“Our 6 relay teams were chosen at random at the team PR Performance kick-off party. By the end of race day, everyone had made at least one new friend.”
One of the early season races in the Pacific Northwest is the Mt. Si Relay. This year PR Rocstar and teammate, Dana Cannon, helped us kick off the season with a team-building event at this Eastside running race. "I thought a relay race would be a great way for us to get to know one another, because you all have to work together” Dana explained. With this goal in mind teams were chosen at random from all Roctsars who planned to participate.
The Mt. Si relay is a 59-mile running relay race held each Spring in the beautiful Snoqualmie region of Washington State. This race is fantastic for several reasons: the trail is rugged and beautiful, it's extremely accessible to Seattle and the surrounding area, and unlike Ragnar, you don't have to race through the night. Each relay team consists of five members, and since we had thirty Rocstars participating, we fielded six teams. In short, we were there in force!
All teams gathered at 6:00 a.m. at Snoqualmie Elementary School to begin the race by 6:30 a.m. From the onset, other runners wanted to know all about our team.
“When you have 30 runners all donning the same running tanks, you can’t help but inquire” noted Drew Graham, one of the teams coaches. Drew, who actually designed the kits, explained “It was so exciting to see the new kits out on the course, and with so many of us out there you could really feel the team spirit.”
As the day progressed the rain started to fall, but the team morale continued to grow. This is the Pacific Northwest after all, so we take the rain in stride. The tougher the conditions got, the stronger the camaraderie and enthusiasm grew. Once the first team crossed the line, each successive team had a cheering squad of teammates waiting to welcome in the remaining team members.
““It’s races like this that make a team feel like family.””
“I can’t believe how fun this was" said team owner and head Coach Rocky Ursino. “I hope to establish this as an annual event, since it was clearly such an exciting way to connect with fellow teammates and to kick off the season.”
