytro exchange.

Bellin Chick felt obligated to fire back by upping the challenge:

K.C. (and the Sunshine Band?)

I know you can do the FULL Marathon. Save yourself $5.00 and sign up before 12/31.

Bellin Chick

To which he responded:

Hey Hey lets not got pushy over there Mrs. I just ran 5 miles on Sunday. I haven't worked out in over a month so I am going to stick to the Half, you on the other hand should take a look at the FULL, you could run with Iron Pol then instead of me.............?

Things could get interesting in January, which is when Bellin Chick has promised a decision.