Marathon Relay VR.com Inaugural Event

[tommy]

Best wishes to VR.com Relay Team for a rewarding and fun day!

Key Bank Vermont Marathon & Relay
Burlington, VT May 28, 2006

Woo hoo!

[BillCobit]

Best wishes to VR.com Relay Team for a rewarding and fun day!




Ditto that. Have a great race, you guys!

[msiwik]

Best wishes to VR.com Relay Team for a rewarding and fun day!

Key Bank Vermont Marathon & Relay
Burlington, VT May 28, 2006

Woo hoo!

Tommy, Bill et al: The team is ready to go and pumped. Thanks for the good wishes. Weather looks good - a little warm (high 70's) but not too bad overall. Will try to get a post up on Sunday after the race. Next year, let's shoot for 2 to 3 teams at the 2007 relay!! Mark

[inlaguna]

Not much beats a good run on a nice spring day in Burlington.

Good luck!

[Mary]

It's good to hear that you're all ready to go Mark.
I'm sure you all will have a great time, and I look forward to your Sunday post.

[marky]

Good luck and have a great day!!
count me in for next year!:D

[LLJ]

Moo-Moo,click-click, oink;Moo-Moo click-click oink......The sound you hear as the Marathon relay team runs by.............
That and a sonic boom!
Go TEAM!
Thank you VR community for your support
LLJ

[Arpy]

My thoughts and best wishes are with you guys for your event. Best of luck.

Russell

[M&M]

Happy Trails to You All !!!

What great weather for a marathon/relay run. I live in NH and its just a beautiful day today - I'm sure you all had a great time. :-)

M&M

[Paul]

Hello everyone!!!

First of all we had a GREAT day and a great race and if the four people who came to my home this weekend are respresentative of the VR.com comunity (and I know they are) then we have a really special group of people.

Mark came with his daughter, Mitralman came with his wife and two daughters, Christine came with Ben her husband who served as our colective brain for the race makeing sure we got to our exchange spots on time and Laura came with her sense of humor. :)

We completed the race in 4:35; well ahead of our estimate. It was a perfect but warm day where the heat took its toll on Mark, Laura and Christine who ran 3rd, 4th and 5th.

We had all been interviewed by the local paper and there was an article on the cover of the sports section highlighting our team!! There will also be an article in my Hospital's internal newsletter. We have lots of photos to assemble which my wife will post on her company web site. We will provide a link in the next few days.

Thanks SOOOO much for the well wishes. I was tired and didn't think i would post till tomorrow or Tuesday but seeing the support was very very nice.

Mark is totaly excited to host next year in Cleavland where we could have 2 or even 3 teams; however we have been talking over alot of ideas about intermediate events. It was really special to sit around the table last nigh and in the park today and just talk about where we are and where we have been. I can't stress that enough, and that was really my motivation way back on 1/1/06 when this hole thing crossed my mind.

[Mary]

I'm so dad gum proud, and I've never met any of you! :) :)
Way to go TEAM! :) :) :) :)

[PJmomrunner]

Someone posted a link to the newspaper article in another thread. Congratulations Team Valvoline! I will be on a future team!

[tommy]

Way to go team! Great job! Looking forward to the next one!

[knightfan2691]

So very COOL!

Paul, thanks for the update ... sounds like ya'll had a great time! Very glad you all were able to meet and participate.



Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 32swm/pig valve/pacemaker
MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
chdQB = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/quilt.html
"Relight the flame when it's cold"...Godsmack...'Serenity'

[Karlynn]

We are so very proud of our athletes! I'm glad you had such a great race! Way to go team Valvoline!

[Arpy]

Congrats you guys - a fantastic achievement and an inspiration to us all.

Russell

[BillCobit]

Congratulations, team!

I'm glad you guys all got to meet each other and that you had a great race. I hope I can take part in one of the future events.

[msiwik]

VR.COM Community:

Wow - what a great weekend. Some quick reflections on themes from the past couple of days (headed out this a.m. with my daughter).

1. Connections. It was amazing to see how quickly 5 strangers and their families bonded. The atmosphere was a much like a reunion with lots of smiles, story-swapping, picture-taking. This is a very special community and I feel privileged to be part of it.

2. Life. Throughout the experience, I had this feeling of contentment - "this is life and life is good." Perhaps the neatest moment was watching team members start talking about doing future races together BEFORE we had even run this race! It was also neat to watch team members "give it their all" and to cheer their teammates on! Very good for the soul!

3. Appreciation. As you watched the events unfold - you couldn't help but to think about all the neat people that made this day possible - Hank and Russ that brought this community to life, the countless people who make this website what it is - you all know who you are, and the originators of the "active lifestyles" forum. Life really is about service and by helping others, you help yourself.

4. The Future: We did have a chance to think, in fleeting moments, about the future. Some thoughts:

a) More Shirts! We want to talk with Hank but we think we might have a way to get more "athletic shirts" (the wicking kind that can be worn for a variety of athletic pursuits).

b) More Participants. I use the word participant because the goal of the active lifestyle forum is to help everybody "be as active as they want to be." One of my favorite books is "It's Never Too Late" - a collection of stories about people who begin exercising in their 60's and 70's for the first time in their lives. We want to encourage all members, regardless of age and ability, to find "safe heart-healthy" ways to be active - whethers it walking or running in a race, biking, swimming - whatever floats your boat!

c) More Awareness. After checking in with Hank, we did tell our story to a couple of newspapers that ran articles (Burlington and Rutland) about the team. We did so not for personal glory but in the hope that by sharing the news about valvereplacement.com, others would be helped. Heart defects are the most common birth defect (and that doesn't include those whose heart is damaged by infection) so how many other valve patients are out there? How many cardiologists and physiologists are out there that are interested in our community and advancing science?

Team members will come get some pictures up shortly and we will post a link to the articles. Thanks for supporting the team! It was an honor to represent this community. Mark

P.S. Burlington is a beautiful city - will have to visit again!

[geebee]

Great stories and inspiring members.
Next year - Cleveland is close to so many members that maybe we can arrange for a get together even if all of us do not run. We can certainly cheer people on and have a lot of fun before, during and after the race. To say nothing of all the VR.com shirts.:D

[LLJ]

Hey, I figured I'd check in as well back home in New Jersey. I have to echo Mark's thoughts on the day and what it was like to meet so many strangers yet feel so at ease so quickly! While I was impressed by us valvers,I gotta say their families really wowed me! Mark and Hugh's daughters were never complaining waiting around in the hot sun for us to run our legs of the race and listen to our endless surgery/heart stories. Hugh's wife was a trooper as well. (Hope her foot is ok) Paul's wife was gracious enough to tend to two babies,set up dinner AND run in the race! (Show off!) And Christine's husband Ben, well I've said it before and I'll say it again (I might even put in on a tshirt) BEN-without you we are NOTHING! Hearding us like a seasoned Hollywood star handler, he made sure we found each other,got to our relay handoffs and even calculated our minutes per mile.
So, here's to all of our friends and families who have assisted us in our recovery! And, here's to Ben and Jerry's of Vermont who gave us free ice cream after the race and reminded us of the true reason we race: So we can eat ice cream!!!!!!
Thanks again Paul for your hospitality!
Laura

[MitralMan]

Everyone was an inspiration.

This is the kind of thing that restores one's faith in humanity.

Philadelphia Broad Street Run, anyone?

Hugh

[msiwik]

Everyone was an inspiration.

This is the kind of thing that restores one's faith in humanity.

Philadelphia Broad Street Run, anyone?

Hugh

In case anyone is interested, here is the press coverage of the team:

From the Rutland News Herald on Memorial Day:

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060529/NEWS/605290328/1007/SPORTS

From the Burlington Free Press on Sunday:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060528&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=605280318&SectionCat=&Template=printart

[knightfan2691]

Next year - Cleveland is close to so many members that maybe we can arrange for a get together even if all of us do not run. We can certainly cheer people on and have a lot of fun before, during and after the race.

*raises eyebrow*

Oh my goodness ... Gina, the possibilities are endless ;). he he he


And those articles ... SWEET!

[Paul]

Hi Everyone,
The following is a link to a web site with some race day photos.

http://homepage.mac.com/bleusky03/PhotoAlbum5.html

Michelle also found this story:

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/11/26/100loc_arunner001.cfm

[Lynlw]

Great pics Team V!! thanks for sharing and please consider the broad street run in philly so i can watch :) Lyn

[inlaguna]

Great pictures. I am jealous. What a beautiful day and you all looked like you were having a lot of fun.

Maybe the folks on the west coast can get a relay going for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run.

Dan

[knightfan2691]

Hi Everyone,
The following is a link to a web site with some race day photos.

Those photos are simply ... AWESOME!

Thanks for sharing ... looks like ya'll had a wonderful time!!!



Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 32swm/pig valve/pacemaker
MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
chdQB = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/quilt.html
"There's no better time than today" ... 9 Days ... 'Good Friend'