Introducing “The Glade-iators”

In January 2012, our team, the Glade-iators, journeyed from Miami – over beautiful bridges – to Key West, FL, in the 2012 Florida Keys Ragnar Relay. The Glade-iators finished 20th out of 246 teams in our category (Mixed Open) with a time of 28:38. We made a video that is under 4 minutes about our experience that you can view and vote for here. (It’s the one that shows the orange Ragnar arches at the start.)

Here’s a brief introduction to the team:

Van 1

1) David claims to be 32, but his drivers license clearly states he is 48. He lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont half the year and says he is allergic to maple syrup and is afraid of dairy cows. The other half of the year he lives in Key West approximately one mile from the ocean and has never once been to the beach. He loves everything about the beach but has a fear of the sun, the sand and is terrified of water. A cross between Mr. Bean and Woody Allen, David discovered the joy of running a year ago. He lost 60 pounds in 3 months by doing what seemed perfectly normal to him as a 5 year old child — he ran. It was awful. It was dreadful, but then eventually he outran an elderly man with a wooden leg and suddenly David had game.

He signed up for a 5k. He was a natural. He signed for a Ragnar. That’s right, no 10k or half marathon or pansy marathon in between. It just seemed the right thing to do for a guy who is scared of his own shadow, who chews his fingernails and is one big Nervous Nelly. Watch out Ragnar! David is going to drink a tall glass of milk, wipe his fogged up cat-eye glasses on his gnome running singlet, and then run his sissy legs clear across the Florida Keys. And then he is going to call his mama and tell her that he left you in his dust.

2) Scott has had a tumultuous relationship with running for at least a decade. The relationship often errs on the side of being physically abusive, but fear not! Scott keeps on trucking. This is his first official race, so he is guaranteed to PR. He has his sights set on running the Boston Marathon one day, that is if the relationship survives this Ragnar Relay. Scott’s claim to fame is that he once played field hockey against Emma Watson, aka Hermione Granger… no points for Gryffindor!

Born and raised just north of Boston, Scott is proud to consider himself a Mass-hole. A graduate of Boston College, he lives in Boston and works at Staples Corporate Headquarters, where everything is “easy.”

3) Mike B’s passion for endurance sports started with bicycle racing and distance rides in the late ’90s. From there he moved on to triathlons, completing several including 10 1/2 Ironman and 2 full Ironman distance races. Mike’s first marathon was in 2003 in Chicago – which still remains one of his favorite marathons. Since then he’s completed several other marathons and is eyeing a 50-mile ultra marathon for 2012.

He grew up in Wayne, Michigan, relocating to the Chicago area after graduating from the University of Michigan with an Electrical Engineering degree. He is now an Engineering Manager at Cambium Networks based in Schaumburg, Illinois. Mike lives in Bartlett Illinois, is happily married to his wife, Jill, and is the father of four kids – Matthew, Katie, Christopher, and William, with ages ranging from 14 years to 10 months. No wonder he took up endurance sports! When not chasing his kids, Mike also enjoys photography, music (bass player), coaching (soccer and lacrosse) and reading about other nut jobs who enjoy running insane distances for the heck of it.

4) Chris is an egomaniac with an inferiority complex that ate bullets and swilled vodka for breakfast, but now has a butterfly garden, three cats, a beautiful wife and a love for the challenges of the squared circle.

5) Craig joined our team the day before the race, taking the spot of a runner who fell ill. With little knowledge of Ragnar or distance training, he pushed through 3  legs like a champ and is concerned that he may now be a Ragnar addict.

6) Brian Darrow, Founder of Digital Running

Van #1 Support staff – Raffi Darrow, Editor of DigitalRunning.com

Van 2

7) If someone had told Nadine 5 years ago that she would be braving the elements to endure training runs through frigid Pennsylvania winters, she would have laughed. Four marathons and numerous half marathons later, her love of running is no joke, despite her often humorous attire.

When she’s not moonlighting as Teddy K and traveling to warmer climates for races, Nadine’s time is filled with work and lots of fun with family and friends. New people and experiences are something Nadine enjoys, hence her decision to join a team of 11 complete strangers and run a Ragnar. When people ask why… she asks “Why not?”

8) Brooke is a Cosmetologist in Sioux Falls, SD, and goes to school on the side, hopefully to become a Dietician someday — but she loves the challenge school gives her so she might just stay there forever. Brooke LOVES anything outdoors and being active! Running, road biking, softball, and triathlons are on her “Bucket list”… but swimming she’s not so good at (maybe she could doggie paddle). Brooke has had her fair share of 5k’s, 10k’s and a half marathon last year, so she figured she’d like to give herself a push before she takes on a Marathon next Spring!!

This will be Brooke’s first Ragnar but hopefully she’ll have the chance to do another one in June from Madison WI to Chicago IL. She can’t wait to meet everyone on the team and have a fantastic time in the nice warm weather of the Florida Keys!

9) Luis was born in a barn (not true) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras (which is NOT part of Mexico) on a beautiful summer day in 1976. He has called South Florida home for the last 19 years and during the summer, he regrets that decision. He is a professional pill-pusher (Pharmacist) for Publix Pharmacy and for the “right” price he can get you anything you want. The “right” price is just enough to pay for the running fees of the events he wants to run. He has run 5 Half-Marathons this year and his wife is about to sell him to the highest bidder (hopefully a cougar with lots of money) so that he can pay for all the running, the shoes, and the loads of sweaty laundry she gets to do.

Luis began running after his daughter Isabella was born, and she’s now 16 months–so that makes him a newbie. The only reason that running made sense at that time is because he had the early morning feeding shift and then couldn’t go back to sleep–so running he went! Now he sticks to running because he has seen the light at the end of the tunnel or shall we say–BEER at the end of every running event. So while Luis would like to say that his daughter was his inspiration (and she was), he truly is “a drinker with a running problem”. He is fluent in Spanish and that may prove very useful for his van teammates while we’re navigating through Miami. So, as they say in South Florida, Vamonos Muchachos!

10) This will be Lauren’s 2nd Ragnar Relay, after completing the NY Ragnar in May 2011. “I don’t particularly like running,” she admits, “but I like signing up for crazy events to keep in shape. I am recently unemployed after being laid off in late September from a Hedge Fund in NYC. After some travel, I am now looking to work at a Non-profit. I live in NYC with my sister, her dog and my two cats.”

11) Sarah is a 25-year-old interior designer living in Sioux Falls, SD. She is no stranger to running, but is a virgin to Ragnar Relays! With plans to run the Chicago Ragnar Relay in June of 2012, running in the 2012 Florida Keys race was far from her mind. One fateful night, Nate Cleveringa did the unthinkable and signed up to run Ragnar Florida Keys with a bunch of crazy strangers; everyone was worried he wouldn’t make it back alive. Lisa and Sarah intended on following Nate down to give him moral support and be there for anything he needed (actually they just wanted an excuse to go on vacation). A few weeks later they found out there were still a few open runner spots on the team, so Sarah jumped on board the crazy train along with Lisa, Brooke and Matt! Now they have a small army of good ol’ South Dakotan runners and supporters who are ready to run for the muck of it! Hopefully the state of Florida can handle a big taste of the Midwest!

12) Nate put his name on the list of ‘Runners Looking for a Team’ as a joke. He really had no intention of running the Keys Ragnar, but he couldn’t turn down the invitation (especially with heavy persuasion from his super supportive wife, Lisa – driver of van 2). The whole thing is especially crazy since he hadn’t really run in his life until last spring. Eight months later, he’s running the anchor leg in a crazy overnight relay halfway across the country!

Lisa and Nate live near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with Davis, their Boston Terrorist (who was really pissed when he found out he wasn’t coming to Florida). He works as an Manufacturing Engineer, and also moonlights as an architect for his Dad’s construction company. He’s so looking forward to running in warm weather. It will be so refreshing not to have frozen sweat all over his clothes!

Van 2 Support: Lisa is a novice runner who plans on running in the Chicago Ragnar Relay in 2012. One night she was sitting at the computer with a friend and her husband and thinking how insane it would be to do Ragnar Florida Keys. That was pondered for a bit, then let go thinking that maybe after they had one under their belt they could conquer Florida. Little did she know that her husband (Nate) had signed up to be found for a team as a joke not thinking anyone would respond. Well, look out Florida, here come five friends from South Dakota!!!

Lisa is a self employed 26-year-old who loves her job. She gets to make people feel great about themselves everyday. She does so by removing their hair or by making their hair amazing with color or with a cut. In other words she’s a hairstylist. She was born and raised in South Dakota and she’s been married to Nate for 8 months. The idea of bridges for miles and miles kind of freaks her out a little, but she’s ready to drive van #2 to a victory with her trusty partner Matt.

Van 2 Driver: Matt (no bio, but he drove that van like it was his b*tch.)

[youtube]http://youtu.be/J5mWDzMRWEs[/youtube]