Congrats to team “Rest Later” who came in 1st in the Marathon Relay - Open Male Masters ~ lol. We all can’t be guaranteed winners by having Andy Roberts on the team, but we were all successful on Sunday, September 16th.

What a great weekend! This year, the festivities started off on Saturday. My youngest daughter, Aaliyah, completed her very first race. She breezed through the 1.2 mile Kids Marathon. My wife is trying to get back into running, so she did a 5k, and my oldest, Twanda, completed the family affair by supervising/running with my youngest.

On Sunday, the Xerox/Friends of Xerox were fired up and ready to go as usual. We had people with injuries, people new to running; the weather was hot, and there were more hills than anticipated. None of that mattered. There were no excuses. We weren't expecting to win any prizes for fastest relay team, so we did what our relay teams always do: we stuck together. The participants from each leg waited until all hand-offs were complete, ensuring that we always took off as a team.

About the race:

• In the days leading up to the race, my back was killing me. I took my Advil and found a way to get it done.
• President Prashant and Newcomer Nick were worried about the race before starting. At the end of their leg, they basically laughed at it and said, "Was that all?" I seriously think they were considering running again immediately.
• Naji was thrilled that he didn’t have the warmest leg. This was a piece of cake compared to the Tough Mudder, right?!
• Luke, the young’un on the team, barely broke a sweat. He was made for running. Come back next year, young man.
• Sharon got it done again... and this time with her hubby right by her side at the end.
• Someone mentioned that there were tons of event pictures with Carlos in it. Of course, it’s Carlos - he’s too cool to sweat.
• Geoff and Laura easily made it through their race and were ready to say their “I do’s” at the end.
• Mr. “No Days Off” Joel exceeded his time by about 10 minutes. I still don’t know why he was so nervous.
• Bruce, you wanted to cross that finish line with the chip this year, and wow did you cross it! I still don’t know how you were able to tell Carlos and I stories, while taking those hills - Way to finish man.
• Winona saved the day as usual, driving people back and forth from each leg. As Bruce said: you were the hero that day.
• Of course, I save this story for last. I heard that Andy ran with the members of his leg for one mile, then said, "Ok guys, I have to go." All they saw was the dust from his sneakers as he sped off. I tell everyone that having Andy on our relay team each year is like having Michael Jordan show up at your YMCA basketball team event. It’s priceless.

No one embraces our team concept like we do. That’s what makes our relay teams special. I do the relay each year because the training helps me keep off a few unwanted pounds year after year, but the main reason for doing it is because of the comradery. We truly know how to make this a team event. Thanks everyone for participating, and see you next year.

~ DaTwan ~